Eden Espinosa in Wicked

[actor]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 6:44pm

Ok, so I just saw Wicked and I've decided to put up a review about Eden's fantastic performence. I've seen Idina, Shoshana, Saycon, Eden and Stephanie in the part of Elphaba. I'm a big Idina freak, and I'm usually incredibly loyal to her. Shoshana was amazing, Saycon was even better, and Stephanie was ok (she screamed a little bit too much) but no one had ever really blown me away like Idina had...until the other day when I saw Eden.

Eden was absolutely fabulous. She was so true as Elphaba and didn't bring too many riffs to any songs (like Shoshana), didn't move her hands around like she was possessed (like Idina), didn't copy Shoshana (like Saycon), and didn't scream at the top of her lungs (like Stephanie). She was perfect...for the most part.

My two favorite numbers were Defying Gravity and No Good Deed so I'll do a review about them.

Defying Gravity - This was average throughout the beginning as Eden did the mechanical lines that she has obviously done thousands of times. Somehow I forgot all about how Eden hadn't done that great earlier in the number. She blew me away when the guards rushed in and she said her line prior to her going up for Defying Gravity. There was some sort of mistake where everyone was trying to say something at once. They paused and tried again and again. This was kind've humorous until Eden yelled over them and said "ITS NOT HER, IM THE ONE YOU WANT. It's me!" All eyes turned to Eden as she was clearly rising above what other people think. Then she went up for the climax of Defying Gravity and a chill went through the audience. I'm not so sure of her choice to scream "It's meeeee" as it is rather aggrivating to the ears, but it still gets across the message that she is finished with "accepting limits". Shoshana and Stephanie didn't really do a good job showing this emotion during their performences, though Eden did extremely well in this area.

The rest of Defying Gravity was phenomenal, though I have to say that Idina beats her during this part of Defying Gravity (vocally and physically). Eden just doesn't have the same power as Idina.

No Good Deed- Eden rose through the trap door and didn't do the same pleasent note that everyone was used to Shoshana, Stephanie, and Saycon doing. She screamed out "Fiyero" and brought the attention to her. When Shoshana and others would sing a note here, it would confuse the audience as to who was singing when they heard the two voices (Glinda and Elphaba). It took them a while to see Shoshana (and others) coming up through the trap door. However, Eden received immediate cheers from the audiences as she sang this song better than anyone in the history of Wicked. She was amazing. She said everything like you might say to yourself or a friend. She emphasized words that deserved to be emphasized for reasons other than sounding "pleasant". Her choice of going up high on "Fiyer-o. FI-YERO!!!!!!!!!!!" gave me chills for the next few minutes and bringing a bright smile to my face.

Also, during the climax of no good deed when she puts her cape over the wind and smoke machine ("no good deed goes unpunished, all helpful urges should be circumvented") she seemed like the witch from the Wizard of Oz. She blew me away with a fantastic performence.

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note: I had seen Eden before as a standby for Idina and she didn't impress me at all. When I heard she went back to Wicked I was dissapointed....until I saw this performence.
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This was truly an amazing performence.

[JamesMacon]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 7:05pm

Thanks you so much for this review! I am glad you liked Eden - I loved her when I saw her. Her "No Good Deed" is seriously out of this world.

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 7:17pm

Thank you for this review Eden is definitley great as Elphie

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 7:21pm

"There was some sort of mistake where everyone was trying to say something at once."

That's scripted - it's called drama. It adds to the tension of the scene.

Eden has my favorite NGD too.

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 7:37pm

Get ready to plotz since Eden will be doing Wicked at the Pantages in LA....

[JamesMacon]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 7:44pm

And we know this is confirmed how...

[AshleyBrownFan123]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 7:46pm

She is amazing!

[actor]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 9:48pm

"There was some sort of mistake where everyone was trying to say something at once."

That's scripted - it's called drama. It adds to the tension of the scene.

I've seen the show 27 times. That was the only time that happened. I'm pretty sure it was a mistake. Plus, the audience got a little ancy when the cast tried it for the third or fourth time. Even the cast members looked a little confused.

