Has anyone seen WICKED lately?

[HamfourHam]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 1:12pm

Haven't seen the show in about 9 years and was thinking of returning to the Gershwin to catch it. How has the show held up? 

Updated On: 12/30/15 at 01:12 PM

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 1:22pm

Rachel Tucker is fantastic, my personal favorite Elphaba. She's in the show through June (minus Jan 5-14th) and definitely worth a return visit.

Kara Lindsay is leaving at the end of January, but she's good as well.

[IlanaKeller]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 1:27pm

Rachel Tucker is fantastic, Kara Lindsay is a lot of fun.

Go, go, go! And check out Jonah Platt's #FiyeroTime videos on Broadway.com, they're kinda amazing!

[steven22]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 1:28pm

Rachel is giving a fantastic performance as Elphaba! 

[HamfourHam]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 1:28pm

Yeah I just listened to Rachel a little bit. Meh. I don't know. It seems like the original Elphabas (Idina, Stephanie, Eden, Shoshana, Anna) belted their faces off and now it seems lots of Elphabas hold back. 

Updated On: 12/30/15 at 01:28 PM

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 1:28pm

Guys, I said "fantastic" first. Use better adjectives!

[NewsiesForever]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 1:28pm

By the way who is replacing Kara Lindsey? And what is she doing next?

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 1:30pm

HamfourHam said: "Yeah I just listened to Rachel a little bit. Meh. I don't know. It seems like the original Elphabas (Idina, Stephanie, Eden, Shoshana, Anna) belted their faces off and now it seems lots of Elphaba's hold back. "

Rachel doesn't hold back. Did you just join this board to tell us all about your opinions of Elphabas based on youtube? People who have ACTUALLY seen her just gave you 3 positive reviews.

 

[HamfourHam]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 1:49pm

Yeah and I'm sure Rachel is fine. I was commenting on the evolution of Elphabas. What are you her mother? 

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 1:54pm

neonlightsxo said: "HamfourHam said: "Yeah I just listened to Rachel a little bit. Meh. I don't know. It seems like the original Elphabas (Idina, Stephanie, Eden, Shoshana, Anna) belted their faces off and now it seems lots of Elphaba's hold back. "

 

Rachel doesn't hold back. Did you just join this board to tell us all about your opinions of Elphabas based on youtube? People who have ACTUALLY seen her just gave you 3 positive reviews.

 

 

 

"

Three *fantastic reviews!

[HamfourHam]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 2:04pm

The only thing I don't understand about Rachel (who has some great pipes) is why she is doing an American accent? It's painfully obvious she isn't American and ummmm she is in Oz.....It doesn't matter what nationality Elphaba is. I wish she would just do her normal voice. Her natural voice creeps in here and there on some lyrics and it throws me out of the character and the moment.

Updated On: 12/30/15 at 02:04 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 2:10pm

Hasn't every Elphaba in an English-language production used an American accent?

[HamfourHam]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 2:11pm

Lizzie, I have no idea. I haven't seen the show in years. But I don't think Idina put on a British accent when she performed the role in London? I could be mistaken though. 

 

But regardless, it's just silly to make an english actress perform an American accent when the role doesn't even come to close to calling for it. 

.

.

Updated On: 12/30/15 at 02:11 PM

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 2:15pm

All Broadway Elphabas use American accents, and in the West End, they're British, regardless of your personal opinion of that. It's mandated by the production.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 2:20pm

That's interesting. I had a friend who worked merch at Wicked when it first opened in Australia, and they decided that American accents were the way to go.

[HamfourHam]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 2:39pm

It's still a dumb thing to make mandatory. Especially if you can blatantly tell the actress has not yet mastered the accent.

Updated On: 12/30/15 at 02:39 PM

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 2:50pm

"and they decided that American accents were the way to go."

 

I always wonder what people mean by American accent. A southern accent is way different than a NY accent for example - lol.

Updated On: 12/30/15 at 02:50 PM

[IlanaKeller]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 3:01pm

neonlightsxo said: "Guys, I said "fantastic" first. Use better adjectives!

 

"

Hahahahaha -- apparently no one got a thesaurus in their stocking!

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 3:17pm

yankeefan7 said: ""and they decided that American accents were the way to go."

 

 

 

I always wonder what people mean by American accent. A southern accent is way different than a NY accent for example - lol.

 

"

True, but those are all American accents. There are also several different British accents, but if someone spoke with a cockney accent, most would still refer to it as british, same for the accent used on Billy Elliot. 

Midwestern is currently the American standard accent that gets used in media most frequently. This was not always the case. In early film, television, and radio the Midatlantic accent was the standard. It is the Midwestern accent that Ms. Tucker is using, and she is likely being told to use it because it is currently considered the standard and therefore the most understandable to  the masses.

All of that being said, I would be perfectly fine with a British sounding Elphaba.

[HamfourHam]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 3:23pm

All of that being said, I would be perfectly fine with a British sounding Elphaba.

 

I think many would. I do wonder the thought process that went into keeping Elphaba American. This reminds me of The West end's production of Beauty and the Beast when they brought over Burke Moses for Gaston because the creators said Gaston needed to be American. But in that instance, I understand what they were going for. With Wicked I do not.

 

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Updated On: 12/30/15 at 03:23 PM

[IlanaKeller]

Posted: 12/30/15 at 3:30pm

Part of the problem with a British-sounding Elphaba would be that she has a sister, mother and father in the show. I would think it would then have to be all or none -- I'd think a scene with Nessa sounding American and Elphaba sounding British would break the audience more than a few dialogue slips here or there. 

[Plannietink08]

Posted: 12/31/15 at 3:35am

Since we're going there.

The British cast of Wicked is made up of Scottish, Irish, Welsh and English people but they all use Southern English accents. Elphaba tends to speak in a middle-class London accent and Glinda speaks with a Kent accent (Where Downton Abby is located). I've heard a Boq speak with a Scottish accent. 

There is no such thing as a "British accent" since Britain is made up of four separate countries, each with vastly different accents. 

Ashleigh Grey is Scottish and used an English accent. Rachel Tucker is Irish but used an English accent in the West End and obviously uses an American accent on Broadway.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 12/31/15 at 6:05am

For North American productions it makes the most sense to have the cast all using an American accent, rather than a foreign one. After all, the source material is very much an American fairy tale.

[c0113g3b0y]

Posted: 12/31/15 at 6:54am

Never understood why the original Australian cast used American accents

[LarryD2]

Posted: 12/31/15 at 7:44am

Midwestern is currently the American standard accent that gets used in media most frequently. 

 

What you are actually referring to is called a Standard American Accent. There is no such thing as a "Midwestern accent," just as there is no such thing as a Southern, Northern, or Western accent. An Ohio accent is different from an Illinois accent, which is different from a North Dakota accent. When referring to American accents that are not distinctly regional, it is best to use the term "Standard American Accent": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American