Wicked Manila

When Wicked opened in Singapore almost 2 years ago, I couldn't contain my excitement and I know my excitement will only be paralleled by my sister's.  I wanted her to fly to Singapore so we can watch the show together but circumstances didn't allow her to do so.  

So when they announced that the mega-musical will finally open in Manila, I immediately bought tickets for the two of us and we finally got to watch the show last Saturday. 

We arrived at CCP 30 minutes before the show, the lobby was already chaotic.  It was a good kind of chaos, you can feel the excitement in the air.  People were talking animatedly, posing against the Wicked wall and getting hold of souvenirs and programs. 

The show started 10-minutes late, which I found unusual, but I really didn't mind. There were minor issues with the sound system but it didn't take away the magical experience of watching Wicked on stage right here in Manila.  

We spent the next three hours totally enthralled and wishing for the show to never end.

Too bad we didn't run into Tin who flew to Singapore to watch Wicked and is now working for the company that's responsible in bringing Wicked to our shores.

Weekend in Singapore

Rhommel finally decided to pay us a visit from Manila last weekend. I picked him up at the airport last Saturday. He had a really really minor altercation with immigration which caused him to be among the last few to exit out. We were both hungry but he didn't want to go to Aston's or anything familiar so we ended up at the food court.





Since we both lacked sleep, we didn't have the energy to continue exploring so we both went home and slept. What a weekend!

At around 4, when Em-J got back from work, we all got ready and headed out to Orchard. We ran into Analyn and we shared Em-J's Bonchon chickens. He insisted on eating first before heading to dinner.



Eco was also having a delayed birthday celebration so we met up with them at Outram Park. Sadly, the restaurant was closed so we ended back up in Somerset at Brotzeit.







Eco was very generous and we had a feast! I particularly liked the camembert cheese with cranberry sauce and the schnitzels. The boneless all meat pork knuckle, I was not particularly fond of. I found that it lacked a bit of flavor.





We then went to Starbucks at Yishun to have coffee while waiting for Hugo's screening.



The next day, we woke up late, just in time to get to Marina Bay to catch Wicked with Stu. We then spent time exploring the vicinity while waiting for Makansutra to open at 6.







Eating there was Rhommel's only request so we ordered some of our favorites and surprisingly, we were able to finish everything off.



Surely where there are lots of eating, it's bound to be a fun weekend and it sure was.

Wicked

Wicked has all of Manila's theater fans very excited, thanks largely to a bootlegged copy uploaded on YouTube a few years back. U.S., London and even Australia are too far for us so when they announced that they were opening here in Singapore, we were among the first in line.



I got free invites to the Gala premiere so I went with Abby and Eco. I didn't watch the show cause my tickets were for the next day but it was already quite an experience being there. They had a green carpet leading to the entrance of the theatre and there were a lot of local celebrities being interviewed.



I was overwhelmed when I saw the set. It was exactly the same with I saw from the YouTube videos complete with the time dragon. Very very cool! They were a bit cool with people approaching the stage during intermission to have their pictures taken during the first week. Now, you couldn't even approach the orchestra below to take a peek.





On a side note, the ushers need to learn a thing or two about good customer service, we wanted to have our pictures taken at the lobby behind the huge Wicked wall but they looked at us and gestured that the area is already closed. No explanations, no smile. We had to settle for the TV outside.



That minor inconvenience aside, it was really quite an experience. Everything was grand and more than the beauty of the set, I was very impressed with their lighting. They were able to simulate rain that looked very realistic. One Short Day and Defying Gravity were also numbers that were made more effective because of it.

The leads were very good with crystal clear voices, as Tin said, she had a lot of goosebumps all throughout the performance. Here's Tin with David Harris who was outside signing his CDs.



Last weekend, Rhommel and Stu flew in from Manila to supposedly watch the closing performance of Wicked but it got extended till April. For those who haven't seen it, it's worth ever penny.



There are rumors swirling that they are also opening in Manila soon but I can't confirm, I really hope they do because it's theatre magic that one should really experience.

Another side note,  we all love the  theatre's lobby. It's a great backdrop for photo ops. :p

Return to Oz

One of my all time favorite movies when I was a kid was "Return to Oz". I must've watched it more than a dozen times. I also bought the illustrated book of the movie as well as several coloring books. Thinking about it now, I am surprised as to how vividly I still recall most of the scenes in the movie particularly the one where the princess that Dorothy meets takes her to a hall where different heads are displayed and I remember everytime I'd watch it, I'd wish for the princess to pick a less menacing head.

My introduction to it's predecessor came much much later. In fact, I didn't know that The Wizard of Oz even existed. We were staying at my aunt's house when my parents decided to watch it. I fell asleep halfway through the film. I didn't like it because I was disappointed that the Tin Man was a person in make-up as are the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow. The yellow brick road was not made of real bricks and Oz did not look as spectacular as I remember it.

The book's pages tattered and torn, the betamax no longer in fashion, I soon outgrew Oz. Then came Wicked.

I downloaded the entire soundtrack after falling in love with Defying Gravity which I chanced upon in Tuxq's playlist. This sudden interest was brought about by Hogi saying that she has a video of the musical and upon finding out online that rights to mount the show is not yet available.

I have been searching for a copy of Wicked (novel) for two weeks now to no avail. I saw one at Bibliarch last Saturday, unfortunately, it has already been reserved. I also wanted to revisit "The Wizard of Oz" so when I saw the remastered 2-disc DVD at AstroPlus, I immediately grabbed it. (side-note: after the longest time, I finally saw Romy and Michelle on video so I also bought it along with a remastered version of Cats). Return to Oz was not available, however, so I'm patiently downloading it in my PC. Too bad that there's not a lot of seeders so it's taking a lot longer than usual.