I just don't get why people have to use up their own time ranting and flaming about something they don't like? Especially with such senseless insults? The world's going crazy.

I also really enjoy Wicked. It can be so mezmerizing at times! *sigh* I just don't understand why people would bother with jibber-jabber like how they ridicule musicals in such repulsive ways!

I've watched these forums for a while, and I've found that even the 'sophisticated' bashers can be incredibly rude.

What kind of seats are best to get, when seeing Wicked? Is it a musical where seats nearer the front are better or is it better to be further back to take in the whole scenery/atmosphere etc? Thanks!

I think that in front is fine. I saw it when it toured to Cleveland and I sat in the fourth row from the pit on stage right and it was perfect. I couldn't have asked for better.

Luckyyy. I got in the way back. It wasn't terrible, but I got some tired eyes after that night XD

i agree with the starter of this topic. i mean, it would just spoil the fun and the business of the people who have spent their monies and energies on producing and bringing the show to the public. so its not random, its just.

Insulting it seems incredibly pointless to me. You're posting in a forum ran by a ton of fans of the show. What kind of response are you expecting?

HOWEVER, having seen the show and being very underwhelmed, I enjoy discussing it only because I'm trying to understand what people like about it.

A belief that a show is poor is just as valid as a belief that a show is superb. I think both opinions should be shared.

I agree. As I said in the ALW forum, there is no handbook or set of rules. It's an art form, and art is what the artist makes it.

Why do you say there are no rules? Of course there are rules in art. What do you think Hammerstein told Sondheim that day he was asked to comment By George?

Art isn't something the artist randomly scrambles together. It is constructed, based on experience. Which constitutes the rules. What works and what doesn't? One can choose to follow them or break them by establishing new rules.

As for the topic - if the quality of Wicked is questioned, why don't you fans try to counterargue instead of telling the questioner to go somewhere else.

Personally I can't stand Wicked. Or rather it leaves me utterly indifferent. But I love musicals, and I think I should criticise musicals I think are bad - because I love the general genre so much that I think bad musicals harm the reputation of the genre as a whole. I think that not liking Wicked is an even better reason to discuss it at a Wicked forum than coming here to write inconsequential things about how pretty G(a)linda's dress is.

Perhaps there isn't a set of definite rules. "Good" and "Bad" musicals are all based on opinion. It just depends on your perspective/preference.

Both yes and no. There are a few rules I'd say is definite, like the lyrics writing Sins Sondheim identifies in the Hat, but they can possibly be broken with skill.

There is, though, as Aleksander here often makes an effort to explain, a definite dirfference between what one subjectively enjoys and what is objectively well written.

My usual examples are Which Witch, which I love but can easlily point of the weaknesses in the writing of; and Gypsy, which anyone can see is extremely well written, but I just don't like it personally.

My personal feelings towards Which Witch and Gypsy are of course irrelevant. What matters is how well they are written, which one can judge based on how skillfully they follow the rules the writers have chosen to apply to the shows respectively.