Saturday, September 04, 2010

Wicked Greetings From HEL!

Wicked Greetings From HEL!

Greeting from Helsinki, Finland!

Yesterday afternoon, I touched down at a relatively chilly HEL with the Love Of My Life (LOML) and one of our dearest friends. My LOML and I are still trekking the globe in our continued quest to see Stephen Schwartz's Wicked around the world.

Regular readers know that for my LOML and I, this is "our musical." Some couples have their song, we have our musical. (And only our dearest of dear friends completely understand why this tuner has resonated with us since we first saw it two days after it opened on Broadway nearly 7 years ago.)

By the time this posts, I'll have just experienced the first "non-replicated" production of the musical at Finland's Helsingin Kaupungin Teatteri (Helsinki City Theatre) during a Saturday afternoon matinee (there are no evening performances today). Non-replicated means that this Wicked does not use the original Broadway staging. Instead, it's been conceived with new creative designs under Hans Berndtsson's direction. But glimpse through the official program, and you'll see many familiar elements.

The Helsinki staging marks the fourth language and the sixth nation in which my LOML and I have seen Wicked. What a wonderful journey it's been, particularly in experiencing such different cultures, sights, cuisines and best of all, the people.

Currently, this production of Wicked is selling tickets through December 31, 2010. I'll provide more insights on the show once I return home from this Oz next week.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).


In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.

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posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Saturday, September 04, 2010 0 comments

Monday, August 30, 2010

Wicked To The Finnish

Wicked To The Finnish

On Thursday, August 26, the very first non-replicated production of Stephen Schwartz's global phenom Wicked premiered at Finland's Helsingin Kaupungin Teatteri (Helsinki City Theatre). After nearly seven years of sold-out or nearly sold-out performances on Broadway, Wicked remains the number one grossing show on the Great White Way.

"Non-replicated" means that this Wicked is not bound by the original Broadway staging and is being conceived with entirely fresh creative designs under Hans Berndtsson's direction.

But fear not, die-hard Wicked fans, because although Schwartz's score and Winnie Holzman's book have been translated into the Finnish language, they are the two elements that remain essentially intact.

For production stills, along with an approximate English translation, as well as initial audience reaction in Helsinki, please go here.

This production allow audiences to see an actress portraying Dorothy for the very first time. But of course, the real stars of Wicked are Maria Ylipää as Elphaba opposite Anna-Maija Tuokko as Glinda. Other cast members include Ursula Salo (Madame Morrible), Tuukka Leppänen (Fiyero), Eero Saarinen (the Wizard), Antti Lang (Boq), Vuokko Hovatta (Nessarose) and Heikki Sankari (Doctor Dillamond).

Currently, this production of Wicked is selling tickets through December 31, 2010. I'll be in the audience this coming Saturday with a full report to come shortly after.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.

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posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Monday, August 30, 2010 0 comments

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