Broadway in Your Backyard OR: My Realization After Seeing The National Tour of Wicked

        Hello, (Broadway) boys and girls, I'm back!!!! After a prolonged absense from this blog, I have happily returned to share more of the insights I have come to gain from the magical world of Broadway. The idea for my new blog post, readers, came to me from a recent experience I had and the realization that accompanied with it. This is a new realization as it dealt with something that, quite frankly, I seldom experience, but had the great fortune of realizing last weekend. This realization came from experiencing something audiences across the country have been experiencing for nearly a century if not more. I speak, dear readers, of national touring productions of Broadway shows.
       As stated, national tours have been a mainstay in helping audiences get the thrill of Broadway delivered to their cities. As I grew up, as a matter of fact, I'd see the national touring productions of such shows as Jekyll & Hyde, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Phantom of the Opera, and, just this past weekend, Wicked. It wasn't until my last trip that I came to realize that national tours are an essential piece of Broadway, enabling audiences who do not have the means to go see a Broadway show in New York the feel of seeing as close to that Broadway production as possible. In respect to scenery, costumes, direction, elements of the Broadway production are at time included to give these audiences an incredible experience. There may be some distinct variations to the Broadway production (ie an entrance made by a character may be rendered useless as the theater doesn't have a particular trap door or a modification to the set so that it may fit the stage), but audiences continue to experience the feel of a big Broadway blockbuster.
     These touring shows, especially the first tours out, are also usually cast by the same folk who cast the show on Broadway, thereby enabling them to keep things fresh from both of their productions in the area of casting. With a show like Wicked, it is commonpace for a challenging roles such as Elphaba, Glinda, and Fiyero to find themselves reprising their portrayal on the touring stage after Broadway, and vice versa. The current Elphaba on the tour, Jessica Vosk, is purlely sensational in interpreting the iconic role for the first time, and it would not shock this author if at some point her portrayal makes its way to the Gershwin Theatre on Broadway, where Wicked continues to play to packed audiences. Amanda Jane Cooper's Glinda, which had previously ben seen in the show's first national tour (the show is currently on its second), is a bundle of joy that experiences a change in the second act to believable effect. Jeremy Woodard, whose Fiyero on the current tour has perfect chemistry with Vosk while also brilliant acting and singing a rather complex role, should also deserves a chane to take his portrayal to the Great White Way. National touring productions for shows such as Aladdin, Something Rotten, and Hamilton have recently announced that previous cast members of their Broadway productions would reprise their performances in their shows' national tours. Wicked currently features the incredible Fred Applegate, who previously played the Wizard on Broadway prior to taking his portrayal on the road. Fun fact, in the 1920s, a touring production of Hamilton Deane and John Balderston's play adaptation of Dracula would give national attention to its star, catapaulting him to portray the role of the bloodsucking count in a film adaptation, and thus, the legendary career of Bela Lugosi began!
      As a promoter for Broadway shows, I've found that the national tour is more help than harm in encouraging patrons to attend shows they may have seen in touring productions, usually by stating the obvious line that seeing a show on Broadway is an experience like no other. While this may be true, touring productions, especially the current touring production of Wicked, act as a perfect representation of their Broadway counterpart that for reasons of time or money, audiences don't get the opportunity to experience. Regardless, I encourage everyone to experience as much live theater as possible. There is, as you can see, an abundance of oppporutnities whether it be on the road or on the Great White Way. Until the next time, this is Mike signing off, ghost light lighting on!