Idina Menzel to Star in London WICKED- Page 3

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 10:59am

And I'm sure there won't be many annoying fangirls in London, so I'm sure that'll be a plus for her. Unless they all move to London for her run, which wouldn't shock me.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 10:59am

adamgreer, that's the first I'm hearing that Kristen was unhappy with the way she was treated (not to say it's not true).

[ElphabaRose]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 11:00am

I admit to being a pretty big Idina fan, but I'm pretty disappointed. I loved her in Wicked in NY, especially at the beginning of her run, and over the past year, after seeing annother Elphaba, I believed that she was irreplacble. But, I saw Wicked on Wednesday with Eden and Megan, and I believe that, with the right actress, the show still holds up incredibly well without Idina.

Plus, selfishly, I was hoping to see her in more new works in the vein of See What I Wanna See.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 11:03am

Going to London will allow Idina to gain fans and attention apart from the US (nobody knows her elsewhere, face it), which could lead to big things. I could easily see her being a great Pop star abroad.

[LiteMyCandlePhantom?]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 11:06am

I love Idina but I thought she learned her lesson with Wicked the first time...Now she's gonna be stalked by a whole british fangirls..::Sigh:: She will forever be the green girl.

Well good luck to Idina anyway!

Updated On: 4/21/06 at 11:06 AM

[snowie862]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 11:06am

So I guess they are getting an "American" cast.

I was looking forward to seeing an all British cast

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 11:09am

Frankly, I don't think Menzel is much of a name in the UK, so it will be interesting to see if the ticket sales justify her salary. And Dottie, if this is truly the first you are hearing about "differences" backstage between Menzel and Chenoweth and as a result Chenoweth and the producers, I'm really surprised.
Updated On: 4/21/06 at 11:09 AM

[Bohemian1232]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 11:12am

I'm really surpised. And a bit dissapointed.

[wickedfreak]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 11:13am

Yay for Idina! I can only imagine how much she is getting paid to do this........wow.......

btw, I just went to the london website and dis anyone else notice that there were no pics of Cheno as G(a)linda? I guess she really does not want to have any involvement in wicked ever again.
Updated On: 4/21/06 at 11:13 AM

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 11:13am

She's just opening the show. I don't think it's that big of a deal. I think it's cool that she's doing it.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 11:20am

MichaelBennett, I did hear of the tension between Idina and Kristen, but regarding the producers, that's a first for me.

[jasobres]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 11:24am

As much as I love Cheno, I hope she doesn't do it in London because I want to see her big Broadway comeback. If she does do it in London, I'll be a winged monkey's uncle.

[BrianWilsonFan]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 11:25am

In the UK no one knows who Idina Menzel is by and large. As a Brit i'm very pleased to see her reprise her part in the show here if only to see what the people here are constantly going on about, postitively and negatively...

By the time this show ends it's run here there will have been dozens of British Idina's i'm sure. There has been a huge investment in the show and it makes sense fiscally and artistically to have someone who is familiar with the role to launch it...

Say what you will about Idina Menzel but this is a huge coo for her and if she plays her cards right she will eat well for the rest of her life on the back of this alone. For any perfomer this is the stuff dreams are made of. I wish her nothing but the best...

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 11:33am

Brian,

You make an excellent point, in that there is something to be said about a performer "protecting" their "property." Menzel may have been sick of WICKED by the end of her run on Broadway, but if she is smart she's realized that she's had an incredibly rare opportunity to "own" a role the way only a handful of theatre legends have been able to: Merman in GYPSY, Martin in PETER PAN, Channing in DOLLY, etc...

If she's not going to become a film star, than why not become Broadway royalty? And perhaps she feels if she is "internationally" associated with the role of Elphaba, it would help her chances, if a film version of WICKED is actually made in the next few years.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 11:37am

"Maybe Idina can't get other jobs......

I love how she just shot herself in the foot if she ever wanted to consider doing a webber show."

Well, first of all, she's obviously a draw in theatre in America, I'd be SHOCKED if she couldn't get other jobs. They probably offered her a pretty hefty sum of money, and getting known overseas certainly can't hurt her acting OR recording career, so in that sense, it's a smart move. So WHY people would be wondering if she knows she'll have more fangirls is beyond me. I'm sure she does, and ALL it means is she'll be more well known. Again, why she would consider a bit of popularity a problem is beyond me. It can only help her.

