Hahaha Korenglish- the same things have happened to me. I'll be talking to people who claim to LOVE Broadway and are Wicked fanatics and I'll ask them if they like Stephen Sondheim and no lie, people have asked me if he was playing Fiyero or something. It pretty much kills me.
I agree, if you don't have flawless belt like Idina don't even bother with Wicked. I think the not doing a song from a show on Broadway currently is a great rule of thumb. My biggest successes in casting were from doing songs from shows like Chess, Pirates of Penzance and Bat Boy: The Musical which aren't done to death.
Am I cut out to spend my time this way?