Wicked Continues to Delight

My fifth Wicked experience in Cleveland was just as entertaining as the last three. As a bonus, I got to attend with a "Wicked Virgin" who had never seen the show, so I got to co-opt her experience as well.

Hard as it is to believe, my friend Missie had never seen the Wicked Witch of the West musical, based loosely on Gregory Maguire's novel. She had never heard more than snippets of the score. So this was all new to her.

To me, I thought the actress who portrayed Galinda was just a bit over the top (which is saying something, considering the material.) Missie thought she was wonderful. I thought the sound mix turned the chorus into an almost unintelligible, though tuneful, burble. Missie thought the songs were delightful. I thought the trumpet player in the orchestra needed to bring his volume down a notch and blend better with the other musicians. Missie scarcely noticed. So, my reactions were instantly tempered by Missie's enthusiasm. And it was a better experience for me as a result.

We have yet to find a decent lunch solution on a Saturday afternoon in Cleveland, so we skipped lunch altogether this time around. During intermission, we skipped down to Parnell's Pub for shots and potty. After the show, I picked up some Wicked merch (including an awesome new musical snowglobe) and then we walked over to Becky's for cocktails.

Missie enthused about the show, we waited for the parking deck to clear out, drove back to Cuyahoga Falls, met Angie and went to River City Bar & Grille for dinner and more drinks.

Some Thoughts on The Day of the Doctor

Whovians, don't hate me, but I didn't especially like the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special: The Day of the Doctor. Sorry, it's true.

I see it as just another nail in the coffin Steven Moffat started building to put an end to everything Russel T. Davies did with Doctor Who.

When Moffat got control of the show, he ushered in a new regeneration (David Tennant's decision, not Moffat's to be fair), a new TARDIS redesign (inside and out) and even a new sonic screwdriver. He went to great lengths to make "his" Doctor as different from his two predecessors as possible - less emotive and more whacky. His cybermen were different from Davies', his Daleks came in colors, his Doctor could use his regeneration energy at will, etc.

Moffat made his intentions very clear early in Eleven's first season: time can be rewritten and everything that came before was poppycock. "Of course, how could a Giant Cyberman walk over Victorian London without anyone remembering?" Matt Smith's Doctor asks in The Time of Angels. Because time, and RTD's contributions to the Who canon, can be rewritten.

When RTD relaunched Doctor Who and rescued it from oblivion, he used the Time War to make the Doctor the last of the Time Lords. Not only did this fuel the drama for his incarnations of the character, explaining his loneliness and need for companions, it made the Doctor unique in all the universe. That uniqueness, that "survivor of his species' extinction," let the viewer know that his adventures were of solitary and specific interest.

Now, Moffat will ultimately bring back Gallifrey along with the Time Lords and the Doctor will be just another eccentric hailing from a race of near-gods. Moffat, like Davies, is an excellent writer. I am especially enamored of his River Song/Melody Pond character and storyline. But as a showrunner, he reminds me a bit too much of John Nathan-Turner.

Don't get me wrong, there were things I liked about The Day of the Doctor. Seeing Billie and David together again was a delight. Watching Ten and Eleven interact was terrific. I enjoyed the mini-preview of Peter Capaldi's Doctor. And, of course, seeing Tom Baker in Doctor Who was a thrill. He is, after all, my Doctor. I do wish more of the surviving Doctors could have been included.

On balance, the airing of An Adventure in Space and Time was incredibly enjoyable. In my mind, it is the real 50th anniversary celebration.