Londonward

I’ve never been one for musical theatre. When people at my middle and high school were raving about the newest school production or a great show they’d been to in New York or in London, I couldn’t get past the overacting, melodrama and cheesy melodies. To me, musicals were camp in a wrong way - in a way that I couldn’t see as funny. I always thought the mundane, down-to-earth musicals like Rent (that people at the time were head over heels for) were really dumb, and couldn’t really see why people wanted to see the “classic” productions of Andrew Lloyd Webber over and over and over again.

I guess I’ve been converted. Thanks to the philanthropy of a friend with a well-paying IT job, I got a chance to go see a production of Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. Despite the really cliché lyrics and themes, the story was captivating, and the semi-obscured seats didn’t really bother me. The story itself is captivating and engaging, ranging from funny to sentimental. Of course, it’s absolutely over the top and camp to the extreme, but for the first time I was able to see past that and enjoy the show for what it was. If I’d have to gripe about something, I’d say the musical score (especially the theme song) sounded a bit like CNN weather report music, with keyboard-driven chimes overlaying soft percussion and other instruments. At no point was the score as grippingly bombastic as I’d hoped it to be, considering the lavish detail in both set and costume design.

Despite the free trip to the theatre, this weekend has proved to be a terrible money sink. I’ve had fun though, so I suppose it’s been worth it.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 7th, 2007 at 0:09 and is filed under London, fun. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.