Another Personal Wicked Review

[JoizeyActor]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 3:44pm

Well, I saw Wicked last night and I have to say that I was overall pleased. Idina and Kristen give really excellent performances -- especially Kristen as Glinda. Her comedic timing was SO excellent and she had me cracking up throughout the entire show. Idina's character was also done well and her belting shakes your bones. In fact, she was so quiet at the stage door that I couldn't believe someone so quiet could make such a huge noise. I'm sure she was probably saving her voice. Both women have a lot of singing. But is it just me, or does Glinda seem to sing more than Elphaba?

I can see where the songs could use some work. Basically all the ensemble songs were kinda' strange, and they just repeated the same words over and over. "Popular" was one of the best songs in the entire show. Kristen performed it so well and so naturally blonde. And most of Idina's songs were impressive, especially "Defying Gravity". Hmm, I like "Thank Goodness" in the second act as well, and "For Good". And the love duet "As Long As Your Mine" didn't hurt.

I hated Joel Grey. His character and his songs all stunk. "Wonderful" was such an out of place song and was pointless. And the bastard wouldn't even come out afterwords. He had supposedly 'left' already, even though there was like 40 people waiting for him right after the show.

The girl who played Nessarose, Michelle Federer, sang well in "The Wicked Witch of The East", and I enjoyed her. Carole Shelley was also delightfully evil.

One thing I couldn't figure out was that stupid dragon over the stage. I had no clue what that, or the clock theme, had to do with the story. I know it is important in the book and something about the TIme Dragon, but they really didn't explain it well in the play, or did I miss something? I think Glina mentions it in the beginning. But I'm sure a lot of money was spent on the dragon that moved its head about 3 times...

Overall it was very enjoyable and definitely makes you take a new look at the Wizard of Oz. And I love Kristen Chenoweth.


Oh yeah, and I hung around the stage door at Little Shop while I was waiting to go to WIcked and I saw Hunter Foster slip into the door. I was stupidly looking for the stage door and I was looking at the wrong one, and then I look like 10 feet along the building and saw him go in. He was wearing the SAME BLACK SHIRT always wears. That's weird. Lol, every picture I've seen of him, he wears the black button down shirt. Even the picture I took with him has him wearing it. Updated On: 11/8/03 at 03:44 PM

[newyorkuniq]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 3:52pm

Wicked is amazing go see it everyone!:)

[Gothampc]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 4:13pm

As far as special effects go, I was disappointed in the flying monkeys. It was like they were on clotheslines. I wanted them to fly out over the audience like Peter Pan.

[BillyLawlor]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 5:47pm

In the book, The Time Dragon is a big structure with a lot of clocks and arches and a stage. It travels from town to town and people gather in front of it, and puppets come out onto the stage and do dirty, vile things that include some villagers who are hunted down and injured or killed. When it came to where Elphaba lived, the puppets acted out Elphaba's father- a priest, I believe- cheating on his wife, so he was injured by some townspeople and than afterwards was hunted by some more villagers who wanted to kill him. When his wife is warned, they run from the cottage, and see the Time Dragon. They enter through the back as Elphaba's mother begins labor, and gives birth to Elphaba. So the Time Dragon has a lot of significance because it was where she was given birth to- it could have been what gave Elphaba her color- or what made her "Wicked" or whatever. That's the importance of the whole dragon head.

[JoizeyActor]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 5:52pm

Thanks for the information. Too bad they didn't explain that in the show. Or did they? I remember the story of her mothers affair, etc. Oh well, it may have been the late-comers who caused an entire row to stand up during the first song.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 6:04pm

Interesting reaction to the divison of labor re the singing. I thought Idina carried the evening vocally, since her 3 big numbers "Wizard and I," "Defying Gravity," and "No Good Deed," whatever their merits, are all built on Menzel's 'money notes,'and required her to take the roof off. Glinda has her coluratura flights, but only one real solo in the ENTIRE show, right? The much discussed "Popular."

And as much as I responded to the show (and I mostly loved it) I agree with many who say it's too bad "Popular"doesn't have a "3rd act" -- or a real button. I was waiting for another whole verse when Elphie exits and Glinda hits that bed. It's a song about an egotist who's proud to be one -- couldn't she sing a whole verse -- to herself?

Updated On: 11/8/03 at 06:04 PM

[BrdwyThtr]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 6:29pm

The Time Clock Dragon is not what made Elphaba green, it's the elixir that the Wizard gives her mom before he rapes her.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 8:56pm

I believe Elphaba was green because "she was a child of both worlds" as they said after she passed. WHat lead me to believe this is that this gave her unusual power, so why not unsual color too? I don't think the elixir is what made her green.

AS far as the dragon, I ignored it most of the time, but I think it in a way had an effect of representing the evil lurking around Oz.

AS far as "Wonderful" goes, I will have to disagree on saying it was a pointless song,it did have a point. First of all, about half-way through the song, the Wizard managed to win over Elphaba, which says a lot about him. If he's able to win over a strong character like Elphaba, he can easily control the minds of the people of Oz. The song also had an important job in explaining why the Wizard was in power. It also gave way to the deal that Elphaba made with the Wizard to set the monkeys free, so it did serve a purpose.

[BillFinn]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 9:02pm

Woah Woah Woah, The Wizard does not rape Elphaba's mother. She's very unfaithful to her husband, i.e. Turtle Heart. No raping went on. LOL

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 9:13pm

Joizey, you missed nothing. The dragon was not explained.

