Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

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Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 7:24pm

So, my girlfriend works at "Wicked" and told me that the cherry picker didn't work today and the entire cast had to literally crawl around Elphaba because she wasn't "flying high" at all. I thought that was hysterical (and awful) and she said that many people were pissed.

Has this ever happened before? I wonder if people asked for their money back...

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 7:28pm

It has happened quite a few times in London...the actress playing Elphaba just runs to the front of the stage and makes herself look as tall as possible while the ensemble sort of crouches around her. Indeed hilarious!

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 7:28pm

wicked on broadway??..was the elphie SJB?

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 7:33pm

That happened when I saw it in Chicago, Ana Gasteyer just walked to the middle of the stage and finished the song. Sort of disappointing.

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 7:35pm

Yep, sorry I didn't mention that it was the Broadway production. I forgot to ask if it was Stephanie or not. But I am guessing it was her.

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 7:38pm

Hahahhaha!

-Benjamin
--http://www.benjaminadgate.com/

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 7:39pm

That seems to happen more frequently than one would think. It sounds hilarious, though.

http://www.beintheheights.com/katnicole1 (Please click and help me win!) I chose, and my world was shaken- So what?
The choice may have been mistaken, The choosing was not... "Every day has the potential to be the greatest day of your life." - Lin-Manuel Miranda "And when Idina Menzel is singing, I'm always slightly worried that her teeth are going to jump out of her mouth and chase me." - Schmerg_the_Impaler

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 7:39pm

This has happend before.

The way the cherry picker is set up is that the actress's back has to be all the way against it. That triggers it to close around her and when the trigger to close around her is set off the entier thing goes up.

If she doesn't get herself their properly then there is no defying gravity. Or of course if there are just regular technical errors which do happen from time to time.

"If you try to shag my husband while I am still alive, I will shove the art of motorcycle maintenance up your rancid little Cu**. That's a good dear" Tom Stoppard's Rock N Roll

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 8:19pm

Winston, I imagine that is a safety feature. I know the Chitty car would not take off unless all of the seatbelts in it were buckled up. That was another hilarious moment...when Chitty was supposed to be flying, but never left the ground!

#10

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 9:54pm

If the cherry picker refuses to rise I think someone should just tie a rope around Elphaba's ankle and hoist her up in the air. That'd be fun. Then there might be some justification for her screaming at the top of her lungs. I'm sure it's covered in the health insurance papers.

#11

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 9:56pm

Just something which I've always wondered, if she can;t fly by the system, why don't they just hoist them onto their shoulders and carry her around the stage?

#12

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 10:48pm

I was also at today's show. Despite the fact that I was disappointed by the lack of "Gravity", the show was amazing; both Stephanie and Annaleigh were on the top of their games! This is a must-see for all die-hard Wicked fans.

Does anybody know what exactly happened with the cherry picker?

#13

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 10:49pm

I cant believe this thread has 600+ views, as if it was something important.

"Have they come yet?"

#14

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 10:54pm

This happened to Jenna Leigh Green on the tour, but I don't remember hearing about the ensemble crouching? What I heard was Jenna ran upstage, center and the ensemble was behind her, still looking, singing, and pointing towards the sky opposite all the same. It still gives the same effect and all the focus on Elphaba. That crouching business seems RIDICULOUS.

Bill Finn rocks. Woot.

#15

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 10:55pm

I cant believe this thread has 600+ views, as if it was something important.

Perhaps we're all hoping it's not another trapdoor incident.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I remember days
Or at least I try
But as years go by
They're sort of haze
And the bluest ink
Isn't really sky
And at times I think
I would gladly die
For a day of sky
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
And Starbucks will use the words 'large' and 'small', not pretentious crap like grande and tall.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"You could get away with anything if you call it art and tell people who don't like it that it's cutting edge culture." --vmlinnie
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

#16

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 11:00pm

I saw the tour...last year, I think, in Boston. I could see the Elphaba (I forget who - an understudy) in the background during Defying Gravity, struggling with the cherry picker. She couldn't seem to get the thing around her waist to close. She was kind of freaking out (enough that it drew my attention to her). So she ran to downstage center and the guards fell down on their knees and bent back.

It was disappointing and silly.

#17

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 11:04pm

I saw this happen in Atlanta when Victoria was on. She was alittle late with the music and had to catch up with it. But she just walked center stage and the ensemble kind of just stood around her. I don't remember anyone crouching though.

"I've always secretly longed for an actress to get to the top of the cherry picker and projectile vomit all over the guards below."- Wonderwaiter in the "Defy Gravity?" thread. ~~~~~~~~My dream? Sutton Foster as Cassie in A Chorus Line

#18

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 11:05pm

I could see the Elphaba (I forget who - an understudy) in the background during Defying Gravity, struggling with the cherry picker. She couldn't seem to get the thing around her waist to close. She was kind of freaking out (enough that it drew my attention to her).

Aw, I would've felt so awful for her! Of course it's disappointing for the audience, but to be the one playing Elphaba and have that happen...I'd probably panic, too!

#19

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 11:09pm

I worked the tour and it was known before one of the performances that Elphaba (Victoria Matlock) wouldn't fly, due to a safety concern. When the time for the sequence came, she simply stepped down center stage and finished the remainder of the number, with the Ensemble a couple feet behind/around Matlock. It was underwhelming (esp. with one such as Matlock doing the number), but it's live theatre...c'est la vie.

Three patrons asked for refunds at intermission.

#20

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 11:37pm

Huh!
What has the love and
appreciation of live
theater come to when a
patron would ask for a
refund because Elphie
didn't defy gravity?
Those "patrons" should
just play it safe and
stay home with their DVd
players. Geez! And also...
they should not be allowed
a refund due to a stage
set malfunction that had
no real significance to
the acting and music that
makes a show like Wicked
so special.

#21

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/26/07 at 11:39pm

i always thought a funny solution would be for them to stick her in the glinda bubble since its the only other thing that a person could fly on in the set.

"Grease," the fourth revival of the season, is the worst show in the history of theater and represents an unparalleled assault on Western civilization and its values. - Michael Reidel

#22

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/27/07 at 12:07am

"I cant believe this thread has 600+ views, as if it was something important."

Is that statement even important?

It's just interesting to see how people handle these situations...

#23

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/27/07 at 12:23am

"I cant believe this thread has 600+ views, as if it was something important."

And, you were one of them. Which means that you yourself deemed this thread important enough to click on and open.

#24

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/27/07 at 12:23am

Why can't she just march over the orchestra pit and lead a big parade?

Some people paint, some people sew, I meddle.

#25

re: Problem at Wicked this afternoon.

Posted: 12/27/07 at 12:32am

It was known that in London during previews it seemd as if they had problems with the picker almost every other day. Idina spent a lot of time in previews running down to center stage and finishing the song from there. Apperenlty the gards lied down during the end. It looked stupid. But, I think the idea was to get it to look like she was higher up then they were.

"If you try to shag my husband while I am still alive, I will shove the art of motorcycle maintenance up your rancid little Cu**. That's a good dear" Tom Stoppard's Rock N Roll

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