I am just going to say it: Wicked is the best musical ever! Here’s why: the music is by Stephen Schwartz and amazing. The two female leads get to play strong women in this prequel to the iconic The Wizard of Oz. Every inch of visible skin on Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) is green and she flies on stage. Galinda the Good, her nemesis, arrives in a beautiful metal bubble. There are some wonderful references to the Wizard of Oz. The scenery is constantly changing… ok, I’ll stop, but you get the idea. 

When I heard that Wicked was coming back to Mortenson Hall at the Bushnell for the third time, I knew that this time I had to take my youngest son to see it. I had chaperoned a middle school trip to see it on Broadway with his brother and the photo of me standing next to a Wicked poster outside the theater was my Facebook profile picture for a very long time. So I ordered tickets online to the Hartford show a while ago and we scored the front row of the balcony for the evening performance.

We decided to spend the afternoon at the Connecticut Science Center and enjoyed visiting this beautiful new glass building in downtown Hartford. We found the Bushnell without much trouble and parking was much easier than I thought it would be and free. Parking at the matinee can be a little more difficult according to the Bushnell’s web site. There are Wicked signs all over Harford and we even spied the Wicked tractor trailer parked behind the theater. We took advantage of one of the promotions being offered by restaurants for Wicked ticket holders and had a great meal at Dish Bar and Grill.

I did not get to see the original cast with the “force of nature” Idina Menzel and the multi-talented Kristin Chenoweth, but I have listened to the original cast album far too many times. The cast of the traveling company did not disappoint and in fact, Dee Roscioli has the distinction of playing the role of Elphaba more than any other actress with over 1000 performances. She recently completed her run on Broadway, after closing the record-breaking Chicago production and performing the role in San Francisco. At our performance Megan Campanile covered the part of Galinda for Amanda Jane Cooper.

I counted six empty seats on the orchestra level and there were a few in the back of the balcony. There were two young ladies sitting next to us that had come from New Hampshire to Hartford just to see this show. While we were home in less than an hour, they had a three-hour commute at 10:30 p.m. Honestly, I could see this show over and over, as many a teenaged girl has done, and never get tired of it. I really enjoyed sharing it with someone who had not seen it before. It was definitely worth the trip.

Wicked runs through September 11.