Idina's Breathing

[frizzle1288]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 12:30am

Did anyone notice that Idina breathed very loudly during Defying Gravity tonight? Oh, and does anybody know her email or mailing address? I just want to tell her congrats! YAY!!!

[PJ]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 1:16am

aHahahaha. Right...

[wickedfan]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 1:30am

STOP IT WITH THE BREATHING! okay so it's a pet peeve, but she just one the f***** Tony for chrissake! Let's let her have one night where no one can criticize her!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 1:31am

I think it's a safe assumption that people noticing her hard-not-to-notice breathing on this message board isn't putting any sort of damper at all on her Tony-win celebration.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 2:52am

I only notice the breathing thing once on the CD. But, the CD could be edited, I dunno. Tonight it was a little more obvious, but can you blame her? 6,000 people in the theatre and 6,000 people watching at home! (that was funny...) She seemed a little nervous or sad or upset or something I dunno. Something was going on in that head of hers. It was cool to see/hear the "It's meeeeeee!!!!" that everyone on this board talks about. Just another thing to add to the list of complaints I have over the WICKED CD. Defying Gravity is butchered both on the CD and in tonight's performance, but the later is a little more understandable. But, why they ruined it on the CD I'll never know. They had an additional 12 minutes of space to include more singing and dialogue, and I loved the dialogue prior to the song tonight. Why didn't they record that either? Sucks. Maybe in 50 years when they come out with the Broadway Masterworks eddition of WICKED they will restore the song in its entirety. Anyway, I'm done.

Posted: 6/7/04 at 2:54am

Even though her breathing was quit loud she still gave a wonderful performance because i was loving every minute of it, she was probably just nervous or on a bad day, either way she did awesome

[ShineOn]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 3:17am

*sigh* She has horrendous technique. If she's going to perform in front of public, she's automatically a candidate for criticism. Frizzle has every right to comment on it... it is very annoying and worthy of acknowledgement.

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 3:56am

In all fairness, did you notice how freakin fast the orchestra was going during the beginning of the song? She definitely seemed to be struggling to control her breath properly. Not totally her fault, but she didn't manage to regain complete control of her voice. I've never had an issue with her breathing either live or on CD. Tonight she just seemed thrown by the tempo and let it throw those incredible belt notes slightly out of tune. Idina has an incredible voice, it was just a bit of a surprise to hear her less than perfect.

[NYUstud]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 3:59am

I did notice the tempo was very rushed. I thought they sped it up due to time issues.

[NYCbabe3789]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 6:28am

From a singer's point of view, she sounded VERY nervous.

[deeisadiva]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 6:50am

She did sound nervous...you could tell. I mean after all, it was the Tonys...she just didn't want to mess up. But she always breathes like that. Part of it is because she's always been a heavy breather and part of it is because during the sholw song she's shivering and when you're shivering it's a little hard to belt really high and strong if you don't have a little extra air.

[BroadwayPer4mer03]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 7:52am

i noticed that too. It seemed like Idina 's emotions really went into the song. Did you see those tears?

[showstopper]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 8:10am

Daisy, I totally agree with you. I have seen Wicked twice and she actually was breathing exactly like that in both shows I saw. I think it's just the way she sings. Bad technique. It is very annoying to listen to. Minus that...she does an amazing performance. She did put alot of emotion into the performance last night. I thought her speech was touching, I'm glad she mentioned Kristin in it. I'm happy for her.

[jezzebelle]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 9:12am

Well, since she has a voice teacher, it's up to her voice teacher to help her with her breathing techniques. It's what she's paying the woman for. I'm sure it's not been unnoticed by someone's who is a professional and she should have worked on her to correct it.

I personally don't find it annoying because she has an amazing voice and didn't notice it fully until last night. The tempo was most defintely speeded up and she couldn't catch up. I felt bad for her during the song because nerves don't help when you're breathing at all and she seemed very nervous. When I saw the show, I didn't notice loud breathing and DG was absoulutely awesome. To be fair, it's always very difficult to break away from bad technique, if that's how you were taught. Bad habits are harder to break.

