Dancing Monkeys in Omaha

In Omaha that evening we barely had time to freshen up before we headed out for the evening to see a Broadway musical touring show. Greg's wife had bought tickets for all of us. She had asked Greg if I was OK seeing a Broadway musical.  I laughed when he asked me that.

The show was playing at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Omaha. We got there twenty-five minutes before showtime. We dropped Greg's wife off in front to get the will call. Just getting into the parking garage consumed nearly all that time. Fortunately Greg found a space with time to spare, and we had use of the sky bridge to access the theater.

The theater was teeming and crowded with a good section of the good folk of Omaha. My seats took me up the crowded staircase to the balcony, an aisle seat so I could stretch my legs. I marveled at the renovated interior of the old grand theater, and thought of what kind of people went to see Vaudeville here, a long time ago.

The show we were seeing was Wicked, which is a retelling of the Wizard of Oz. I was familiar with the premise, and knew that many people had liked it. 

The story and the characters were really not to my liking. I felt I was being preached at in some vague postmodern way. Probably that's why Disney figured they could rip off the premise and make a more appealing take on the concept.

But as a production, the show at the Orpehum was very professional and well staged. There were many Cirque de Soleil-styled elements, which were pleasing to watch from up in the balcony.

Probably the best part of the show, from my point of view, was the dancing of the winged monkey characters, who performed on wires and on a scaffold on stage. But really, how can one possibly go wrong with dancing monkeys?