Caissie Levy coming back to Wicked?- Page 2

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 10:10pm

After GODSPELL and DOGFIGHT, Lindsay should NOT step into a long running low-profile (at this time) replacement slot.

Cassie, on the other hand may need work soon, any work to make up for her weak showing in GHOST.

Beside the originals, who have played the roles the longest?

[bdn223]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 10:22pm

Chenowith only played Glinda for 9 months...Idena played Elphaba for about 18 months on Broadway. So Idena is definitly the longest Elphaba, but I dont think Kristens the longest Galinda.

[tphiliboy152]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 11:10pm

^Actually Dee Roscioli holds the record for longest running Elphaba. She played Elphaba in Chicago from December 12th 2006 to June 1st 2008. (18 months on her first stint). Then again from August 26th 2008 to January 25th 2009. Then she stepped into the role on Broadway from July 21st 2009 to March 21st 2010. And then again she came to the 1NT from June 7th 2011 to October 2nd 2011. Overall Dee has played Elphaba for 35 months which is over 2 years. Behind that is Eden Espinosa.

Glinda wise... some of the longer running Glindas are Erin Mackey, Natalie Daradich, Katie Rose Clarke (the longest running Glinda doing about 2 years for each stint as Glinda (except her latest engagement with the 1NT this past winter).

[loliveve]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 11:19pm

Well, if you're counting "originals," I think Kristin Chenoweth must trump all other Glindas since she started her time with "Wicked" when it was still in the readings/ workshop phase...

Updated On: 7/29/12 at 11:19 PM

[tphiliboy152]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 11:21pm

Yes, but that doesn't include technical performances...

[BroadwayFan12]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 1:56am

Their names are spelled Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth. Is it really that hard?

[ElphabaGoodman]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 4:57am

Kendra Kassebaum actually played Glinda longer than anyone else, in the US productions at least. Over 4 years spent in the role, between all her runs.

As tphiliboy152 said, Dee Roscioli has performed Elphaba more than anyone else. Over 1000 performances.

[tphiliboy152]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 7:35am

^I thought it was Katie? She must be a close second then.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 9:03am

Whatever one thinks of WICKED, and it's been debated here since this board and the show began, almost together, it does seem to work best with younger women. This is a story about college girls, after all. Somehow, women in their late 30's in those costumes look ridiculous. Youth isn't always in asset, but with a piece as clued into its younger demo as WICKED surely is, youth helps make a persuasive case for the material.

Sidebar: in a culture obsessed with perpetual adolescence, it's fascinating how the business routinely casts 30 plus year-olds (GLEE) as teens. I find it creepy. But maybe it lets the 30 year-olds at home holding onto their action figures and mom and dad's protective roof feel closer to the high school years. And less guilty about not growing the f--k up.

[PositivelyEmerald]

Posted: 7/29/12 at 12:13am

Elena Roger as the next Elphab?
Just kidding...I wanted an excuse to post this picture I photoshopped. She certainly has the look for it!


Updated On: 7/29/12 at 12:13 AM

[PositivelyEmerald]

Posted: 7/29/12 at 12:14am

...Seriously though I would love for Ciassie to come back...or Lindsay

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 7/30/12 at 8:51am

What were Caissie's vocal issues in Wicked?

[CaissieFan101]

Posted: 7/30/12 at 9:11am

I don't know exactly what happened, but somehow it resulted in her having surgery on her vocal chords.

[californiasnow]

Posted: 7/30/12 at 9:46am

She was in the LA company for a little under 6 months, first as the standby for Eden during the last couple months of her run, then as full time Elphaba for about 4 months. She missed a sizable chunk of the performances she was scheduled for, and ended up leaving the show earlier than planned. If you look at clips on "that site" you can tell she was having a lot of problems in the role. I did unexpectedly see her final performance, and she was in very good voice (and understandably quite emotional).

[FindMe12]

Posted: 7/30/12 at 5:49pm

Yes she did have to leave early because of vocal problems but if she has been offered the role on Broadway twice since then I think its safe to say she doesn't have any problems anymore and can handle the role. I for one thought she had one of the most different takes on the role vocal wise and it was very refreshing.

