{"id":4836,"date":"2017-11-22T04:48:12","date_gmt":"2017-11-22T12:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/?p=4836"},"modified":"2017-11-22T04:48:12","modified_gmt":"2017-11-22T12:48:12","slug":"off-to-see-the-wizard-brisbane-australia-11-22-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/?p=4836","title":{"rendered":"Off to see the Wizard \u2013 Brisbane, Australia \u2013 [11\/22\/2017]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"You\u2019re out of the woods
\nYou\u2019re out of the dark
\nYou\u2019re out of the night
\nStep into the sun step into the light
\nKeep straight ahead for the most glorious place
\nOn the face of the earth or the sky<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

You never know what this job is going to bring on the days we are able to go into port. Sometimes it\u2019s planned (our trips to the various theme parks this contract were planned for example), and sometimes it\u2019s not (exploring the night market in Cairns was not planned, brilliant, but unplanned); and then there are the days that are not only unplanned but that are so \u2026perfect\u2026that you couldn\u2019t actually have had them work out better if you had<\/em> planned them. Today? Was one of those days.<\/p>\n

For ages I have been saying I need to take Amras to a real show, because theatre is such a huge part of my life and such a huge part of me<\/em>, that not sharing it with someone close to me is something I cannot even comprehend. But this was something that I was thinking was going to be a long time in the future because even in our lines of work, there are some things you just never<\/em> think you\u2019re going to have time for.<\/p>\n

This morning we decided to take the local ferry into Brisbane City Center instead of taking the free shuttle. Mostly because we felt like going on adventure and because we were rather tired of sitting on a bus with a whole bunch of other people. The ferry was lovely and refreshing as it zipped along the river, whipping our hair into our faces and blessing us with fresh cool air for what felt like the first time in a week (the ship\u2019s AC has been on the fritz and this is a very warm area of the world). It took about an hour to get into the city, and the ferry dropped us off at South Bank, which was the opposite side of the river from where the shuttle would have dropped us but exactly where we had planned for as we had a vague idea of riding the Wheel of Brisbane that was basically next door to the stop. Deciding to at least explore a bit first we started wandering around the base of the wheel and found ourselves ambling past the Performing Arts Center, which \u2013 like most theatres around the world \u2013 boasted huge posters of everything that was coming to play in the new season. Those posters always wrench my heart a bit because they always seem to be starting the day after<\/em> we\u2019re in port, or they\u2019re only running in the evenings, so we only glanced at the dates. Instead we went looking for lunch\u2026which was when Amras pointed to the banner sign above the entrance to the theatre restaurant<\/p>\n

Wizard of Oz? Wait\u2026Andrew Lloyd Webber\u2019s *new* production of Wizard of Oz? Oh my\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

And that was all we really thought of it, a thing that sounded cool, and might be worth looking up later, but that\u2019s about it\u2026we went into lunch\u2026and saw the signs noting \u201chigh tea on select matinees\u201d ..and that the tea shop with those signs was open, which meant\u2026<\/p>\n

This is a theatre caf\u00e9 right?<\/em><\/p>\n

Yeah, definitely<\/em><\/p>\n

So, what if they\u2019re all here to see a show\u2026that means there\u2019s a show running..<\/em><\/p>\n

The sign did say Wizard of Oz started Nov 4th<\/sup>\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Well wouldn\u2019t that<\/u> be awesome if we could catch it?<\/em><\/p>\n

I blinked at him. I honestly wasn\u2019t sure I had just heard what he said right, but he wasn\u2019t joking! So we all but ran to the ticket office and \u2013 not holding our breath \u2013 asked if there were tickets for today\u2019s performance. Keep in mind this was just about an hour before curtain.<\/p>\n

And there were!! And they were actually good seats! Way up in the upper balcony, but close enough to the front that they were unobstructed and had a perfectly clear view of the stage \u2013 if a slightly distant one.<\/p>\n

So instead of shopping, or exploring, or even going to the zoo, we went off to see the wizard!<\/p>\n

And I heard real proper show music for the first time in at least a year. A full overture, finally. I think I would have paid full ticket price just for that overture. Overtures have an energy to them, they have brought me tears of joy since I was a child, and maybe that\u2019s why they always will.<\/p>\n

