Wicked - National Tour?

We saw Wicked on the preview Thursday so we heard all of the leads and saw the best show we have ever seen. Plot is weak but Wicked is a huge spectacle even before you enter the theatre as the whole street that the Regent theatre is in has green floodlights in all of the trees. Most of the trams and busses have Wicked advertising and there are banners around the city. The coloured martini glasses are a good marketing idea with their potions lit up in reds and greens. The programme is ok but better value is the book Wicked The Grimmerie A Behind The Scenes Look At The Broadway Musical which I bought in Melbourne for $50 at Dymocks. It even has the script in it. http://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Grimmerie-Behind-Scenes-Broadway/dp/1401308201 The book looks ancient and damaged but it is the printing effects. The set is great as is all aspects of this show. The set extends into the auditorium. The stage boxes are used as balconies for the cast and monkeys and there are two followspot positions for some of the fast stage action. There are two huge wooden beams that are half way out to the dress circle and some of the flying monkeys are flown from these locations so they fly over the audience. The scenery is flown and trucked as the clockwork themed set moves in and out for scene chnges. There is a lot of detail in the set so if you go to see Wicked several times you will see more detail each time. There is Half Price Tix which will eventually get tickets later in the season. The highlight of the show is Defying Gravity. Elphaba is lifted on a cherry picker as a flying harness would not work for this effect and with the lighting, black drapes and smoke, it looks like she is hovering in mid air. There are a lot of articles on the web describing how the set was designed, lighting was programmed and effects evolved. Elpaba has a green followspot on her whenever she is on stage to accentuate her green makeup. But reading these articles beforehand did not spoil the show, they just give you things to look forward to. It was not an expensive week as we also saw Scarlett O'harra At The Crimson Parrot and Guys and Dolls so put Wicked high n your holiday wish list. ALIA were advertising that a lighting tour to Wicked was being planned so for the Melbournites keep an eye ontheir web site. You need to see Wicked from the dress circle because of the special clockwork gear gobos they use and from the stalls near the stage because of the amazing set and costumes. This is not great but it is a you tube Defying Gravity on Broadway to give you an idea of the set and lighting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGPuwrv3XWU