Broadway Discussion Series: Wicked

[Cierra_Dancer]

Idina has had voice lessons and has been taking them for a long time. She still takes them. She used to be a classical singer and she sounded totally different than how she sounds now. The role of Elphaba is very hard on people's voices and over time it damages it. I think it affected Idina's the most, she doesn't sound bad, but when she was in Wicked on Bway you could tell sometimes. She was in rehearsals for about two years plus the out of town try-outs and her Bway run.

It also just depends on what your tastes on for singing. I personally think a lot of Eden ones aren't that great, and you think almost all of them are great.

[Anthony]

I saw Eden in the role of Elphaba the very first time I saw Wicked. I must say that I wasn't that impressed with her performance. Like others have said, her voice is nasaly, screechy and off-key. Not to mention that she can't act very well. Definitely the worst Elphaba. Doesn't even compare to the wonderful Shoshana Bean.

Does anyone know if Eden is still playing Elphaba in one of the productions or has she stopped? I'd hate for others' first experience to be with her like mine was.

[Cierra_Dancer]

^She's currently playing Elphaba in LA. I might actually see it . I'm not sure if I want to though because I'm afraid seeing Eden might make my memory of Idina's performance fade a little bit.

[Disney Duster]

I saw Eden in the role of Elphaba the very first time I saw Wicked. I must say that I wasn't that impressed with her performance. Like others have said, her voice is nasaly, screechy and off-key. Not to mention that she can't act very well. Definitely the worst Elphaba. Doesn't even compare to the wonderful Shoshana Bean.

Does anyone know if Eden is still playing Elphaba in one of the productions or has she stopped? I'd hate for others' first experience to be with her like mine was.

Gah! Well yes, she is in L.A. now. And by the way, the only time I went to Wicked, I had her, and despite some admittedly too forced acting, I was over-powered by her beautiful voice and loved the show!

From what I've seen of Shoshana Bean...why do you like her? I do like some of her riffs and her beautiful voice, but I don't think it's right for the part of Elphaba, who becomes a screeching witch. I mean, all the ornamenting of the score is unlike Elphaba, who wasn't into prettiness (except her sister's sparkly shoes). Also, compared to the other voices, it seems less powerful, and it's not so much the prettiness but the power and determination in the voice that I think is necessary for Elphaba. From what I've seen of her acting, it's actually good, but not right, in my opinion, for Elphaba. She's just not what I prefer. She doesn't fit into what I think Elphaba should be like. I like Eden and Idina and Kerry Ellis better.

[Anthony]

From what I've seen of Shoshana Bean...why do you like her? I do like some of her riffs and her beautiful voice, but I don't think it's right for the part of Elphaba, who becomes a screeching witch. I mean, all the ornamenting of the score is unlike Elphaba, who wasn't into prettiness (except her sister's sparkly shoes). Also, compared to the other voices, it seems less powerful, and it's not so much the prettiness but the power and determination in the voice that I think is necessary for Elphaba. From what I've seen of her acting, it's actually good, but not right, in my opinion, for Elphaba. She's just not what I prefer. She doesn't fit into what I think Elphaba should be like. I like Eden and Idina and Kerry Ellis better.

Eden and Idina always played Elphaba too serious, while Shoshana was serious as well, she was also able to have fun and add more humor to the character. This is most evident I think in "What is This Feeling". During the 2 performaces I saw with Shoshana she was over-the-top funny, making funny faces at Glinda, mimicking her throughout the song and smiling at the fact that she hates Glinda so much. While at Idina's and Eden's performaces they just sang it straight, boring and added nothing new.

Shoshana has more passion in her singing, more conviction in her voice, can deliver both funny and heart-breaking serious dialogue, improvises more and can knock your socks off while singing (I love her riffs).

But that's just my opinion. Bottom line, whether it's Shoshana, Eden, Idina, Kerry or..... I don't know.... even Judy Judy playing Elphaba, I'm still going to see Wicked over and over!

[Chernabog_Rocks]

^ They played the character serious, because that's Elphaba's personality. She's had a rough life and it's made her more serious then most people her age. From what you described in What's This Feeling, it sounds like Soshana might have over-done the silliness, I mean the lyrics alone are funny enough for her, but to add in the mocking, silly faces etc. seems a bit too much in my opinion.

For me, it seems like Elphaba's character is kind of similar to Carrie, from Stephen Kings novel (of the same name). Here's a few examples of what I mean:

- Both Carrie and Elphaba are taunted and teased for being "different" and outcasts at their school.

