by Joel Brewton
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Justin Wirick, 23, of Uniontown is living out his dream as "The Tumbler" in the musical "Wicked," now playing in Pittsburgh. Photo courtesy of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust |
A spark was ignited inside Justin Wirick, 23, of Uniontown when he first saw "Beauty and the Beast" at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh. His dream to perform there one day began and he now has finally been given the opportunity to do so as he travels the country with the national tour of "Wicked" which has returned to Pittsburgh for a four-week run.
"I think the dream part of it is coming to Pittsburgh and actually doing something of this caliber," Wirick said in a phone interview. "[And] to be able to do it in my own backyard where all my friends and family and supporters who saw me work hard… and to be able to share it with them."
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| "Wicked" stars Anne Brummel (left) and Natalie Daradich as Elphaba and Glinda. Photo courtesy of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust |
Set in the land of Oz in the years before Dorothy and Toto arrived, "Wicked" tells the story of Elphaba, a misunderstood young woman born with green skin who would eventually grow up to become the infamous Wicked Witch of the West. It also tells the story of the girl destined to become Glinda the Good Witch and how the two ladies were actually best friends long ago. Based loosely on the book, it has become an international smash hit since it opened on Broadway in 2003. The Broadway production has won three Tony awards and the national tour took home three awards of its own in 2006 from the Touring Broadway Awards.
Wirick has been performing as "The Tumbler" in "Wicked" for over a year and a half and he says that he never tires of it.
"My life is on the tour," Wirick said. "I have friends scattered all over the United States and I would just consider the tour my home. It also helps that I have a relationship on the tour so that's just absolutely wonderful to share that with somebody."
Wirick's fascination with performing first began with an interest in gymnastics and tumbling. Music was incorporated into his routines when it was recommended to help improve artistry in his dancing. He took part in his high school musicals and also local performances with Little California Theater.
His touring life began when he took part in iL CiRCo's"VIAGGIO," a traveling cirque show based out of San Diego, Calif., and very much like Cirque Du Soleil, which took him to cities around the world.
"I loved that show because it's the perfect combination of gymnastics and dance, which is the epitome of me as an artist," Wirick said.
After that, Wirick took part in a European/Asian tour of "West Side Story" which ran for nine months before he returned to North America and became part of the touring company for "Wicked."
"I grew up going to all the summer dance events at Point Park ever since I was 14 years old so I knew the university, I knew the faculty," Wirick said. "It was kind of always in the cards to come to Point Park … but that didn't happen."
Two weeks before Wirick would have begun at Point Park, he had a massive change of plans and decided that he wanted to dance professionally. Giving up a full scholarship to the Conservatory of Performing Arts dance program, he moved to Los Angeles and began his auditions. Wirick received numerous offers from "Wicked" but it continuously conflicted with his other contracts.
"Then this finally came up right at the end of my ‘West Side Story' tour and so, right out of the gun, I was ready to take this and this was my first equity national tour," said Wirick."
Wirick entered the show as a replacement for a former tumbler. His role is described as "the one who does the flips, cartwheels and tricks." He can be spotted in the show as a citizen of the Emerald City during the number "One Short Day" and also as a student at Shiz University.
"When you come in as a replacement, you're learning the show one on one with the dance cast," said Wirick. "I learned the show in about six days and then they have what they call a ‘put in' where they call the whole company in and they go through the show, and you're the only one in your costume… and you really get to know the sense of the stage and the spacing and timing."
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| The sets takes 2 1/2 days to assemble at each tour venue. Photo by Joel Brewton |
Timing and spacing can be an issue with a touring show. No two stages are alike and this can create subtle changes to a show when it moves from city to city. Wirick's tour of ‘West Side Story' had three different set-ups t they were required to learn based on the size of the stage in question; however, this is not the case with "Wicked." The tour brings everything with them resulting in the staging being exactly the same from city to city.
"We even bring our own floor," said Wirick. "That makes everything so much easier with it being exactly the same. The backstage area does change depending on the city…. and we have a lot of locals that volunteer in each city as hair dressers."
"We can't do the show without the local crews," said David Hansen, the production stage manager for the national tour. "Counting musicians, we have about 45 locals. We count on them for the best restaurants, the best hotels, to know what places are open and to help us enjoy ourselves on our time off. They just become part of the community."
Hassen says the tour has approximately 75 members including all cast and crew members and musicians. Eighty people, including members and locals were present at the Benedum Center on Tuesday, Sept. 6 for the set-up, which Wirick says usually takes two-and-a-half days. Hassen says that the biggest issue that they have, as far getting it ready for opening night, is the nine-foot Oz head prop, which tends to require the most set up time.
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| The Time Dragon Clock is the most elaborate prop on the tour.Photo by Joel Brewton |
The largest prop on the tour, logically, is also the one that takes the longest to assemble. The "Time Dragon Clock" is a massive animatronic dragon which looms ominously over the stage while it moves and breaths smoke. There are two of them on the tour with each dragon alternating cities to give the crew enough time to assemble each one.
The Benedum is allowing Wirick's "dream job" to continue as he makes his debut there with this run.
"I've always wanted to play at the Benedum," said Wirick. "I've seen so many shows there and so that's just going to be a dream come true."
Wirick says that one of the biggest aspects of the tour that allows it to run as it does is the sense of community that is felt among the cast and crew.
"We work together, we eat together, we play together and we cry together," Wirick said. "We see all different sides of each other in different moods and stages of our lives. Some people are getting engaged on tour, some people are getting pregnant on tour and we just see every aspect of everyone's life and we're just one big family."
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| Anne Brummel as Elphaba. Photo courtesy of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust |
"Wicked" runs at the Benedum Center until October 2. Discount tickets for the Sept. 21 show, with a special Q-and-A session with the cast following the show, are available in point Park's Student Activities office for $20. Chuck McVay, an usher at the Benedum, says most of the shows are already sold out.
"A show very seldom runs this long," said McVay, who has worked at the theater for 10 years. "The fact that it's sold out has to be some indication that the show is very good."
Mack Mason, 9, of Rennerdale, saw the show for the first time on Thursday, Sept. 8 and he described it as "really cool."
"My favorite person was the [wicked] witch," Mason said. "I really liked the way she was even though she was green."
For those unable to get tickets to the showing on September 21, a nightly lottery is held two and a half hours prior to each performance. The winners of the lottery may purchase up to two orchestra seats for $25 per ticket. The lottery is held at the Theater Square box office on 655 Penn Ave., downtown Pittsburgh.
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