Kerry Ellis in "Wicked"

[neil30043]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 5:33pm

does anyone know if she's singing all 8 performances each week...thanks.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 6:58pm

Usually, no.

She was out last Sunday, but has not been out this week yet.

She very rarely does all 8 shows a week.

[Gobstopper]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 7:03pm

They should really just do a set schedule for Elphabas where the understudy does matinees.

[DefyGravity777]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 7:26pm

I agree Gobstopper. That's what they do in Germany and Japan I think.

[dshnookie]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 11:17pm

If you're going for Kerry - you'll be disappointed. I'd consider myself lucky if I had gotten an understudy.

I've only seen one other Elphaba, and that was Victoria Matlock on tour and she is so much better than Kerry. Having said that, I know someone who has seen Wicked many times (in the teens) - including Idina, Shoshana, Murney, Eden, Block to name a few and am pretty sure she'd rank Kerry at the bottom.

Was it just me, or does Kerry have a "chipmunk-y" speaking voice - and singing voice too.

I discussed this with someone and we thought maybe she was resting her voice because she had been ill recently, but if that's the case have the understudy go on. No one is flocking to Wicked to see Kerry. Kerry-fans take your best shot! :)

[adamgreer]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 11:21pm

I agree. You're much better off with Julie Reiber.

[mikkix]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 11:22pm

How about Aaron Tveit? I'm going for Kerry and Aaron.

[Kev]

Posted: 8/15/08 at 4:47pm

How about Aaron Tveit? I'm going for Kerry and Aaron.

Tveit sings the role well enough, but brings nothing new to the role and is otherwise bland. He was devoid of any charm, looked miserable, and was fairly winded after his "dancing" in the first portion of "Dancing Through Life."

[B3TA07]

Posted: 8/15/08 at 4:56pm

...because the role of Fiyero has so much depth and complexity to delve into? Hahahaha

[toanythingtaboo 2]

Posted: 8/15/08 at 5:08pm

Aaron's ok, just not really anything different from what's been seen before in the role.

Plus he looks far too young for both Kerry and Kendra.

[DefyGravity777]

Posted: 8/15/08 at 5:09pm

I have seen many Elphaba's (Block,Reiber,Krombach,Roscioli,Brescia,Cusack and Ellis) and I rank Kerry right after Block and Reiber.

To whoever said that no one is flocking to see Kerry is wrong. The show sells out everyday and I'm sure it's not to see Kendra.

Updated On: 8/16/08 at 05:09 PM

[adamgreer]

Posted: 8/15/08 at 5:10pm

I thought Aaron was about as good as could possibly be, given such an underwritten role. No, he doesn't offer anything "new", but I'm not sure what else there is to offer.

His age isn't his fault. He's closer to the age of the characters than either of the current full-time witches are.

[winston89]

Posted: 8/15/08 at 5:10pm

I know that they have an alternate in Germany and Japan for Elphaba.

But, what I find interesting is this. That there hasn't been a major problem with the main actress playing Elphaba on Broadway until Kerry came along. I got the impression that most of the other actress who played the role on Broadway did have their few times out here and there but no one was out as often as Kerry has been.

If there had been many actress who had been out many times over the length of the run due to vocal problems then I would understand them getting an alternate. However, it has just been one actress who has had these problems. I am willing to bet that at this point it is a problem with the performer and not the role she is performing in.

[defyingravity07]

Posted: 8/15/08 at 5:21pm

Kyle Dean Massey is the Fiyero understudy, right? I saw him as Billy in 42nd St. & he was very good.

[toanythingtaboo 2]

Posted: 8/15/08 at 5:23pm

What are you on about?

Kerry isn't new to the role, she's been doing it for years, with (until her Broadway stint) excellent attendance..so unless suddenly the Broadway version of the show is way harder, then that is not the problem.

Clearly her health is incredibly shaky right now, for whatever reason, because it's not like she would get away with it for any other reason.