- They both have an over-religous parent who makes life a bit harder for them.

- In the end, they're both feared.

That's all I can think of right now, I'm sure there's more but I think these three examples will have to do for now

[Disney Duster]

Those are very good reasons to like her, Anthony, and when watching her last show (not the whole thing) I did notice that. But I do prefer a more solemn, serious take on the character, like Chernabog_Rocks. Maybe a little improvising here and there, and maybe a little imitating of Galinda, but it should all be done with actual hate or scorn, not looking just as silly as Galinda's supposed to be. Remember, part of the reason Wicked works is it has too very different leading ladies as friends. One's supposed to be funny and cutesy, the other fierce and serious.

As for more passion and conviction, I don't really see that. I mean, I just think that she has about the same amount as the others, maybe Idina or Eden have a little more. But it's hard for me to see the difference between singing more passionately and singing more powerfully. I do like her riffs, I just wish they would be few and far between, not everywhere! As for heart-breaking dialogue and such, I don't think she did much worse or much better than Idina in some of the serious dialogue, I think they were about the same. But I thought Idina's second act was at least better than hers, you do have to get a little crazy in the end with the shoes, Idina sounded like she could breakdown soon, but I didn't get that with Shoshana. I guess to some Shoshana up, she's a more fun Elphaba, but the Elphaba in the book I read and the Elphaba I want isn't fun.

I still think she has a very beautiful voice, though!

And Chernabog_Rocks, very good, interesting comparisons! Yes, Elphaba was made solemn and quiet due to her hard life. Much like Carry, they even have mysterious powers that get them feared!

[TheSequelOfDisney]

Well, it's OFFICIAL! I'm going to go and see "Wicked" Jan. 9, 2008. That date also happens to be the opening night here in Cincinnati! I hope that it's going to be spectacular (which I'm positive that it will be) and I cannot wait until then. I'm hoping to get something there (maybe a t-shirt) and a program book (different from the Playbill). I'm so excited! I really can't contain my joy.

[Anthony]

Well, it's OFFICIAL! I'm going to go and see "Wicked" Jan. 9, 2008. That date also happens to be the opening night here in Cincinnati! I hope that it's going to be spectacular (which I'm positive that it will be) and I cannot wait until then. I'm hoping to get something there (maybe a t-shirt) and a program book (different from the Playbill). I'm so excited! I really can't contain my joy.

Oh! Opening night! How exciting! I can't remember if you mentioned if you've seen the show before, if not, you are going to love it. Were you able to get good seats? Do you know who's playing Elphaba and Glinda on the tour?

[TheSequelOfDisney]

Oh! Opening night! How exciting! I can't remember if you mentioned if you've seen the show before, if not, you are going to love it. Were you able to get good seats? Do you know who's playing Elphaba and Glinda on the tour?

No, I've never seen the show, and I actually haven't ordered the tickets (my mom orders it from some company in which you pay a little bit more for regular tickets, but the seats are FANTASTIC) so I don't really know where I'm going to sit, but I think it'll be in the Orchestra around G (at least that's where we were when we saw TLK; that was awesome!). I sadly don't know who will be Elphaba and Glinda, but I really, really, really want to know just so I can hear there voices. Do you think that the people on tour now (or last season, or whatever) would be the same, or would they have changed. I've only ever seen two musicals (TLK and some other Huck Finn w/sign-language musical) so I'm completely excited about Wicked! Jan. 9 seems so far away!

[Anthony]

I sadly don't know who will be Elphaba and Glinda, but I really, really, really want to know just so I can hear there voices. Do you think that the people on tour now (or last season, or whatever) would be the same, or would they have changed.

It's hard to say if the current Elphaba and Glinda will still be there in Jan. After checking the website out, currently Victoria Matlock is Elphie and Christina Decicco is Galinda. I am not familiar with either of them. Has anyone else seen them perform?

http://wickedthemusicaltour.com/bios-cast.htm

[Simba3]

I just saw "Wicked" last night at the Wharton Center and I thought it was pretty great. Earlier this summer, I elected to read the book before seeing the play, which I now think that I regret. The book and the musical are completely different, which I believe in a way, hindered my enjoyment of the experience. I kept waiting for certain things to happen, and they wouldn't; and I kept being surprised by things that DID happen that I didn't think/know were going to happen. I couldn't help but to compare the two pieces in my head while watching the show. Overall though, I was very pleased with the show and I am really glad I saw it. However, I will say that I think it is a little over hyped. Many people speak of "Wicked" as if it is the best thing to ever hit Broadway. The show was great in all aspects you would expect from a musical, but it certainly wasn't the best show I have ever seen. It makes me wonder if these people have ever seen any other musicals before. Anyway, overall I have mostly positive feelings about the show and I am really glad to have seen it.

