With this season at the Pantages, I’ve mentioned that there are a bunch of shows that I have seen before. It’s still a novelty to me to see a show more than once so it’s exciting to see shows again. I can pay attention to different details when I’m more familiar with they show and it always brings a new meaning to it. And while I love when something in a show surprises me, I love it just as much when those surprises are now expected and I can enjoy other aspects of the show.
This past week was another repeat show for me when we had tickets for “Wicked”. It didn’t seem that long ago that I had that show as a part of my season, but when I looked back at my blog post about it I realized it was almost 4 years ago! I couldn’t believe it’s been that long since that season, but I guess I’ve been doing season tickets for a lot longer than I feel like I have. All of us in my group were excited to see the show and I love when we are all as enthusiastic about a show as everyone else.
But because of holiday stuff and travel schedules, it was tough for all 4 of us to get together for the show. We can change our dates on our tickets, but we can’t always get them in the same price section as the original tickets. So sometimes if we change the date we have to pay a little bit. Since I could keep my original date and didn’t want to spend a bit more on tickets, I decided to go the night we were scheduled to be there. And Grace decided to keep her ticket the same too so it was the 2 of us out at the show that night.
Even though these tickets were a part of our current season tickets, they were an add-on show so we weren’t in our normal seats. While I love our normal seats and being so close to the stage, it can be fun to watch a show I’ve already seen from a different viewpoint. We were up in the balcony this time, but we were the first row behind the aisle so it felt like we didn’t have to be right behind a bunch of other people.
Grace had mentioned to me before the show started that she hadn’t seen the show before, and I was so excited for her to see it. But I didn’t realize she didn’t know the story that well and she had a bunch of funny moments where she was very surprised by how characters in the show connected to characters from the “Wizard of Oz” movie. I tried not to laugh when she was totally shocked, but we both had a good giggle when she was blown away by a plot point. It’s so fun to get to watch a friend experience a show for the first time and see their reactions.
The show was just as good as I remembered it. The songs are always fun songs and the actors were amazing. The woman who played Elphaba has played the role on Broadway and currently is the actor who has played the role the longest. The Glinda we were supposed to see was also from the Broadway cast, but we saw the understudy that night. Being an understudy is a tough job since you don’t get to rehearse the part as often as you’d like, but the understudy did an incredible job. She was so fun to watch and made the role her own. And all of the rest of the cast was just as impressive.
I did miss being so close to the stage and being able to see more reactions on the actors’ faces, but being further back let me see the show as an entire piece and not just a part that I focused on. I got to see the show framed by the stage in a different way and it was interesting to see that. I’ve only sat in the balcony a few times compared to the dozens of times I’ve been in the orchestra. So I tried to enjoy the experience for what it was and enjoy having a new view of the show.
The one advantage of our seats in the balcony was that it was much faster to get out of the theater than it is from our normal seats. So within minutes of the show ending, Grace and I were outside and saying goodbye so I could drive home and she could catch the subway back to her place. But I had to take one more look back at the theater because it was so beautiful being decorated for the holidays.
Our next show is next month and I’m hoping all 4 of us can attend the show together. So far, for the 3 shows we’ve had, we haven’t all been able to be there together. I understand that all of us have slightly crazy schedules and it can be tough to coordinate things. But one of the things I love about having season tickets with my friends is getting to be with my friends. We’ve still got a bunch of shows this season to make that happen, and I know it will.
You Might Also Like
Another Round Of A Repeat Musical (or Seeing A Show A Different Way)
A Night Of Magic (or Not Quite A Musical)
Big Musical Instead of Big Game (or Another Sunday Night Out)
Another Night At Pantages (or Hedwig Take 2)
Getting “Wicked” (or Santa, A Sunset, And A Perfect Show)
The Last Show Of The Season (or Ending On A High Note)
