I'm actually leaning more towards a photo call with Annaleigh and several shots put together... the gown has several differences from any other... the shoulder straps are silver (all of the previous gowns have been skin tone with rhinestones, but the London collar straps have been re-designed silver, so they are reflecting the changes in the Broadway gown) and they're at 90 degree angle, when the others were designed with the sole purpose of holding up the collar. The new sequin pattern on her bodice is very similar to Megan Hilty's LA gown and Kendra Kassebaum's, but looks almost fuller... and the arm... things... are much smaller, and you can actually see the elastic on the top and bottom, when on most previous gowns... they're just big poofs with hidden elastic.
However, the Glinda makeup design is much different than the makeup Annaleigh is wearing in the photo... so… maybe it’s an already existing photo of her... which would just be stupid... they can afford to pay her for a photo shoot with the cash their brining in every year... However... they do change makeup design for photo calls vs. actual performance stage design so it doesn't look plain ridiculous.
examples:
photo call shot of Cheno:
this is Kristin at a photo call with a shot taken by Joan Marcus, with her actual stage makeup... Nothing dulled down, but I don't think this was one of the original intended publicity shots, just a nice shot of Cheno that happened to be taken during the original Brodway photo shoot.
Kristin and Idina's real stage makeup:
Here Kristin has the same stage makeup, but as per normal it looks ridiculous up close so it will read from stage. However,
Here is a picture of the original main cast, and the makeup is extremely dulled down and normalized so that it could be used for publicity. This was also done for all television performances and close up out of performace shots which makes me think that because an entire cast photo call was not needed because they don't retake shots for new ensemble members, they may have just put Annaleigh in a glamed up "close up" version of the stage makeup for this photo call, taken several pictures, and photoshopped them together...
They've been using posed shots of new principals lately on the website but in stage makeup and costume… not like this at all… I’m assuming they did this because there are now five english speaking casts around the world and the only time whole cast photo calls have been called lately were for the 2007 London cast with Kerry and Diane, but that production is only 1 year old, and pretty budget equal with the origianl Broadway, which the tour, Chicago, and LA are not... AND to have photo calls every time there was a new principal in every cast would be ridiculous for cost reasons, and because publicity is not as hot as it is when a new production opens.
Kristin's collar and shoulder straps are missing from this picture as is Annaleigh’s in the above photo... so the collar may have just gotten in the way for up close publicity shots. Dianne Pilkington and Helen Dallimore also removed their collars for some publicity shots, but not all... however, the collar has been removed for the London catfight scene but not on Broadway, and most of the publicity shots of Glinda and Elphaba together have been copies of the iconic photo of the catfight scene from San Francisco and not the original “For Good” shot which is more copied here in the states. The London bubble gown has also changed design ever so slightly (a v neck line... which began with Megan Hilty(who received a new gown for LA with a sequin pattern similar to Ashford's) and Kendra Kassebaum and has been deepened for London (although Annaleigh's neckline has reverted to the original straight neckline)a fuller skirt, and a different necklace (Broadway's necklace has also changed several times) to a snow flake burst design to reflect the tiara and the wand)and some of it is being reflected in Annaleigh's gown..
As for Stephanie's picture... it's a tour pro-shot because that's her original tour act 2 gown. I don't know if they have given her a totally new wardrobe for Broadway, because pro-shots haven't been released of Ashford and Block together which will tell… unless they photoshop Annaleigh into the original tour pictures as Kendra… which considering circumstances… could happen… but the tour costumes were made with a lesser budget ($10 million) than the Broadway budget ($14 million)and would not necessarily look up to the caliber of the higher budget Broadway costumes (look at Carole Kane's red and gold entrance gown vs. Carole Shelley's).
I'm not sure if other instances of this have happened... but Idina had an entirely new wardrobe for London, but it may just be because her original act 2 gown is on display at the Gershwin, but with the small changes in design in the three years of re-designing the show has gone through, the original Broadway designs may have been out of place with the new London designs.
I'm thinking they may follow suit when most actresses make a production transfer, but I'm not sure. If it's from a lesser to a higher budget production as a replacement, maybe, but from a higher to lesser, I’m not sure, because production photos haven't been taken in the instance of most transfers because usually the two stars have pictures taken of themselves together (Megan and Eden, Ana and Kate..) at least for Shoshana because she is the only Broadway Elphaba not to originate another production and the only two Glindas she has been with are Jennifer Laura and Megan… and she and Megan took the tour together. Eden recieved a whole new wardrobe for LA, but it looks like she kept her standby gown for her tour appearance, and her Broadway stint. Kristy transferred from Broadway as a standby to the tour and then Chicago and those three were pretty much carbon copies of each other, and wouldn't have been time for her to have new costumes made for the tour stint and Chicago follwed pretty quickly, but usually new costumes are made for the entire cast when a new production is mounted, but there are no production photos of her for either the New York or tour stints.. so a comparison to her Chicago gown can’t be made.
Anyway, it's STAPHANIE’S tour gown and her original act 2 makeup for the tour was much softer than the current Elphaba act 2 design. In contrast to the act 1 makeup which hasn’t changed for any production, Elphaba now wears very dark lipstick in act 2, and her eyes are much smokier (except for the London production, where makeup seems to be the only thing not subtly changed...). BUT, it's a tour publicity shot... not photoshopped, not a new photo call.
The only way we’ll know about Steph or Annaleigh's changes for Broadway is when production shots of the two of them come out. And with WICKED’s website currently being totally overhauled… the galleries are down, and it usually takes them about two months to put up new photos of new casts... but who knows now...
In terms of the broadway.com shots though…
Annaleigh: personal photo call, photoshopped... hopefully...
Stephanie: re-used tour shot.
End of story.
that's a really big mic...
Updated On: 10/27/07 at 05:15 PM
