Shoshana 05.05.05 — Page 2

Joshua,

As far as I know, she does still hold out that note on de FYYYYYY ing gravity. And you are totally right about Idina. No one can deny that she was an excellent Elphaba, but (at least especially toward the end), she just didn't have the chops to give the songs justice.

Pretty much the only critique I'd have of Sho in gravity is the very last 'ahhhh'. Since Idina was always belting it or screaming it, she usually was able to hold it pretty solid. While Sho has improved greatly from back in October, she occassionally still has to slip into a strong vibrato to hold onto the note. In the beginning of her run, she would have the same problem on the long "bring me dowwwwwwwn" but now she's able to hold onto 'down' with a straight-tone belt. To her credit, she does always take that phrase up an additional note that Idina NEVER did. (Do-OW-own) instead of (Do-ownnnn).

Ok, enough from me!

Actually, that last time I saw Idina in the role, she was sustaining the high notes longer, but that was the last week. Maybe she was running on the thought of leaving the show.

My favorite part of Shoshana's performance were her vocals in her high register. Sometimes the lower parts of her songs were a little iffy, as was her pronunciation (the "that's all to do with MEEE" in "The Wizard and I" was hard on the ears), but the high belting seemed so effortless, it was stunning. I love how she sustains a lot of the notes with vibrato...chilling.

Joshua, I know what you mean...but everytime I've heard Shoshana that wasn't the tone Shoshana had on that note. It was piercing as if you said "MEEEEEEE" as spread as you possibly can while squeezing the note. It was weird, because otherwise, she has great "e" vowels. But that note builds up to a lot, and it just sounded bad.

Again I agree with OneandOnly. I saw Idina sporadically throughout her run and while she was good with the acting, she certainly wasn't doing the songs any favors...at any point.

Even if you don't like Shoshana's acting, which I know is a big problem a lot of people have with her, I still think it's nice to be able to sit through "Defying Gravity" and to actually get to enjoy it. It was a completely new experience, for the better, to be able to sit there and NOT have to worry if she was going to have time to clear her throat before the end or if she was going to attempt any of the F's.

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Updated On: 5/6/05 at 05:30 PM

emcee would describe her experience at chitty as "orgasmigorical"

Sho IS orgasmigorical!

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