Last night, the friend who's house I went to for the second night of Passover ended with with an extra ticket to the hit Brodway musical Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz at the new Shanghai Cultural Center (上海文化广场) in the former French Concession. Even if she didn't have the extra ticket, it doesn't seem to hard to buy a ticket from one of the many ticket scalpers just walking around outside the theater. Major theater productions, like Wicked, will sometimes form traveling troupes to bring their show to audiences who might not be able to make it out to New York's Brodway or London's West End, so the whole cast and a large number of the crew members were foreigners. The whole cast crew was very polished; which I guess is what happens when you have a musical running for as long as Wicked has. Even though we were in China, the whole production was done in English with Chinese subtitles next to the stage. I do kind of feel bad for the guy who had to think of the Chinese names for all of the stuff that appears in the play. Oz, the Great and Terrible, used his magic powers throughout the show to shine a red Laser of Shame down on anyone who is trying to use their cell phones to record the show in direct violation of the laws of the People's Republic of China. A show that was very well produced actually, Wicked has always been know for its great production and Shanghai Wicked was no exception. I was especially impressed the first time the Wizard of Oz appeared as a giant golden head, kind of like he did in the Wizard of Oz film and book. The plot was also interesting. It played things a more morally grayer than ether the Wizard of Oz film or book. I am slightly surprised that Wicked was produced in China because of the plot. If you haven't seen it, it is basically about the government lying to people to keep power. I guess the message wasn't too strongly anti-authortarian and it wasn't too sexy of a show so got a pass. I was a bit less impressed with the songs, they were fun and some of them stick around in my head but I am not in love with any of them. Still I, and many of the local Chinese who went out to see the show, enjoyed Wicked so I guess I could recommend.
2 Comments
Sharon
4/17/2017 10:40:17 pm
I saw Wicked on Broadway - and though some of the singing sounded shreekingly Chinese LOL
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Dad
4/17/2017 11:50:17 pm
I thought Wicked on Broadway was perfectly mediocre. The thing that stood out the most was the fluorescent green Wicked Witch make-up.
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AuthorI am a junior at Juniata College spending a year studying abroad at East China Normal University. Please feel free to join my on my journey to China and beyond. Archives
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