Iwas delighted to be present for the Cabaret Benefit of  “A Wicked Night Off’, a production presented by the cast of ‘Wicked’ made possible through ‘Broadway Cares, Equity For Aids’ (BCEFA), fund raising efforts to benefit local charities. What made this evening even more special was that the generous donations by the attendees through their ticket purchases, a silent auction and a live auction. Proceeds from the performance benefitted‘Stagewest’ and ‘The AIDS Project Of Central Iowa’. I can’t say enough good things about the cast of Wicked for taking their time doing what they do best….. entertain!  A huge applause to the cast and productive team of Daniel Torres, Courtney Iventosch and Don Richard!!

What started out as a fun evening of being entertained, turned more exciting when my partner Mark Matteo and I decided to join the fun and bid on a couple of live auction packages. Mark took a commanding lead to purchase the ‘Greenifying Visit to Wicked’ package and was one of two winners. He would have a backstage tour and then be escorted to Elphaba’s (Anne Brummel) to watch the transformation of becoming a green witch. He and a guest would be right there where ‘green’ magic happens.Not to be out done, I decided that a I would enjoy a chance on stage with the cast and was one of the winners of the ;‘ Walk-On With Wicked’ packages.  Watching the magic from the wings, singing ‘Dancing Through Life’, and getting to perform  on stage were just a few of the many experiences I would have that night.  We assembled a group and entered the theater through the stage door and were greeted by Don Richard who gave us a backstage tour and pointed the way to Elphaba’s dressing room.

We were warmly met by Anne Brummel and invited in to sit for a while to see her nightly personal greenifying painting.

As you can imagine the group was caught in the moment and couldn’t wait to get our hands on all those brushes and paints.  They were just calling out to us.

When we all rushed Anne with various sizes of brushes she immediately became concerned. But she soon could tell that we all were skilled (in one way or another) and she soon, soon, soon relaxed. In fact, I think Joyce secretly wanted us to stop by every night and help in the process.

(Mark Matteo, Marty Kalton, (Anne Brummel center), Joanne Wilson, Julie Schwalbe and ME (Scott Dean).

And so makes for a wonderful moment in time, with Anne Brummelas Elphaba.

ME (Scott Dean) , Julie Schwalbe, Marty Kalton, Anne Brommel, Mark Matteo, and Joanne Wilson

 Thank You Thank you Anne for a delightful and bewitching experience!

And off to the stage for Scott…

It’s off to the stage for me. I head over to costume to take a look at what might be the coolest textiles ever. As an interior designer,can imagine what a delight it was to get to see touch and wear the exquisite costume designs by Susan Hilferty. Now there is someone that views the world as a place to be……… Swank.  I love trim, and she loves trim, and she loves ribbons, buckles, hats, feathers, textures, toile, velvet and grommets (and thats just one costume). How great is that???  She was having some fun…. everyday working on this production. Who makes a hat out of a leopard skin boot? Or takes two hats and mends them together one upside down on the other?… Susan. Kudos to you Susan !!

I met Cynthia Lancaster backstage where she picked out the perfect coat…… The Mr Buckles coat. A minimum of 8 buckles, 8 snaps, 8 fabrics and more than 8 pounds.  I fell in love with this coat… You can’t help becoming the character with a coat like this!

YA GOTTA LOVE LAUREL HARRIS!!! She was all about the photo OPPORTUNITY.

They gave me a small break between my scenes, enough to capture a pose with: Peter Ermides, Ryan Jackson, Justin Wirick, ME (Scott Dean), Don Richard, and Michael Rose.

And put it all together with champagne hands! Peter Ermides, Justin
Wirick, ME (Scott Dean), Don Richard, Michael Rose and in front Kerry
Blanchard, Marissa Miller and Ryan Jackson

With grand applause we come to the end of the road…  Smiles, laughter, joy …. it was a memerable evening! I can honestly say that the cast of Wicked made me feel “Popular” !

Mark and I would like to thank the cast of Wicked for taking their time and energy to make such an event take place. I would like to thank Courtney Iventosch, (my backstage host), Don Richard and Michael Drolet who in a joint effort helped me capture this evening on film.

It brings me joy to think that this group of people work to make our lives happy, to make us smile, and to give so much back to the world………  Scott Dean