Has a brunette actress EVER played Glinda in WICKED? — Page 2

Erin Mackey plays Glinda and has reddish hair.

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I agree....saw her in Chicago Wicked last Friday...she's so beautiful!

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Erin Mackey - what a honey! :)

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Tinkerscanne- I think your speculations are correct. I wish the Grimmerie went more in depth on the wigs. There was only half a page!

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Glinda is blonde because it fits the stereotype of what her character is at the beginning. The blonde hair is also a sharp contrast to Elphaba's skin and her clothing, which is mostly dark.

I know this is going to upset many theatergoers but everyone on Broadway wears a wig. Mostly the females, but everyone wears a wig. Yes, even Laura Bell Bundy wears a wig in LEGALLY BLONDE and even Bernadette Peters wears wigs in all her shows. Most of the cast of A CHORUS LINE (including Charlotte d'Amboise) wears their own hair, but some are wigged. Regarding Sara Ramirez... though her natural hair looked similar to The Lady of the Lake, she wore a wig in the show.

Why? Per Bernadetter Peters -- its easier and more practical (especially 8 performances a week) to leave your wig behind and then its ready and styled when you get to the theatre for the next performance. No bad hair days AND it always looks the same.

NOTE: even Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth wore wigs during their run in WICKED. Why? Read Bernadette Peters' explanation above.

Here they are curl-pinning Idina's long brown hair prior to putting the wig cap on her and then the long black Elphaba wig:

Jennifer was AMAZING as Glinda!

I find it really strange how there is a thread on this. I thought it was a well-known fact that actresses and actors on the stage usually wear wigs, so it doesn't matter what hair color they have.

But yeah, many Glindas and Elphabas have not had the same hair color as their characters do.

I don't think most of the cast wears wigs for CHICAGO.

I noticed this in the programme for Wicked in London and thought it was funny. I knew they all wore wigs anyway but loved that the Elphaba was really blonde and the Galinda really brunette.

LONDON

Annalene Beechey (OLC Galinda Standby)

Dianne Pilkington (Current Galinda)

Sarah Earnshaw (Current Galinda Standby)


Kerry Ellis (Current Elphaba)

Shona White (Past Elphaba Standby)

This is so that they won't have to keep touching up the hair throughout the show, if they need a different hair style they won't have to totally restyle it between scenes. Also it's a lot easier on the actors probably so they won't have to put their hair in curlers every day, or any of that hassel. I'm sure it's easier for them to pin curl their hair and then put the wig on.

I always thought LBB had her natural hair for Legally Blonde, seeing as she only had one hair style in Act 1 and only one hairstyle in Act 2, but if theyre just gonna wear a wig anyway why in The Search for Elle Woods did they bother dying everyones hair blonde?

Patti LuPone did not wear a wig in Gypsy at City Center last summer.

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