Wicked, the smash Broadway musical, which started life in a pre-production run in San Francisco in 2003 at the Curran theater, is finally back in San Francisco at the Orpheum Theater. The return to San Francisco brings with it a nice surprise, and that’s Deedee Magno (who is of Filipino descent), playing Nessarose. If you watch any mainstream media you’re already aware of how few parts Asians (and most minorities) get in movies, musicals and plays.
It’s especially a nice touch when a role that doesn’t call for an Asian actor gets filled with an Asian actor, especially since roles that are written for Asians quite often get filled with Caucasian mainstream actors, as witnessed by the controversy surrounding Miss Saigon, when the role of the Engineer (Tran Van Dinh) went to Jonathan Pryce.
I was lucky enough to see the production of Wicked on the first of February, and it met and exceeded all of my expectations. I will admit that I have been a fan of musicals ever since I saw Yul Brenner in the 1979 production of The King and I on Broadway.
Since I’m on the discussion of Broadway musicals, I also want to give a special kudos to Phylicia Rashad who starred on Broadway as the witch in the production of Into the Woods in 1988. She had the tenacity to convince the producers to cast an African American woman not only in the role of the witch, but as one of the step-sisters as well. It made for a memorable show, and one I was proud to have seen live on stage.
So if you get a chance, go see Wicked, it’s worth it if you have an affinity for musicals.
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5 Comments to “Wicked, with Deedee Magno, Returns to San Francisco”
Ernie wrote:
Does anyone else remember DeeDee Magno from Disney’s The Party?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWk703joO-Q
Aww yeah! Time to do the running man!
Posted on 10-Feb-09 at 2:52 pm | Permalink
Jeff wrote:
The Daughter has been bugging me for months to get Wicked tickets, so I’ll probably end up seeing it.
Posted on 10-Feb-09 at 5:14 pm | Permalink
Debby wrote:
I loved DeeDee when she was on the Mickey Mouse Club. She was my idol; my friends used to call me DeeDee.
Posted on 20-Feb-09 at 8:12 am | Permalink
ErnieAtLYD wrote:
I finally caught a chance to watch Wicked this weekend. Not as strong as the Broadway Cast when they were around for the first run in San Francisco, but DeeDee did a great job. And she can wheel around the stage with ease!
Posted on 16-Jun-09 at 6:08 pm | Permalink
jeffat8asians wrote:
I recently saw Wicked with The Wife and The Daughter. In addition to Dee-Dee Magno, another Asian-American lead was Alexander Selma, who played opposite to her as Boq. His entry in Playbill says that he is a “Proud Pinoy.” There were other Asian Americans in the cast according to Playbill and my observations, such as Kristen Faith Oei, Allison Leo, Robert Pendilla, and Kehau Ahu.
Posted on 16-Aug-09 at 5:03 pm | Permalink
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