Theater Thursday - Wicked Frozen and The Wizard of Oz

We were give free tickets to Wicked Frozen for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

What: Wicked Frozen

Where: St. Lukes Theatre
            308 W. 46th St.
            New York, NY

Who: Recommended for ages 13 and up

Me - Wicked Frozen was good. It was  a crossover parody of Wicked and Frozen. The show was pretty funny. Even the names of the characters were a mashup  of Wicked and Frozen. For instance, there was Elsaba and Glindanna. The story was kind of strange. The actors did a good job portraying their characters. The singing was good. The songs were spoofs. My favorite ones were called "Don't Hold On" and "Disobeying the Law of Physics" parodying "Let It Go" and "Defying Gravity" respectively.  The costumes were a combination of the two shows as well. One girl had a costume that was blue for Frozen and green for Wicked.  Over all, it was an entertaining evening.

Mom - Wicked Frozen is a satiric mash-up of  Wicked and Frozen. It also describes the Boston location where the show takes place. The show is a story within a story as a lonely young girl named Adele Dazeem stuck alone at  her school with her teacher Miss Chenobell tells the story of the princesses, Elsaba and Glindanna. The show is full of  funny references to both Wicked and Frozen. The princesses live in ScandiNorFinDell attend  a school called Shitz and other characters include Nessawheels, Mistress Horrible and Funny Snowman, for example. Song parodies include For the First Occassion This Semester. My Teacher and Me, and Social Success. The show is funny but not really over the top funny. Kathleen Armenti does a  particularly good job of playing the petulant adolescent Adele. She also portrays Elsaba in the story scenes. Megan Wells is also good as  the earnest  young teacher Miss Chenobell doing her best to help her young student not only through the snowstorm but with her lonliness. If you love Wicked and/or Frozen you will probably like this show. If you hate either or both of those shows, you might enjoy this show as well for the fun it pokes at them. If you are unfamiliar with or indifferent to either or both you probably will not enjoy this show as much.

For more about Wicked Frozen or to order tickets, visit www.wickedfrozen.com/nyc.
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We were given free tickets to The Wizard of Oz for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

What: The Wizard of Oz

Where: State Theatre New Jersey 

             15 Livingston Ave.

             New York, NY

Who: All ages

When:  This event occurred  on Friday May 4, 2018
            (For other upcoming tour dates and cities, visit https://wizardofoztour.com/tour-dates/)

Me - The Wizard of Oz was a really good show. Normally, I like shows better than movies but since I know the movie, The Wizard of Oz , so well, I was afraid I wasn't going to like the show. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I really loved the show! It was a lot like the movie was although they did include some songs that were not in the movie. The acting was good. There was a really cute dog that played Toto. It bothered me that dog was white though because the dog is supposed to be black in The Wizard of Oz and white in The Wiz. The singing was pleasant. The costumes were nice. The set was pretty nice too except they didn't have a yellow brick road. It kind of bothered me that they were singing about a yellowbrick road, and they didn't have one. Over all, even though I still like the movie better, it was a really enjoyable show.

Mom - The current touring production of the beloved classic, The Wizard of Oz is a delight. The cast led by the bubbly, Kalie Kaimann is first rate including the adorable Murphy in the role of Toto (although my children were disappointed that the dog was white and not black like the original Toto). While this cast probably won't replace the original stars of the movie in your hearts and minds, they are more than up to the task of taking on these iconic roles. The acting and singing are both just great.  The songs  include all of the well known favorites as well as the Jitterbug number that was famously cut out of the original movie. Other music in the show that was cut from the film includes the intros to If I Only Had a Brain, If I Only Had a Heart, and If I Only Had Courage. While it is certainly easier to do special effects in movies than in stage shows, and the special effects in some touring productions in particular can be kind of cheesy, here they do a terrific job with such special effects as the cyclone, the switch from  the black and white of Kansas to the colorfulness of Oz and back again, and the melting of the witch. Seeing this "wonderful" show real feels like stepping into the hallowed film, and it is extremely enchanting for all ages.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for Funtivity Friday.

Photo credits: All Wicked Frozen production photos by Adam Smith, Jr..