[Cierra_Dancer]

^ I agree with what you said about people overhyping it a bit. A lot of times, I think they have seen other musicals, but not great ones. And sometimes, whenever they can see a show it's Wicked. Which I think is ridiculous. Wicked isn't the only show out there. There's people that have seen it about 40+ times in London, which opened in September I think. They did have previews for I think a monthish before, but 40 times is ridiculous. Go see another show.

[Anthony]

Many people speak of "Wicked" as if it is the best thing to ever hit Broadway.

Of course it's not the best thing to ever hit broadway: The correct answer is Hairspray.

The show was great in all aspects you would expect from a musical, but it certainly wasn't the best show I have ever seen.

It's not the best show on broadway either: Again, the answer is Hairspray.

[Disney Duster]

Simba3, that is almost exactly how I felt when watching the show! I started reading the book even before I new there was a show just because I love the Wizard of Oz, and then when my frend told me things like Fiyero was with Galinda and he wasn't black I was like "huh, that's how they connected! There skin color was different from everyone elses!" Then I watched the musical and I loved the reference to the Time Dragon, but then I would find some things weird like Elphaba dancing with the Wizard (she'd never do that in the book) and the monkeys were the Wizard's, to be used as "spies" (who uses very obvious big monkeys with wings to spy on people?). So I was let down because the book had much more going on and I knew that certain plot elements were supposed be done differently, and things were not as they should be. They weren't the same characters from the book. So, that had me liking the musical much less.

But recently, I have watched many Elphabas on Youtube, and listened to the soundtrack over again, and I like it much more. I appreciate the lyrics and found deeper meanings to them, some more references to the book I missed before, and thought about how hard it was to turn the book into a musical without making it too long. It's long as it is. Some things they came up with, like how the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman came to be, I think were clever and marvelous.

And remember, Wicked may not be the best, but perhaps people like it so much because it is about Oz, another world, magic, and two points of view from two very different leads. It's certainly one of my top favorites.

[Dottie]

Just found something really nice on the Internet:

Which WICKED character are you?

http://www.quizilla.com/users/GalindaGr ... %20you%3F/

I am:

[TheSequelOfDisney]

http://www.quizilla.com/cgi-bin/result/result.pl

I am:

[potterrules93]

ok..2 major questions.. i am about 50% sure that for christmas, my aunt is going to let me come to new york with her my uncle and my cousin(younger) and see wicked because my cousin just discoverd it and loves it. so:
1)will carole shelly still me Madame Morrible in December?
2)will barriers be put up by the stagedoor due to stephanie j block coming back?
i really want to go to the stagedoor and get my wicked grimmerie and playbill signed by carole shelly, stephanie and possibly the rest of the cast. and i have playbills for the pirate queen and the boy from oz that i would ask stephanie to sign...just wondering
~Ryn~

[Anthony]

All Wicked fans be sure to check out Ugly Betty this Thursday (Nov. 1) on ABC @ 8PM as Betty and Henry go on a secret date to see Wicked!

[TheSequelOfDisney]

So I FINALLY saw it on Wednesday, and all I have to say is: AMAZING. It was so wonderful I can't believe that I was actually there watching it. It blew me away, the singers were phenomenal (except Fiyero, I really didn't think his singing was that great, especially during "Dancing Through Life"), and I couldn't be happier: Thank Goodness! It was amazing, just everything the lighting, the effects, and even the monkeys for Oz's sake! I was mouthing every single lyric and I punched my mom a few times when "Defying Gravity" was about to again. I would pretty much do anything, though not everything, to go and see it again. I think I will remember for the rest of my life and I can't wait to see it again if I get the chance.

Well, next up I'll be going to see "Sweeney Todd." In a rather odd coincidence, while I went to go into the Aronoff Center, we, my mother, sister and I, saw these people from our church. They were standing outside holding up an envelope. The Mrs. saw us and said that she had ST tickets to sell because they were going on a cruise. I never thought that she would say, "Would you?" when I asked that we could take them off her hands. The two tickets were $60 a piece, and, I guess since we are church-friends, she narrowed down the price to a whopping $50 for BOTH of them. So yeah, now I'm off to see ST when it comes to Cincinnati on Feb. 29 and I'm uber excited about it.

Well, we can now go back to the discussion already in progress about Wicked!