[CPat6783]

Posted: 7/31/12 at 3:56pm

I have heard from Cassie as well at stage door, she has been asked to come back, and that she would love to, it's just a matter of timing. I think with Ghost she has proven she can handle vocally challenging roles. I'm sure along with her surgery she continued taking vocal training. I believe she didn't even miss her first show for Ghost until late May or early June.

Even if she did have vocal issues, that doesn't seem to stop the producers from casting certain Elphabas, like Teal Wicks. Everyone said she would miss a ton on broadway, and she certainly proved those people wrong. She only seemed to miss about every 3 1/2 weeks or so which I don't really consider an issue, and just because an Elphaba misses doesn't mean they are having vocal trouble, that role is just as hard on ones body physically.

[TheLadyoftheWood]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 12:45am

^^^^^^Um what part of the show is demanding on ones body? Last 3 times I saw it Elphaba was mostly a singing character. There are other shows like Chicago and Evita which are more taxing on the leads body than Wicked is on an Elphaba's body.

[beltingbaritone]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 12:56am

Duh, Elphaba has to use those guns to flap her wings and fly! How do you think she get's up there? A lift or something? Psh.

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 1:02am

She has to wear a 30 pound dress for all of act 2
She is onstage for about 96% of the show
When she is not onstage, she is running up and down stairs in said dress
After those stairs she has to belt out huge songs
She wears a green body suite
It's far from being a physically taxing role along the lines of some of the bigger dancing parts, but many of the actresses who have played her (including SJB and Julia Murney) have said its an incredibly physically taxing role.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 1:11am

Pretty much any role on Broadway is going to be taxing. I feel like people tend to think Elphaba is the most difficult role ever to play on broadway... Besides the singing and being onstage a lot, the role is not too physically demanding like Velma or Evita where not only are they onstage the whole show, but they are onstage singing AND doing very difficult choreography. Elphaba does not have a lot of hard choreography at all. Yes it is vocally demanding, but no more so than some other roles that are also very physically demanding. And as for running backstage in heavy costumes, that's nothing unique to the role of Elphaba.

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 1:28am

I'm not saying it's the most physical thing on Broadway. But to say it's NOT hard to play I think is a little dumb. Which I know is NOT what your saying haha, I am just saying that it's not a walk in the park like some people on here try to paint it to be.
Caissie should come back. I feel like she is one of the very few Elphaba's recently to take the show in the darker route. Don't get me wrong, I still love the show but recently I feel like the show has become a comedy rather then a moving piece of theater that it once was.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 1:33am

Don't get me wrong, I still love the show but recently I feel like the show has become a comedy rather then a moving piece of theater that it once was.

Okay I'm glad I'm not the only one to feel this way... I feel like the show I saw back on tour in 2006 was an entirely different production than the tour I saw earlier this year. I felt like I was watching a group of people on a crazed sugar high do the show. All "fluff and bubblegum", which just doesn't work for the show IMO. Mamie Parris seemed to be the only one with a grasp on the material.

[TheLadyoftheWood]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 1:35am

Never said it wasn't a taxing role. Just wondering why Wicked fanatics seem to cry about how hard the role is to play and paint it out to be the most difficult role in the history of roles to play.

[ReggieonBway]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 2:12am

I gotta love the statement that playing Elphaba would be a bad career move for Lindsay. It doesn't matter how Wicked is perceived on these boards, having the lead in one of the biggest hits in Broadway history on your resume is a HUGE thing. Doesn't matter if you're the eighth replacement or the thirtieth.

That said - I think Lindsay should continue originating roles. She has such a unique vibe to her voice. Telly Leung did a video blog a while back in which she sang a few bars of Ella Fitzgerald's cover of Blue Skies - scatting and all - and it sounded incredible. I'd love to see a newer composer write something for her.

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 9:13pm

I feel the same way bwayphreak.
I saw the show my first time with Carmen Cusack in the role. The show was so dark and haunting. Katie Rose Clarke did great at providing the lighter moments, but overall the show was a pretty dark show. Which is what I think it is suppose to be. A darker take on the land of Oz with some comedy thrown in to keep it balanced. But now it does feel too light. And you are right in saying Mamie was one of the recent Elphaba's to take it back in that direction.