[JamesMacon]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 9:51pm

-actor
So what exactly happened?

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 9:52pm

You've seen the show 27 times? Wow.

Glad you liked Eden. I didn't get to see Idina in the show, but I prefer Eden's voice on these songs. ::prepares to duck tomatoes::

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 9:54pm

27 times is pretty impressive
i most definitely trust your opinions, now!
but im so glad Eden is great! :) yay for her

[duroc]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 10:11pm

yeah, 27 times is crazy... that's awesome though. I'll probably try doing the lotto again next week - free transit week for student. I saw Wicked for the first time last Sunday. Eden blew me away as Elphaba.
Updated On: 9/15/06 at 10:11 PM

[NJRae]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 10:13pm

I love Eden. Never saw Idina live so it probably isn't a fair comparison, but from what I have seen/heard I prefer Eden (and I am a big Idina fan). So sad that she is leaving soon. I so badly want to see her before she goes but don't think it's gonna happen.

[duroc]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 10:14pm

She is leaving soon?

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 10:17pm

She's leaving in October.

[duroc]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 10:21pm

oh, that's really soon... looks like I'll be in Wicked lotto line all next week, for sure.

[actor]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 10:21pm

You've seen the show 27 times? Wow.

Yeah, haha. I'm not really that obsessed with it, I just think, "Ok, it's Saturday, what should I do?" and Wicked is always an obvious option. I just like it. I'm not really obsessed with it.

JamesMacon- In response to your question "So what exactly happened?" here is what happened:

Elphaba ran into the dark after "My Friend" (to prepare for the defying gravity lift). Guards rush in after the sound effect of the door being knocked open. They grab Glinda and say stuff like "There she is, get her!" and "There's the witch" but they all say it at once. Glinda also screams and says "let go of me" while the guards are still speaking and she tries to get "do you hear" to be heard but the guards are still talking and it's very confusing as the staging seemed slightly off. Glinda was a little too far center and was still in the process of backing up. She knew obviously that she would block Elphaba so she practically ran backward while the guards all say something at once to improvise to fill in the space. It was actually quite funny.

Knowing that they were obviously unheard they all pause as Glinda says "Let go of me" again WHILE the guards start up again. They stop right away and try again. This was slightly unproffesional as the audience is now completely aware there was some sort of error.

They make a third attempt and this time there is even MORE confusion as they are all now screaming to ensure being heard.

While this is happening, Eden yells over them with "ITS NOT HER!!! I'm the one you want it's me" However, Glinda says the "elphie" while Eden is still practically speaking. This adds to the drama intensely and creates a rather positive effects as the guards finally get their act together and rush over to Elphaba. Eden says "It's meeeee" and rises. The guards fall and the audience gets chills.

Note: This all happened in seconds. It all happened very quickly (the confusion). Therefore, it didn't get really ridiculous or anything.

The End.

[actor]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 10:22pm

wow, that's really confusing

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 10:24pm

Yeah, that was confusing. I'm still not sure I get what ahppened. They're all supposed to speak at once.

[duroc]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 10:25pm

actor - no, I understood what you wrote. just the third paragraph is a little jumbled.

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 10:26pm

i got the general gist of it :P
pretty funny, i guess
:)

[duroc]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 10:27pm

I think when I saw it, though... instead of people talking at once (which I did not notice) when two people would have said something at the same time, one person would just lip it... like when Glinda says, 'Elphie'... she just mouths it.

[actor]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 10:33pm

What do you mean by "mouths it"...but that would make sense if it was a recording. It was like in the middle of Eden's line.

[duroc]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 10:35pm

I mean like she says it silently... her lips move but she doesn't say the word. you know what she is saying though.

[jawz1980]

Posted: 9/15/06 at 11:15pm

I've seen Eden a few times now... She was excellent the first time I saw her (February), and then the next couple of times were just down hill from there (June and August). She almost seemed bored with the role.

Overall, she is a great Elphaba and hope I get to see her one more time before she leaves.