I'm thrilled she won because I was rooting for her. :)

-Jess

[Al Dente]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 9:22am

I found it very distracting. Again, I don't find her voice easy on the ears. Now that is what you call S(H)RILL. Also, she hadn't WON her Tony yet Wickedfan. Besides, she's always been a "heavy breather". At least everything I've ever heard her sing. It's more like a bad habit, she needs to be broken of. Maybe she'll see the tape and figure that out, as I'm quite sure that she's not reading the boards for technique advice, from the likes of us.

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 9:31am

I too noticed Idina's breathing...very obvious. But because i havnt seen the show YET, i just thought it was part of it. When Kristin said "elphie you look scared.." I just thought Idina was in character. Still, it was an awesome performance and ive already watched it over 5 times. =D

[Auggie27]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 9:41am

"Defying Gravity" -- which depends on a certain build betwen the two women, simply doesn't cut well, and I think that contributed to the nerves and the wonky tempo. These gals had to take what they do 8 times a week for months and splice it together in Radio City. It was actually better on Letterman, but watching it again this a.m., I think they scored by accentuating the TURNING POINT aspect of the tale, i.e. the friendship between the two women. It served as an admirable precis of the whole show, and on 2nd viewing, Menzel's problems seem less glaring. She still sold Elphaba's epiphany. What was interesting to me was how popular her performance seemed in the house. She did get te most applause during the nomination read-thru, no? I'd expected Murphy and Pinkens to be the big hands. Whatever.

Question: Will Elphaba now finally be the lead role in WICKED? Will future casting be Elphaba over the title, and Glinda's name in a box or something? I think once Chenoweth goes, the show will seem closer in spirit to the Maguire novel. Without a star as Glinda, it may evolve into a clearer story. And once Chenoweth leaves, watch for Menzel to get the final curtain call.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 10:40am

All this talk of Idina's breathing and the use of her tongue is just nit-picking. Apparently, her "poo technisue" has got her far enough for two Tony nominations and a win. Not to mention the fact that she's not the one missing performances due to illnesses or vocal problems. I love Tonya Pinkins, but she was straining quite a bit to reach her top belt (unsuccessfully most of the time) and you could hear how vocally tired she was. Idina's performance was right on pitch and her belt was effortless. She struggled a little to keep up with the orchestra at the beginning, but I think it was more to do with working with a different MD and adjusting for the cuts in the song that did not occur in the most musically logical places.

Nearly every Broadway singer has their little quirks that make their voice unique and recognizable. The most famous Broadway divas all have unusual qualities AND techniques. Patti has the diction thing, Betty Buckley has the tight vibrato, Mary Martin scooped her notes up and down, Ethel Merman was famous for starting a note with the pitch of the last note and then dropping quickly to the new pitch to puctuate the ends of phrases, Donna Murphy scoops down often, Bernadette has the nasal quality, Carol Channing and Elaine Stritch were not known for their vocal techniques, but were adored by millions, Glen Close has the Grand Canyon between her head and chest, and so on.

Idina will be just fine. I'm happy for her and wish her all the best. I hope to see and hear a lot more of her in the future.

[SamIAm]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 10:45am

Probably the placement and sensitivity of the mic

[guido22]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 10:49am

yes i noticed her breathing, but i saw the show twice and she didnt do that either time.

[Wicked24601]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 11:32am

OMG you people are so annoying and judgemental.

Have any of you actually tried singing Defying Gravity???? Hellooooooooo, the piece may have not sound like a challenging song to sing but it is. I doubt any of you complaining about her breathing can even sing and belt like Idina does. Whatever she has a Tony and none of you wanna bees don't so suck it up jealous ppl.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 11:52am

I don't think anybody thinks Defying Gravity is an easy song to sing.

[tennis85]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 12:12pm

I've trieed singing DG, and I hit every note every time
Muahahahahhaaa

[chasing_rainbows43]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 12:31pm

Actually, Wicked, Daisy is quite the singer. Just the other day, whilst belting her little heart out in an empty piano bar, Daisy was scouted to be in the cast of a new musical. When *you* get cast in a show without even auditioning, then you can make assumptions about Ms. Hilton.
And also she has the two cutest little cats in the world. I know you're jealous. (I am. I might steal one.)

[Ustadance]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 1:20pm

Really hate to rain on Idina's Tony parade - but - the reason "Gravity" is butchered on the CD, and was again last night is because, ahem, she can't sing it.