Best Glinda- Page 3

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 8/1/05 at 8:08pm

Gee. If you would've given it a little more thought, it's 5:00. I'm on the West Coast.

[willact4food]

Posted: 8/1/05 at 8:14pm

By far, JLT is the best Glinda. She added so much to the role, her acting was perfect.

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 8/1/05 at 8:17pm

Well, I'm going to temporarily leave this thread. I have blocking to write down at a rehearsal tonight...better than arguing with a two year old.

[Tap16]

Posted: 8/1/05 at 9:04pm

ok, WELL lets get back to the TOPIC of the board, i haven't seen megan hilty, or kendra, & i was wondering, is the opera style at the beginning something only kristin did?

[PJ]

Posted: 8/1/05 at 9:09pm

I know Megan and Kristin both use(d) their glorious upper register during "No One Mourns the Wicked." JLT did not.

[SondhFan]

Posted: 8/1/05 at 9:52pm

Kate Reinders. She is the prettiest and liveliest. She sang and acted flawlessly and perfectly portrayed Glinda's character. Her Popular is nonpareil.
Updated On: 8/1/05 at 09:52 PM

[Tap16]

Posted: 8/1/05 at 10:15pm

Vocally-Kristin
Acting wise-Kristin

I love how she goes from stuck and and vapid, and towards the end, i luv her transition to good.

[VonTussleGirl]

Posted: 8/1/05 at 10:26pm

Kendra was my favorite acting-wise, but I didn't like her voice too much.

[TheColorOfFlame]

Posted: 8/1/05 at 10:39pm

It's absolutely ridiculous to select someone other than Kristin Chenoweth as the ultimate Glinda. Here's why.

Glinda was written for Kristin. The jokes Glinda makes were tailored to Kristin. Anybody who follows her is merely emulating her - because originally, Glinda WAS Kristin.

My point is:

It's fair to prefer other performers, to like other performers other than Kristin and not to like Kristin that much.

However, it's absurd to say that Jennifer, Kendra, Kate or Megan is a better GLINDA. Maybe you like them better as performers, but they are not better GLINDAs.

You simply like them more than you like Kristin as performers. Kristin IS Glinda. Not because she's the best performer, but because she crafted the role. The role is what it is because she originated it.

If somebody else had originated the role (say, Jennifer, Kendra, Kate or Megan), the role would not be the same. It would not be the Glinda you know. EVERYTHING, right down to the wording of the jokes and the vocal melody lines, would be utterly different.

The role is Kristin Chenoweth.

I hope to God I explained it clearly.

-The Color of Flame

[Tap16]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 12:23am

EXACLTY! truer words were never spoken. =)

[DefyingEDCT]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 12:24am

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 12:31am

FLAME - calm down. lol. You just wrote us a novel why no one can ever be better than Cheno in the role.

For a poster earlier. JLT most certainly sang the opening and other parts of the show operatically in her upper register. But she isn't a coloratura - so she dosen't have that crystal clear opera sound Kristin had. JLT sang Glinda's songs exactly as they were written. Kristin sang a lot of optional notes. JLT is a fantastic singer though.

[zoran912]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 12:33am

Umm...that icon is funny?

Good point ColorOfFlame. It's true. However, I don't think that anyone means to discount Kristin's contributions to creating the role. We are only comparing the individual performances. That's what I'm doing, anyway.

PJ - I remember JLT using her soprano in "No One Mourns the Wicked." How else would she be able to sing it? I don't think she would belt that stuff, and she didn't to my memory.

[lfae]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 12:43am

I only know 5 I think and I love them all, except Kate Reinders. But maybe she was having an off night. At least I hope she was

No one can top Kristin but I adore JLT's interpretation of the role. And Kendra and Hilty bring their own gorgeous angles to it as well.

[cindy013]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 12:44am

TheColorofFlame- you do realize with that reasoning that Stephanie J. Block IS Elphaba then...considering she originated it with Kristin and it was written for her voice. :)

[dotmarie]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 12:46am

I've only seen one Glinda, and that was Emily Rozek (Kendra Kassebaum's understudy). I thought she was fabulous. Never saw Kristin...never saw JLT...but I thought Emily was fantastic. Great comedic timing, beautiful voice.

[MrBundles]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 12:51am

I <3 Kendra

[PJ]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 1:09am

Zoran: Well of course she used her "pretty" soprano for that song. I meant that she does not sing it the way others have and do. Her last note in "No One Mourns the Wicked" sounded more alto than anything to me.

[Radioactiveduck]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 1:54am

It's a tie for me. Kristin, cuz she so...Kristin-y. And Kendra Kassebaum, cuz, even though I'm not so hot on the depth and un-ditziness of her voice, she is a RIOT onstage.

PS - sorry for all the commas.

[Broadway_Bound_Star]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 2:06am

I love JLT she is my sister...she just dosn't know it yet.

[Derech2]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 2:41am

Vocally, Chenoweth did it more for me than any other. Thompson's vocals follow close behind, but with a much smoother belt. Taking everything else into account, Jennifer Laura Thompson is a goddess. And most everything she did seemed COMPLETELY different than Chenoweth. I did see some things that could have only been copied from Kristin, but for the most part she absolutely turned the laughs inside out, and made them even better. Of course, I'm sure it's just my type of sense of humor that has me rolling on the floor laughing with Thompson.

It seemed to be that Chenoweth did everything for laughs. Jennifer brought Glinda down to reality and beyond being a role solely for comic relief. Jennifer made you love Glinda not only because she was funny, but because she was real.

I was really debating with myself whether to come into this thread. It's all pointless, you know. It's all just opinions.

[TheColorOfFlame]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 11:12am

But Derech, I think it's not completely a matter of opinion, as I suggested in my earlier post.

I think people can prefer actresses, but to prefer Glindas? It's like saying JLT was better than Kristin as the understudy for Kristin's one-woman show, KRISTIN!

And many people would say that if they liked JLT better than Kristin.

Haha. I'm not saying Wicked is Kristin's one-woman show, but I am saying that she made the role what it is, right down to the very lines she says.

So perhaps this thread is really about what ACTRESS each person prefers. Which is totally a matter of opinion.

UPDATE: P.S., Cindy, that's interesting what you say about Stephanie being the originator of Elphaba. I would venture to say that the role changed very much in Idina's role as workshop and Broadway creator, so the lines are more blurred. It's much more clear whose work and whose personality - and whose talent, and whose looks, and whose voice (catch my drift? Kristin=Glinda) is being kept alive in the role of Glinda.

Updated On: 8/2/05 at 11:12 AM

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 11:32am

PJ. Jennifer's last notes in that song don't sound like other Glinda's notes is because Jennifer sang the score exactly as written. Kristin and other Glinda's sing optional notes. JLT cleary stated she is NOT a coloratura, and she will never try to be - so she will sing the score exactly as Stephen wrote it.

[PJ]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 11:35am

Yes I know that. But it's very disappointing when you wait and wait for that moment to come, and then nothing.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 1:52pm

i saw Katie Adams (u/s) on Saturday night at the Pantages and while she has a beautiful voice (so much more better than Kendra's), her acting wasn't all that great and her comedic timing was decent... she had that something special missing...

Kendra, on the other hand, had me in stitches the ENTIRE night... i missed her so much that night...

ok... so i'll say that for a role like Glinda... i may have to go with acting over voice... while Kendra's voice was very good... her acting is what stole the show for me