German WICKED television performance

[Elphabuff2]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 1:31pm

In case you haven't found this yet, here's the best staged performance of any WICKED number I've ever seen presented on television. It's also the best performed number I've ever seen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyx1xbh1OkY

Please delete this thread if this posting's against the rules.
Willimijn has quite and voice, and so does Lucy. Hope you enjoy.

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 1:41pm

I've never been much of a Wicked fan, but that is a really great performance...and very well-shot.

[sgv123]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 1:50pm

i agree, that was excellent staging. the camera work was amazing as well!

[Elphabuff2]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 1:55pm

My thoughts are that after Letterman (2003), the Tonys (2004), and Royal Variety (2007?), they must've learned from their mistakes and finally gotten a most solid staging and filming of the best song in the show, IMO. I love that we get to see the Ozians face as they are looking up at Elphaba. I also love that we see the Wizard head. I thought it was a great transition from the first number and introduction to the second.

I most desperately wish that it would've been sung in English so I would finally have a fantastic performance of this song to show my students when we cover figurative language. Of course I know the German cast would not sing in English, but it's nonetheless a truly "spell-binging" performance, as all the others have claimed.

[Mythus]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 1:56pm

Thank you so much for posting that clip. I agree with SDav - I don't really like Wicked, but I love German, and the camerawork makes it look amazing.

Also, is it just me, or does the cherry picker seem to work a little differently than in the other productions? It looks like Elphaba shoots into the air, instead of rising slowly. Of course, that could've just been something they changed for their performance on Wetten Dass...I don't know.

ETA: You could always just provide a translation for your students. From what I heard, the German lyrics sound generally similar to the English lyrics. Updated On: 12/9/07 at 01:56 PM

[wickedfiyeroofoz]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 1:57pm

Wow...her voice is incredible. Possibly the best voiced Elphaba there has ever been :) (And I'm a hardcore idina fan)

[Elphabuff2]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 2:13pm

The lift reminded me of the Royal Variety performance. It went up quite quickly. Also, Elphaba's "cape" was not as noticeable to me when she was in the air.

I agree; Willimijn might be the best voiced Elphaba yet.

[JasonM12480]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 2:26pm

I have always found that the Germans, in particular, and Europeans in general take American musical theater much more seriously and dramatically than actual Americans do. Listen to any German cast recording - the orchestras are better and cleaner, the singing is more emotional and tells the story better - one of my favorites is "Die Schone und das Biest" (or Beauty and the Beast) - the German cast recording is excellent, and far superior to the American version.

Agreed - the camera work was excellent, and the singers top-notch. Best wishes to a successful run overseas!

[chino]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 2:35pm

I agree her voice is so amazing! How come America can't film a performance of Wicked this good. The camera work, the lighting...

Just nice!

[lakezurich]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 2:45pm

Wow... Willimijn just demolishes DG... In a good way.

[FranklinShepard-Inc.]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 2:54pm

If only the lyrics were translated decently...

And I agree, Willemijn's take on DG is very different, she doesn't just shout it all through but gets louder bit by bit. On the other hand, they have the typical pseudo-emotional Stage Entertainment overacting...

[Mythus]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 3:00pm

What do you mean, Franklin? It doesn't get much better than Michael Kunze translations.

[xM3L24x]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 3:05pm

Woww, they do it like ten times better than performed here. I wish it was in English though!

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 3:15pm

Wow, that choreography manages to suck in every language.

[EugLoven]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 3:22pm

THAT WAS ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE!

I'm usually not so passionate, but "Wicked" was sort of my gateway-drug to musical theatre (my tastes having become excruciatingly more refined and widened since), but this recording renewed my faith in the production's international enterprise.

AND... I won't be surprised if every family in Germany (who saw this broadcast), or at least each soul in that theatre for the live-broadcast, jumped online and bought tickets.

If ever there was a broadcast to TRULY sell this show, this was it. Shame America didn't get the treat. This German production will undoubtedly run for years!

That Elphaba! The score sounds like it was written specifically for her voice. No one has sung it better. EVER!

The monkey sequence gave me chills. It's always given my chills but I'd forgotten what they felt like until then. That's the part of the show that always makes me most emotional (that and the discovery of Dillamond), and I'm just FLOORED at how professional and seamless this shot was. Just exceptional!

Thank you SO MUCH for scrounging this clip up! JUST PHENOMENAL!
Updated On: 12/9/07 at 03:22 PM

[FranklinShepard-Inc.]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 3:24pm

What I mean is, yes, it does get better than Kunze.
His translations have proven to be sloppy for some time now. His diction differs in style extremely from the original sources. I recently did a production of Sondheim's Company in Germany, after we had seen the dreadfully rhymed lyrics, we chose to do the songs in English and only the scenes in German.

I recently found that many of his lyrics are better the older they are. His first translations indicate that he still cared to do good work there, the newer ones feel like he doesn't anymore. He fills the lyrics with stereotypes, his lyrics are constantly off beat, his metaphors are so much inferior to the original ones. There's an old saying for translators that you shouldn't try to become as good as the original, you'd better be better. He unfortunately doesn't even try to be as good as the original.

And now the good thing: he's not the only translator in Germany. There are better ones, for instance Wolfgang Adenberg.
Plus the bad thing: Kunze gets all the big deals.

There we go.
Updated On: 12/9/07 at 03:24 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 3:28pm

I love the staging (or re-staging?) on their stage. Almost like a 3/4 thrust. Excellent work by everyone involved. I wish the Tony performance had been that good.

The two leads are really perfect, both physically and vocally. And I thought the dancing (and particularly the tumbling) was better than in NY. Of course they had a much bigger stage to work on. They could really cover ground and do it full out.

Very impressive on all counts.

[henrybutler]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 3:38pm

that is SUCH a good broadcast!! the camera movement and different angles worked really well. This actress's voice reminds me a lot of Kerry Ellis's voice, really pure and cleaner than other elphaba's and really pretty!!
is this cast bigger than other productions' have been? it looks a few actors larger.

[Mythus]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 4:04pm

Oh, I see...you're operating under the assumption that the original lyrics were actually good.

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 4:10pm

ZING!

[FranklinShepard-Inc.]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 4:21pm

Nope. I'm just trying to point out that Michael Kunze lyrics have a strong tendency of not capturing the mood of the original lyrics too well. And, yes, I do know the original lyrics well enough to be able to state that even with the Schwartz lyrics being no great masterpiece, Kunze is still a few levels below. For bad metaphors of Schwartz, Kunze finds worse in German. Where Schwartz at least tries to find a mutual path of lyrics and rhythm, Kunze often does not. Sad, but that's how it is.
Updated On: 12/9/07 at 04:21 PM

[Mythus]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 4:23pm

Well, we'll just have to disagree there, I suppose.

[HoshiForever]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 4:23pm

I am so glad they did a Recording with this cast...and that I have a friend in Germany right now so I don't have to pay for international shipping.

[FranklinShepard-Inc.]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 4:27pm

Probably, and that's fair enough

So I don't have to start talking about Rebecca
And Marie Antoinette.

[chino]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 6:45pm

I so want the cast recording but my God! the price!



Wicked: German Cast Updated On: 12/9/07 at 06:45 PM