TC

Flame123, If you have a pair of small opera glasses, bring them along. I found the Ann Hould-Ward costumes to be fantastic. You'll really want to have a closer look.

starrs

TC, are you talking about Wicked costumes?

LittleWing

Duck and cover TC, someone has their playbill out

starrs

"Duck and cover TC, someone has their playbill out"
No. Didn't recognize the name and googled.

I don't think AHW designed the costumes for Wicked, but I do agree that they are absolutely amazing. One of my favorite parts of the Behind the Emerald Curtain tour was the chance to stand inches away from several of them. As wonderful as they look on stage, they are incredible to see (and touch).

One tidbit that I found fascinating was that once the production was given the go-ahead the fabric was ordered - and enough fabric to have on hand for years to come. So much green was used in the Oz scenes that there was a worldwide shortage of green everything - tulle, velvet, brocade, etc. They literally bought out everything they could get their hands on from every source and folks who needed green fabric had to wait a while to have it manufactured. Elphaba's second act dress is absolutely incredible close up - and you "know" Kristen Chenowith is tiny, but when you see Glinda's gown it's hard to believe that she's that small. (I later met her after Promises, Promises and was shocked again). One of the guys leading the tour was Dr. Dillamond and he actually slips on his mask/headpiece.

So, TC, if you like the costumes from afar consider taking the tour (link above upthread). You'll love it. You'll also have time to really see the exhibits in the second story lobby and the memorablia there is exciting to see too (or at least it was for me)

TC

Ooops! My bad....Susan Hilferty. Sorry. I do a lot of volunteer work at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and both designers spent quite a bit of time doing shows at the G. I remembered that it was one of "our" designers who did Wicked, just confused about which one. Forgive me?

At any rate....they are still amazing.

lavana

@Flame123, wondering how the seats were, now that i am facing the same choice as you were last year!

nytraveler

Can't imagine anyone saying that loge seats are the best.

The best seats in any theater are in the orchestra starting in about the 10th row (in front of that and you may be too low) in the center - and back about 10 or 12 rows - unless that puts you far under the balcony (which can deaden the sound a little).

For the balcony (loge or mezzanine) you are always looking at the stage from above - which IMHO is never the best view. (But we don;t go that often - so only go for the best seats. perhaps if we went every week we would look at other options.)

Flame123

Lavana - the seats we had were actually quite good. They were not "the best seats" in the house as nytraveler above writes. Of course 10th row orchestra would be much better but they were not available, even though I tried booking way in advance. That said, all three of us (myself, husband and teenage son) agreed that Wicked was THE worst play we ever did see (sorry Starrs........). It is all a matter of personal taste of course. I do hope you will enjoy it and your experience will be more enjoyable.

HowardR

You and your family are not alone, Flame123, in your dislike of Wicked. While not calling it the worst we'd ever seen, we were very underwhelmed by it.
As for the "best" seats, there's no universally accepted opinion. If it means anything, house seats are usually around the 5th and 6th rows. Some of us favor the center of the front mezzanine. We find nothing wrong with the view from that angle! But, don't get me wrong, I certainly wouldn't turn down seats in, say, the 6th row center in the orchestra!