Idina as Elphaba = subtle performance choices?

Haven't seen the show, but I've seen two musical numbers on television. So you can take my concerns with a grain of salt. What puzzles me is Idina's performance. While watching her It seems as if her performance is very subtle. How does her performance come across in the theatre? On television, where sublety is usually a good choice, she appears physically and emotionally detached to what's happening and maybe a little too low key.

Auggie,

There's not a thing I can add to that wonderfully detailed and thoughtful resopnse to the posters questions.

I don't know how she does it, but she makes the Gershwin feel like an intimate house.

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I saw her on Letterman last night and I was not impressed

Auggie what a wonderful post, full of such insightful thoughts about Wicked. I'd love to hear your take on some other characters from current shows. Thanks!

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TheTruth- Could you explain in more depth why you were not impressed. I can't stand these little posts that say it is no good or you weren't impressed. That means nothing to me. Be smart- explain why. I'm not saying your opinion is wrong but until you explain you just seem annoying and uneducated.

Idina without a doubt has a phenomenal voice. And I can see what your saying Auggie. My thing is that she doesn't always seem to be connected to the character- particularly when she is singing. At times she seems to play towards the emotions and puts on a front. Her actions/reactions don't always seem grounded or gutteral and her intention isn't always clear. I'm speaking of her performances in other shows and the few clips I have seen of Wicked. My past experiences with her make me believe that she is a great singer but has very little training as an actress. I'll just have to wait to see the show.

Updated On: 11/19/03 at 02:26 PM

For what it's worth, I didn't personally connect with Menzel's Maureen. (Contentious words on this board, where that role/performance have legions of fans.) She was playing a spoiled hot-house flower. That role's narcisissm has always kept me at arms length. Yet in hindsight, I see how daring it was; she didn't try to make us love her, she assumed it. Nailing Maureen's sense of being the center of the universe. As Musetta is in BOHEME. Oddly enough, both Maureen and Amneris were closer in temperament and self-absorption to WICKED' s Glinda.

So ironically, she's cast against type in WICKED,no? For Elphaba, it seems as if Menzel tossed out any vestigages of those outre performances, stripping down to a kind of bare bones approach to character. She makes us believe she's homely and unaware of her own sexuality without employing a lot pretty-girl-playing-ugly cliches or manerisms. In the early scenes, she opts to play a frustion and impatience with Glinda--the geek who won't let the "pretty girl" see her sweat, once comparisons between them are so baldy noted by Glinda. Yet when Glinda hands her the mirror, we see her revel in a first glimpse of her own metamorphosis. Then, late in act one, watch the way she truly reels -- the wind knocked out of her -- at the Wizard's duplicity. And when she says to Glinda, "...it's the Wizard who should be afraid ... of me," it's a defining moment -- someone owning heretofore unknown personal power -- that surprises Elphaba herself.

Anyone with the "Defying Gravity" performance on tape should watch Menzel's eyes. There's always's a frightened little girl lurking -- that overused expression her 'inner child' is there. The performance therefore strikes me as deceptively simple. To others, it may feel "under" acted.

Jeesh. I have now written and thought more about all of this than I ever imagined I could. I guess those performances or shows that have divided responses -- sometimes polarizing ones --are often the most interesting. It's great to have a board like this so debate them.

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Updated On: 11/19/03 at 04:01 PM

Seany, you are sorely underestimating her remarkable acting talent. (Just for the record, she's has a good deal of Acting training, she was a Drama Major at NYU). I think she has a hard part to play this time around, and she's doing a remarkable job. A character like Elphaba is a very complex character, and I think Menzel has thoroughly examined, and fully understands the complexity of the character, and it certainly comes across in the end. I think she has taken on a difficult role and done wonders with it.

Seany, have you seen Wicked yet?

In defense to the Aida/Idina acting remark, Idina's acting in Aida was a turning point for the character. Idina was one of (or maybe the only, I haven't see every actress play Amneris) who took on the role with a serious turn. She didn't play off the ditzy, blonde part of Amneris and a lot of people complain that was her weakpoint, but I see it as her strong point because when Idina played Amneris, I took her seriously and I could FINALLY relate to the character. It felt like throughout the entire performance, Amneris knew Radames didn't love her but kept ignoring that intuition until "I Know the Truth".

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Just checked- she graduated in '90 from the School of Education under their vocal performance program.

I think Elphie wins the award for the most grammatic errors in one post. If you could rewrite your post in English, that would be nice, since it took me forever to decode it. I'm glad you think she's "f*ckin amazing". Maybe next time you can think of some better adjectives.

Idina is a horrible actress.

I saw WICKED on Nov. 6, and was blown away by Idina's performance. To me, her acting was very good and her singing was incredible. You really don't get the entire feel of "Defying Gravity" just watching it on television. Imagine seeing that, but times 100. It's just so much bigger in the theatre, and much more powerful. And throughout the show, there DOES appear to be a change withine Elphaba's character. In the beginning of the show, she's a shy girl who is outcasted because of what she looks like, and really seems to take that to heart. By the end of the show, though, her appearences don't seem to bother her as much. There is a new confidence in Elphaba which is totally noticable.

When I saw WICKED, I was sitting in row H of the mezz and from there, I could tell that Idina acted with great "heart and soul". It seems as though she puts 200% into this show, and I can't wait to see what's ahead.

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bestofbroadway, her bio says she holds a Bachelor od Fine Arts in Drama from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where did you hear otherwise?