This is a wonderful video. It’s the first-night performance of the musical Wicked when it returned to Broadway last week, after being closed down for 18 months. The audience is wildly ecstatic, bursting with anticipation, waiting a year-and-a-half not only to see live theater, but -- I'm sure -- their very favorite show. And three moments here stand out. The first is when there’s a surprise pre-curtain speech, and it’s given by one of the actresses from the original production – Kristin Chenoweth. The audience goes crazy. The second is when there’s a downbeat and the overture begins. The audience goes crazy. And the third is the best of all. It comes after the opening song when Glinda the Good Witch makes her entrance. That gets a wild reaction, of course -- after all, this audience of the show's biggest fans have been waiting a year-and-a-half for this -- but it’s not The Great Moment. That’s when she delivers her first line. And as much as it sounds like it’s an ad-lib to the crowd for opening night – and it’s so perfect it's almost impossible to believe it wasn't written for the moment, so much so that I suspect I would have thought that if it wasn’t described on the YouTube page – no, this is actually Glinda’s first line, indeed it's the first spoken line in the show, as written by Winnie Holtzman. Sometimes, the kismet of life is amazing. With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. And the audience goes crazy. And it brings down the house and stops the show.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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