Shoshana returning to Wicked?...- Page 2

[toanythingtaboo 2]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 8:48pm

Wicked won't close any time soon in a place like London.

[caitlinette]

Posted: 12/17/08 at 12:07am

For those who think she was awful, why?

[insertclevernamehere]

Posted: 12/17/08 at 12:21am

I think she has a great voice, but I never thought she was right for Elphaba. Her voice gets annoyingly nasaly on high notes, and I never really liked her characterization of Elphaba and I thought her riffing was over the top. Having said that, she sounds amazing singing other things, like Home on youtube.

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 12/17/08 at 2:45am

"For those who think she was awful, why?"

She can't act. She clearly didn't take the role seriously and her riffs were obnoxious. I don't mind a few riffs here and there, but hers were too much and out of place. It was like she broke character and said "look at me!" Eden Espinosa riffs excessively too, but I don't think hers are as obnoxious because she somehow makes them fit more with the character.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 12/17/08 at 2:59am

i'm only speaking from audio recordings i've heard... and i've said this before and i'll say it again... i think she's the only Elphaba to ever sing that "aaaah" part at the end of Defying Gravity right... everyone sings it like a Tarzan yell and it sounds odd... she makes it sound musical

[adamgreer]

Posted: 12/17/08 at 6:44am

I thought her acting was horrendous. However, her voice is incredible and you always knew with her that you were going to get a fantastic vocal performance.

She wasn't my favorite, but was far from my least favorite as well.

[nexttoelectric]

Posted: 12/17/08 at 6:55am

Her voice was great, and her acting was fine, but the faces she made when she sang were the most distracting thing I have ever seen. She looks like she was having a Grand Mal during every song.

[ShoshanaismyElphie]

Posted: 12/17/08 at 4:38pm

In no way was I gloating about the bootleg I have or the one I have seen, I was commenting on two different performers. The reason I cried was because it was her last show and it was emotional for the actors as well as me watching it.

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 12/17/08 at 5:46pm

eatlasagna, I think it works as a Tarzan yell. It fits with the character and it sound good. When it's sung/riffed, it just sounds like the actress playing Elphaba is showing off.

[Kev]

Posted: 12/17/08 at 6:10pm

I thought her acting was horrendous.

And it was.

I saw Ms. Bean several times throughout her tenure with the big W. I didn't see Elphaba...just a sassy and spunky Shoshana in green paint (and a culprit of much overacting late in her run.) Her vocals were often exciting, but who the heck needs a riff on the phrase "take a message back"? I don't mind vocal options, but choose them wisely.

My favorite performances from Ms. Bean were during her standby days and then early in her principal run; there was a vulnerability in her acting and vocals that disappeared soon after. That said, her chemistry with Megan Hilty was wonderful; not so much with Jennifer Laura Thompson, the latter of which owned the stage.