[Marcus2]

Posted: 8/15/08 at 5:56pm

Just look at the damage to Idina Menzel's or worse still Eden Espinosa's voice during their wicked run's. Loads of actress' have had issues with this show, Stephanie has been injured a far few times, Julia Murney got some awful chest infection.

Kerry has had excellent attendance in London playing all 8 shows for a year and a bit, she's overworked, ill, and in a new enviroment, the move to broadway was not a great plan me thinks.

[CHGriffiths]

Posted: 8/15/08 at 7:39pm

I do find it strange though, I saw Kerry MANY times in London (9 times in fact) and I never had her U/S, and my friend has seen her many times and had never had her u/s, and then, she goes to Broadway, and it all falls apart, based on online recordings, she doesn't even sound as good over there as she did in England (i think this is because she is trying to do an american accent, and it ISNT working) And I know you peform on different days to west end(Broadway being dark on monday and west end on Sunday) but it is still 8 peformances a week!

However, I thik i may have have worked it out, I did see her say in an interview that she was really gonna have to up her game on Broadway as that is the 'big time', but i think she tryed too hard, that makes her loose all her energy and breath control (Which used to be perfect) and by her trying harder, it has actually made her peformance worse, she would be better of, if for her last 2 months on Broadway, she relaxed didnt push it, not think of it as 'the big time' and not try to force an OBVIOUSLY fake USA accent, and she may just regain her level of excellence she had over here!

[defyingravity07]

Posted: 8/15/08 at 7:51pm

I wish Kerry would just drop the American accent.

[toanythingtaboo 2]

Posted: 8/15/08 at 8:17pm

Kerry won't be the one making the accent decision.

I don't know if its a common thing for an actor in Kerry's position to rarely take any scheduled time off, or if she is just a workaholic...but she needs to take some SERIOUS time off to get her act together and get better.

I'm seeing her again in December when she comes back, I'm not sure what state she will be in...but i'm hoping that being back on her home turf where everyone loves her will help her.
Updated On: 8/15/08 at 08:17 PM

[winston89]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 1:02am

I never said that her attendance was the problem. I mean it is but that wasn't what I was talking about. People were talking about how there should be an alternate for the role of Elphaba. I was simply pointing out that up until now with Kerry Ellis taking over in the role there never was a problem with someone being out due to singing the score and it wouldn't make sense to now all of a sudden start having an alternate for the role.

I didn't like the accent at all. I understood why she uses it but I still didn't like it.

I went in to the theatre expecting to be blown away based on what I saw on youtube from things like her performance at West End Live. I expected to be blown away. However, I was VERY underwhelmed.

I do believe that her problem is her health and not her singing the score. I understand that this score has impacted a lot of the actress after they were done with the show.

I know that there have been actresses who have been injured with the set like Block but I am not talking about that. I am talking about actresses who have had to be out due to vocal problems with singing the score. I feel like it hasn't been much of a problem until now.

[dshnookie]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 1:47am

Defygravity777, People are not flocking to Wicked for Kerry - People are flocking to Wicked for Wicked.

[Weez]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 5:30am

Awww, dshnookie beat me to it.

[DefyGravity777]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 7:39am

Someone said that people aren't flocking there because of Kerry. I just said that they were wrong. Since she has been here SD has been crazy. I never seen as many people there as I do with her. Granted I wasn't around during the Idina and Sho fangirl days either...LOL.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 11:48am

I think there are very, very few people going to see Wicked because of Kerry Ellis. One of the wonderful things this show's marketing department has done is to make it all about the show, not the people in it. At this point, almost 5 years in, the show clearly sells itself. I guarantee if you were to survey the audience at any of their performances right now, no more than 10% would have any idea who Kerry Ellis (or Kendra Kassebaum, for that matter) was.

[DirectorGP]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 3:41pm

Wish I had seen the understudy a few weeks back I thought Kerry Ellis was very weak and Kendra lost all of the humor in Glinda