#1
Posted: 9/15/06 at 6:44pm
Ok, so I just saw Wicked and I've decided to put up a review about Eden's fantastic performence. I've seen Idina, Shoshana, Saycon, Eden and Stephanie in the part of Elphaba. I'm a big Idina freak, and I'm usually incredibly loyal to her. Shoshana was amazing, Saycon was even better, and Stephanie was ok (she screamed a little bit too much) but no one had ever really blown me away like Idina had...until the other day when I saw Eden.
Eden was absolutely fabulous. She was so true as Elphaba and didn't bring too many riffs to any songs (like Shoshana), didn't move her hands around like she was possessed (like Idina), didn't copy Shoshana (like Saycon), and didn't scream at the top of her lungs (like Stephanie). She was perfect...for the most part.
My two favorite numbers were Defying Gravity and No Good Deed so I'll do a review about them.
Defying Gravity - This was average throughout the beginning as Eden did the mechanical lines that she has obviously done thousands of times. Somehow I forgot all about how Eden hadn't done that great earlier in the number. She blew me away when the guards rushed in and she said her line prior to her going up for Defying Gravity. There was some sort of mistake where everyone was trying to say something at once. They paused and tried again and again. This was kind've humorous until Eden yelled over them and said "ITS NOT HER, IM THE ONE YOU WANT. It's me!" All eyes turned to Eden as she was clearly rising above what other people think. Then she went up for the climax of Defying Gravity and a chill went through the audience. I'm not so sure of her choice to scream "It's meeeee" as it is rather aggrivating to the ears, but it still gets across the message that she is finished with "accepting limits". Shoshana and Stephanie didn't really do a good job showing this emotion during their performences, though Eden did extremely well in this area.
The rest of Defying Gravity was phenomenal, though I have to say that Idina beats her during this part of Defying Gravity (vocally and physically). Eden just doesn't have the same power as Idina.
No Good Deed- Eden rose through the trap door and didn't do the same pleasent note that everyone was used to Shoshana, Stephanie, and Saycon doing. She screamed out "Fiyero" and brought the attention to her. When Shoshana and others would sing a note here, it would confuse the audience as to who was singing when they heard the two voices (Glinda and Elphaba). It took them a while to see Shoshana (and others) coming up through the trap door. However, Eden received immediate cheers from the audiences as she sang this song better than anyone in the history of Wicked. She was amazing. She said everything like you might say to yourself or a friend. She emphasized words that deserved to be emphasized for reasons other than sounding "pleasant". Her choice of going up high on "Fiyer-o. FI-YERO!!!!!!!!!!!" gave me chills for the next few minutes and bringing a bright smile to my face.
Also, during the climax of no good deed when she puts her cape over the wind and smoke machine ("no good deed goes unpunished, all helpful urges should be circumvented") she seemed like the witch from the Wizard of Oz. She blew me away with a fantastic performence.
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note: I had seen Eden before as a standby for Idina and she didn't impress me at all. When I heard she went back to Wicked I was dissapointed....until I saw this performence.
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This was truly an amazing performence.
Eden was absolutely fabulous. She was so true as Elphaba and didn't bring too many riffs to any songs (like Shoshana), didn't move her hands around like she was possessed (like Idina), didn't copy Shoshana (like Saycon), and didn't scream at the top of her lungs (like Stephanie). She was perfect...for the most part.
My two favorite numbers were Defying Gravity and No Good Deed so I'll do a review about them.
Defying Gravity - This was average throughout the beginning as Eden did the mechanical lines that she has obviously done thousands of times. Somehow I forgot all about how Eden hadn't done that great earlier in the number. She blew me away when the guards rushed in and she said her line prior to her going up for Defying Gravity. There was some sort of mistake where everyone was trying to say something at once. They paused and tried again and again. This was kind've humorous until Eden yelled over them and said "ITS NOT HER, IM THE ONE YOU WANT. It's me!" All eyes turned to Eden as she was clearly rising above what other people think. Then she went up for the climax of Defying Gravity and a chill went through the audience. I'm not so sure of her choice to scream "It's meeeee" as it is rather aggrivating to the ears, but it still gets across the message that she is finished with "accepting limits". Shoshana and Stephanie didn't really do a good job showing this emotion during their performences, though Eden did extremely well in this area.
The rest of Defying Gravity was phenomenal, though I have to say that Idina beats her during this part of Defying Gravity (vocally and physically). Eden just doesn't have the same power as Idina.
No Good Deed- Eden rose through the trap door and didn't do the same pleasent note that everyone was used to Shoshana, Stephanie, and Saycon doing. She screamed out "Fiyero" and brought the attention to her. When Shoshana and others would sing a note here, it would confuse the audience as to who was singing when they heard the two voices (Glinda and Elphaba). It took them a while to see Shoshana (and others) coming up through the trap door. However, Eden received immediate cheers from the audiences as she sang this song better than anyone in the history of Wicked. She was amazing. She said everything like you might say to yourself or a friend. She emphasized words that deserved to be emphasized for reasons other than sounding "pleasant". Her choice of going up high on "Fiyer-o. FI-YERO!!!!!!!!!!!" gave me chills for the next few minutes and bringing a bright smile to my face.
Also, during the climax of no good deed when she puts her cape over the wind and smoke machine ("no good deed goes unpunished, all helpful urges should be circumvented") she seemed like the witch from the Wizard of Oz. She blew me away with a fantastic performence.
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note: I had seen Eden before as a standby for Idina and she didn't impress me at all. When I heard she went back to Wicked I was dissapointed....until I saw this performence.
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This was truly an amazing performence.
Eden is definitley great as Elphie 
So sad that she is leaving soon. I so badly want to see her before she goes but don't think it's gonna happen.
