Best and Worst Elphaba of 2009

[wickedlyamazing]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 6:00pm

Since 2009 is over, I want to hear everyone's opinion on who is was the best and worst Elphaba of 2009. I wanna know your favorite and least favorite lead Elphaba, Elphaba s/b, and Elphaba u/s). Note it includes all productions

Some of the 2009 Elphies were:
Marcie Dodd, Nicole Parker, Dee Roscioli, Eden Espinosa, Teal Wicks, Vicki Noon, Julie Reiber, Jennifer Dinoia, Donna Vivino, Meredith Kaye Clark, Stephanie Torns, Angel Reda, Carrie Manalokas, Chelsea Krombach, Kerry Ellis, Alexa Khadime, Ashleigh Grey, Sabrina Carter, Anne Brummel






Updated On: 1/2/10 at 06:00 PM

[snowskittle]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 6:22pm

And the reason for this post is.......?

These polls are pointless. People just vote for the one they've seen...or if they've seen multiples, often their first.

And why do you want to know the worst?

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 6:24pm

Oh, you're going to get so many nasty remarks for this, but being a Wicked fan... I'll play.

Favorite principle Elphaba: Kerry Ellis
Lease favorite: Teal Wicks

Favorite stand-by: Jemma Rix
Least favorite: Jennifer DiNoia

Favorite understudy: Viki Noon(although she is stand-by now)
Least favorite: Patrice Tipoki

Updated On: 1/2/10 at 06:24 PM

[BroadwayBound115]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 6:54pm

Favorite Elphaba I've Seen Live: Donna Vivino

Favorite Elphaba I've Watched on YT: Eden Espinosa/Kerry Ellis

I don't want to name a least favorite because all of those women have worked too hard to have their work be diminished.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 6:56pm

My favorite Elphie & G(a)linda

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 6:58pm

2009 is over. We're not allowed to post about it anymore.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 7:00pm

Even if it's about the love between a green girl and a pink girl, Emcee?

[CyCoSpAz2]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 7:00pm

Jordan - is that Julia Murney and Kendra Kassebaum? Tough to tell from the angle

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 7:02pm

No, thats promotional art done for an illegal middle school production in Mississippi last fall.

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 7:03pm

The best Elphaba of 2009 by far is Willemijn Verkaik.

[zoraksferal]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 7:08pm

My favorite was, to my surprise, Jennifer DiNoia, and my least favorite was Carrie Manalokas. Ironically, both standbys.

[rmusic11322]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 7:56pm

I can't really comment becuase I haven't seen Wicked in a while and I don't watch a lot of videos of them. But I do have to say that Nicole Parker is the most unexpected and surprising to play Elphaba. She is very good!

[saveusmike]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 9:51pm

No, thats promotional art done for an illegal middle school production in Mississippi last fall.

Thats disgusting...its vile and just wrong... A school performing Wicked Illegally!? How dare they..

[BenjaminNicholas2]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 9:56pm

Frankly, it's ridiculous that there have been that many Elphabas to perform through 2009. Says a whole lot about the demands of the show, the producer's careless attitude about grinding through performers and the nature of the role.

FWIW, I enjoyed Kerry Ellis (when she wasn't ill). I've seen her at full power on the West End and she was just thrilling. What they didn't allow her to do vocally during her Broadway run was disappointing... She's got serious pipes and uses them properly, unlike gals like Shoshana Bean.



BN

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 10:04pm

Best: Kerry Ellis & Nicole Parker
Worst: Dee Ravioli

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 10:06pm

What wasn't Kerry "allowed" to do vocally?

[provocation]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 10:08pm

Benjamin, Bean has one of the best vocal techniques of anyone to play the role. Ellis shouted her way through the score. I don't know how you can compare Ellis, which was the most boring performance I've ever seen, to Bean, who could sing her way through the Yellow Pages and it would STILL wow a crowd.

However, Willemijn Verkaik takes the cake for the best Elphaba, at least vocally, ever. FLAWLESS.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 10:09pm

Shoshana overriffed every single lyric.

[provocation]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 10:16pm

Ellis marked her way through the score. Which would you argue is worse?

[BenjaminNicholas2]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 10:18pm

Thank you TheatreFan: Bean couldn't sing anything straight and had mucho vocal issues after her various stints in the show. She didn't support well enough and it hurt her voice. She said this point blank on one of the Rosie cruises when asked during a small group Q&A.

As for Ellis: In press interviews when back in the UK after her Broadway stint, she has said that the music director, as well as producers, asked her to tone down the growling, her UK accent (idiotic request, IMO) and stick to the score as much as possible. That, combined with her being sick for most of the run, didn't help US audiences see her unique spark.

YouTube her name. She's got an incredible voice. Her Royal Variety Performance 2008 (Wicked in Rock) was jaw-dropping and I DARE Sho Bean to even try that kind of live performance with that quality of tone, pitch and key.



BN

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 10:24pm

No, riffing everything is worse.

I saw Kerry in her last week & she was out of this world. She still had a forced accent, which did not work, but very enjoyable none the less. Kerry's growl is amazing.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 10:28pm

Best: Julie Reiber
Worst: Nicole Parker and Chelsea Krombach

Updated On: 1/2/10 at 10:28 PM

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 10:58pm

i say this all the time about shoshana bean... but i think she's the only Elphaba that i've heard who sings the last night of Defying Gravity right.. as in she's the only one that makes it sound like it's not some damn Tarzan "aaaaah"...

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 1/3/10 at 12:34am

I much prefer the Tarzan yell. It's more in character than doing pointless riffs just for the hell of it, which was Shoshana's entire performance.

[WickedlyEdna1962]

Posted: 1/3/10 at 12:54am

Best- Nicole Parker or Willemijn
Worst- Dee Roscioli

I've been watching some clips of Willemijn and am completely blown away. Also, though, is it more or when she flies does that lift go up REALLY fast. It looks way faster than the one they're using on Broadway.