The show was brilliant<\/em>, close enough to the original that you felt connected to it, while having enough that was fresh and new to keep you completely wrapped up in it. We laughed, we cried, and yes, a great many of us sang along (don\u2019t worry, quietly). There were new songs added, but even though they were clearly a little more on the modern side, they fit well and worked with the characters who sang them. The leads that were playing Glinda and the Wicked Witch had both played those same parts in the Australian production of Wicked<\/em> and you could tell<\/em>, the woman playing the Witch had a powerhouse voice that could really only be<\/em> an \u201cElphaba\u201d. As for Dorothy herself, let\u2019s say this: there were times \u2013 given the distance we were from the stage \u2013 that I had to remind myself that was in fact not watching Judy. Not because of her voice, her voice was very much her own, but because of the way she carried herself, her motions her character, somehow you could tell that this was a girl who was very much aware of the iconic status of the character she was portraying. And that is always always<\/em> a good thing. Material that is so close to so many people is not easy to handle, and she did it masterfully.<\/p>\n

With one song in particular of course, I can only imagine how much of a challenge stepping up to sing it must have been, Somewhere Over the Rainbow<\/em> isn\u2019t just a song, it\u2019s a feeling, and it\u2019s woven into entertainment history, even though it so nearly ended up on the cutting room floor. The little girl in me held her breath as Dorothy stepped up to the dirty farm-yard fence, in her cover-alls and pig-tails, and launched into the seldom sung verse. That song\u2026that song means so much to so many\u2026and it was wonderful to hear it done right. Really right.<\/p>\n

The costumes were stunning, and included \u2013 as always \u2013 a few costume changes that I still can\u2019t quite figure out (and in truth, don\u2019t want to) and the use of projections for things like the twister and pieces of the flying monkeys were absolutely seamless.<\/p>\n

They kept large pieces of the original choreography, including \u2013 much to my immense glee \u2013 the original dance for \u201cwe\u2019re off to see the wizard\u201d because after all, some things are so iconic that not<\/em> including them would have seemed \u2026wrong.<\/p>\n

There were two dogs listed in the program as playing Toto. I\u2019m not sure if that means that two dogs played that part each show or if they alternated, but whatever the case, the animals were beautifully trained and absolutely adorable. Since the audience was full of kids, the dog(s) also got almost<\/em> more applause than Dorothy and the Witches.<\/p>\n

I will never not need this. This will never ever not be a part of me. Amras mentioned later that I clapped extra hard for Dorothy\u2026I didn\u2019t realize I had done that. But he followed up that comment with something else<\/p>\n

Of course you did\u2026because you want to be<\/u><\/em> her<\/em><\/p>\n

And that is absolutely 100% true. On many levels. And I think it will always be true. And maybe I can\u2019t go into that too much because I would start crying, but they would be good<\/em> tears, so that\u2019s okay too.<\/p>\n

After we finished our journey to Oz, and I had purchased my ruby slippers t-shirt for my collection of show t-shirts (\u201cshoes to die for\u201d\u2026as if I\u2019m going to resist that, sadly the soundtrack album is only on amazon so it will have to wait until I am home to do on online order), we emerged from the theatre and went in search of food, a search which took us meandering through the rest of the city until we finally ended up back on the promande we had started from under the foot of the Wheel of Brisbane.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s just see how much it is..<\/em><\/p>\n

I said, thinking we had pretty much finished adventuring for the day<\/p>\n

Okay.<\/em><\/p>\n

And the next thing I know Amras is at the ticket window buying us two tickets. So we not only got to soar over Oz, but over Brisbane as well.<\/p>\n

And at the very very end of the day, we found ourselves at a chocolate shop sharing one of the best ice cream sundaes I\u2019ve ever had..<\/p>\n

Yeah\u2026I get paid to do this\u2026<\/p>\n

My life? My life is\u2026currently leaving me speechless.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You\u2019re out of the woods You\u2019re out of the dark You\u2019re out of the night Step into the sun step into the light Keep straight ahead for the most glorious place On the face of the earth or the sky … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[98,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grand-asiaaustralia-2017","category-grand-cruises"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3GtNE-1g0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4836"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4838,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4836\/revisions\/4838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}