Thtr, the Wizard does not rape Elphaba's mother. Her mother enjoyed the company of lots and lots of men and was probably never meant to be monogamous. It is implied very strongly in the show that the elixir is the reason she is green, after all, we see the man who would be wizard enter the house of Elphaba's future mother with the elixir in his hand. NONE of this was in the book.

P.S. And all these songs you're mentioning. I remember NONE of them except for Defying Gravity and Popular and it was one week ago at this very time that I was seeing that show. That's not very good for a pop musical. I found myself singing several songs from Rent for weeks and weeks before the recording was released.

Updated On: 11/8/03 at 09:13 PM

[BillFinn]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 9:20pm

Namo, you were a RENT fan??? Did someone forget to tell me Hell froze over again?! sh*t

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 9:22pm

I saw it two weeks after it opened. Before there was screaming. Before the word "head" was attached to anybody. And I really liked it at the time. But I love hooky pop music, and I left singing many of the songs. I think RENT's time is lonnnnnnnnng past. I'm sorry people feel attached to something that is so obviously a sixth generation Xerox.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 9:56pm

Namo, I doubt that the elixir was the reason for Elphaba's irregular skin color...because if that was the case, everyone who has had a sip of this elixir would have green children, and surely more people have had it besides Elphaba's mother and the Wizard. I got the idea that it was because she was a child of both worlds...that is the reason she is the only one with this power and the only one with this skin color, because there are no other children of both worlds.

P.S. We need to do something about that memory of yours, sounds like it's really starting to go.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 10:03pm

Honestly, this "child of both worlds" thing was added for the stage. Why they decided to throw THAT development in is anybody's guess. Although she is not born green in the novel because of any damn elixir, the show that goes so far out of its way to show it in the flash back and at the end, I think, is just artless enough to be used to "explain" why Elphaba's green.

And yes, I shall increase my Ginko if Schwartz will write more memorable songs.

[JoizeyActor]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 10:05pm

Ok ok, I can understand that the song was there for a reason, but I didn't like him dancing with ELphaba amidst all the sadness and chaos. And then as soon as the song ended she changed her mind again.

And Namo, the only way I knew the songs besides Defying Gravity and Popular was with the Playbill, lol. They aren't that memorable, I agree. Oh well.

[BillFinn]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 10:10pm

Can you or Namo explain how Elphaba flies and what goes on after she does? Harnass? Wire?

[JoizeyActor]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 10:14pm

It looked to me like the contraption was in a "T" shape. The top of the "T" ran along the stage and I believe the stem of the T had a harness on it that attached to Idina somehow, and then the head of the T moved up and she went along with it.

It also looked like they dropped drapes around her and made them flutter, which along with the lighting affects, made it look very cool. But thats what it seemed like to me.

She did walk downstage a little before she flew, but the device could have been able to move, too. I was disappointed she never actually got on the broom and rode.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 10:15pm

She changed her mind immediately after the song was over, because she discovered Dr. Dillamond underneath a blanket, and he had lost his ability to speak. That's when she realized she had been pulled right back into his trap. That's why she changed her mind.

"Although she is not born green in the novel because of any damn elixir, the show that goes so far out of its way to show it in the flash back and at the end, I think, is just artless enough to be used to "explain" why Elphaba's green."

Say that again en inglés por favor.

[BillFinn]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 10:18pm

What about Glinda? Where is she the whole time? I get the chills everytime she belts I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY! after she lifts off.

I heard the scarf or whatever Glinda puts on Elphie when she says "Here, put this around you" contributes to the flying.

Updated On: 11/8/03 at 10:18 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 10:20pm

With relish.

Okay. There is no elixir in the novel. The only reason to put the elixir into the flashback scene and then in the "big revelation scene" in a show as artless as Wicked, is to let it explain her green-ness.

I hope that's clearer. I barely understood the paragraph you pulled myself. And it was the paragraph what I wrote.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 10:27pm

Actually, Elphaba ran upstage as the guards broke in, and if you keep your eye on her, you see her hooking herself up. Meanwhile Glinda is upstage dealing with the guards, and as Elphaba belts "It's MEEEE" the guards release Glinda and they stand down stage watching Elphaba, in awe I guess.

[BillFinn]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 10:37pm

So she just flies horizontally up? I expected this big Peter Pan-ish choreography flying on a broomstick type of thing.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 10:39pm

Well, she flies vertically up. It's hard to fly horizontally up.

[Hello Gorgeous]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 10:49pm

I think that Idina sang more than Kristin also. Either that or Kristin sang more duets (even though I can't think of any) or short songs.

As for a "short" personal review, I thoroughly enjoyed Wicked. I thought that Idina and Kristin were exceptional (trying to use other words than "amazing" so bear with me LOL) in this show, and both deserve to win Tonys. I love Kristin's dumb blondeness and ditzyness, and how she is so self-centered. Her character was so funny I thought. Kristin's tiny voice was so perfect for it too!

I loved how Elphaba was a little stand-offish in the beginning of the show. Don't ask me why, because for the life of me I can't tell you why, it just seemed to add to her character. I also loved the songs Idina sang as Elphaba. She sounded incredible and gave me chills everytime she sang.

As for Joel Grey, I thought he was alright. He didn't have any good songs to sing, and as the Wizard, he was a little weird. I didn't like the character of the Wizard in this show.

One thing I have to comment on about this show is the lighting. It was amazing (there I go again). The lighting on the stage when they are in Oz in incredible, and I never really took notice of lighting until I saw this show.

Updated On: 11/8/03 at 10:49 PM

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 11/8/03 at 10:58pm

Hello Gorgeous, about the lighting...you took the words right out of my mouth, lol.