Second of all, why in God's name would she ever want to do a Weber show?


Of course, I'm thrilled for her and very disappointed at the same time. Obviously, I'm really excited about the opportunity this will be for her, but damnit, this will mean we won't have Ms. Menzel back in NY theatre for a while. And she's missed already.
Updated On: 4/21/06 at 11:37 AM

[Claire2141]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 11:37am

As said above - only people who are fans of Wicked already know who Idina is. Not so much of a 'fan girl' base as you all put it. Also she might find it a bit strange that the audiences here are far more restrained when it comes to applause. Not many people tend to hollar in the way the Americans seem to when people come on stage of, in the case of Wicked, do anything spectacular. We save our applause for the end of big songs and the interval and end of the show, Bless her she may think she's not loved.

I'm pretty happy I'm seeing her - she is Elphaba for me after listening to the recording 100s of times and it makes me glad I'm seeing her first. Kind of nice for me.

Can't wait until we get a British Elphaba in though, although the novelty of Menzel being here is making me very happy.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 12:03pm

I'm sure she understands British audiences behave differently. I can't imagine her sitting in her dressing room at night, lighting candles, and crying to herself because she thinks British audiences don't "love her" because she doesn't get entrance applause.

[Zachary Goldfarb]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 12:04pm

You people are ridiculous. It's THREE MONTHS. She's opening the show. The recording of a London album is not based soley on Idina Menzel. The London BAT BOY recorded a London album with its New York star. And BAT BOY is economically no WICKED.
This is not unheard of. Remember Jennifer Holliday in DREAMGIRLS in LA? Adam Pascal, etc. in RENT in London?
All of you who are complaining that nobody in England knows who she is are hitting the nail on the head. Isn't that something she'd want to change? Isn't this going to help her do that?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 12:07pm

"Second of all, why in God's name would she ever want to do a Weber show?"

Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, Glenn Close, Judy Kaye, and Betty Buckley all won Tonys for doing Webber shows. Maybe you should ask them.
Updated On: 4/21/06 at 12:07 PM

[timote316]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 12:08pm

I wouldn't be surprised if they change Elphaba's first entrance if there is no entrance applause. Without the applause, that entrance would be rediculous. Not that it isn't already, just more so.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 12:09pm

Michael, I was joking. I'm just...not a fan of Weber. At all.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 12:11pm

Dottie,

Here is a quote from an article about Chenoweth's unhappiness with Wicked producers:

"There's a lot of drama in this business. Wicked was full of it—drama every day. I ended up leaving at the end of my contract, and the producers weren't happy that I wasn't going to stay. They even said that if I left they wouldn't promote me for a Tony Award, but I said, "Well, that's okay." And I was nominated for a Tony anyway.

I worked with some tough people in that one—and my faith was tested. My mom was also struggling for a while with some health issues, and I was doing The Pink Panther and some other projects, so I was tired. And when I get really tested, I push it all down inside and hold it in. So I began to get sick with stomach problems, I lost weight, my face broke out … And because I kept it all in, one day it all just came out in a big explosion—and it happened with a non-Christian. And I've had to forgive myself for that. But that's the tough part about being a Christian in a business like this—everyone is watching what you do."

This was from an interview in a Christian magazine. Here is the thread about it:
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=867935

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 12:14pm

I just hope this run does not kill Idina's voice, again.

I'm not a huge Wicked freak, but I'm not to afraid to admit that after this London run, she will most likely own this role.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 12:14pm

"Without the applause, that entrance would be rediculous. Not that it isn't already, just more so."

Does anyone still get entrance applause on that? Shoshana Bean never got it when I saw her (only when she fille din on Idina's last day)--I couldn't imagine any of the others getting it either. I was under the impression it was people applauding Idina. Even in the beginning (she WAS a lot of people's Rent girl).

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 12:16pm

Obviously not. It's Webber.

But, like MB said, she turned down an audition.

This will be great for her. I think, just like here, many people will embrace her in the role in London and it will certainly help her as a recording artist.

And, hey, look at Les Mis. Two of it's performers - leads - are on the OLC and OBC. But as far as sound goes, I think the OBC Wicked is pretty perfect. And it DID win the Grammy...