#1
Posted: 11/6/03 at 2:48pm
Yeah, I know. Another WICKED thread. Lotsa spoilers here too.
A week after seeing it in its last preview performance, I've been thinking about exactly why this highly-anticipated show was such a dissapointment to me. Even forgetting the score, so much SHOULD have worked with this show. The book is very strong and complex (I confess to not having read the novel), and the actors are uniformmly excellent given what they have to work with. But the book has MAJOR lapses in continuity and tone. Here's my take on what went wrong, and what I would have done to improve matters.
Problem # 1: Elphelba stars off as something strangely colorless. Idina might as well have a flashing light over her head reading VICTIM. She's glum and unhappy. She'd have the audience much more on her side IMHO if she had a bit of a scrappy, maybe even sarcastic protective shell, the way a lot of lonely kids do. There is a touch of it in her line "do I have something in my teeth?" (which the audience loved) Menzel needs all the audience appeal she can get at this point to counterbalance the scene-stealing Chenoweth, and she's let down by the script.
Problem # 2: I never really buy the friendship of Glinda & Elphelba. Most of the time Glinda is nasty to her green roommate, and its only after Glinda gives her the hat (as a mocking gesture) and gets a training wand in return (but not DIRECTLY from her) where she instantly warms to Elpheba and they dance together and boom, they are great buddies. It's too instant. I would have liked a small scene where maybe Glinda uses her popularity to defend Elphelba from shade-throwing schoolmates at the dance - to show the Glinda is on her way to changing 'for good'.
Later, Glinda betrays Elphelba too casually ("Get her through her sister"). Yes, I know Glinda is miffed that she's lost Fyvero, but I would have liked it if the Wizard and Morrioble had subtly threatened or pressured Glinda to reveal Elphelbas Achilles Heel. The Wizard needs to show his menacing side DIRECTLY to the audience through Glinda.
(Another odd problem is though Menzel and Chenoweth both display star power individually, they cancel each other out when together. There is no Nathan-Matthew chemistry between them.)
Problem # 3: THE WIZARD NEVER TELLS ELPHELBA WHY HE HAS TAKEN SPEECH AWAY FROM THE ANIMALS. The fact that he did so in earlier previews ("It's impossible to eat something you've just chatted with") and then had the reason removed is pretty inexplicable.
Problem # 4: The whole point of the witch melting is because Dorothy throws water on the Scarecrow to stop his fire. So we have to assume Elphelba sets her lover on fire so she can be 'killed'. And why does the Scarecow have no 'burn marks' later?
The funny thing is about WICKED - even though I was let down by the show, I still think its heart is in the right place. I don't dislike it the way I do that jimcrack MILLIE. And WICKED seems to resonate with many people - it has a growing fan base. I echo Ken Mandelbaum's take that it may last awhile based on the fact that Broadway needs a new 'family friendly' show, and there are darker elements in WICKED that I welcomed - every good fairy tale needs a healthy jot of terror. Even forgetting the humdrum score, it really could have been MUCH improved in the months prior to its opening.
A week after seeing it in its last preview performance, I've been thinking about exactly why this highly-anticipated show was such a dissapointment to me. Even forgetting the score, so much SHOULD have worked with this show. The book is very strong and complex (I confess to not having read the novel), and the actors are uniformmly excellent given what they have to work with. But the book has MAJOR lapses in continuity and tone. Here's my take on what went wrong, and what I would have done to improve matters.
Problem # 1: Elphelba stars off as something strangely colorless. Idina might as well have a flashing light over her head reading VICTIM. She's glum and unhappy. She'd have the audience much more on her side IMHO if she had a bit of a scrappy, maybe even sarcastic protective shell, the way a lot of lonely kids do. There is a touch of it in her line "do I have something in my teeth?" (which the audience loved) Menzel needs all the audience appeal she can get at this point to counterbalance the scene-stealing Chenoweth, and she's let down by the script.
Problem # 2: I never really buy the friendship of Glinda & Elphelba. Most of the time Glinda is nasty to her green roommate, and its only after Glinda gives her the hat (as a mocking gesture) and gets a training wand in return (but not DIRECTLY from her) where she instantly warms to Elpheba and they dance together and boom, they are great buddies. It's too instant. I would have liked a small scene where maybe Glinda uses her popularity to defend Elphelba from shade-throwing schoolmates at the dance - to show the Glinda is on her way to changing 'for good'.
Later, Glinda betrays Elphelba too casually ("Get her through her sister"). Yes, I know Glinda is miffed that she's lost Fyvero, but I would have liked it if the Wizard and Morrioble had subtly threatened or pressured Glinda to reveal Elphelbas Achilles Heel. The Wizard needs to show his menacing side DIRECTLY to the audience through Glinda.
(Another odd problem is though Menzel and Chenoweth both display star power individually, they cancel each other out when together. There is no Nathan-Matthew chemistry between them.)
Problem # 3: THE WIZARD NEVER TELLS ELPHELBA WHY HE HAS TAKEN SPEECH AWAY FROM THE ANIMALS. The fact that he did so in earlier previews ("It's impossible to eat something you've just chatted with") and then had the reason removed is pretty inexplicable.
Problem # 4: The whole point of the witch melting is because Dorothy throws water on the Scarecrow to stop his fire. So we have to assume Elphelba sets her lover on fire so she can be 'killed'. And why does the Scarecow have no 'burn marks' later?
The funny thing is about WICKED - even though I was let down by the show, I still think its heart is in the right place. I don't dislike it the way I do that jimcrack MILLIE. And WICKED seems to resonate with many people - it has a growing fan base. I echo Ken Mandelbaum's take that it may last awhile based on the fact that Broadway needs a new 'family friendly' show, and there are darker elements in WICKED that I welcomed - every good fairy tale needs a healthy jot of terror. Even forgetting the humdrum score, it really could have been MUCH improved in the months prior to its opening.
"Christ, Bette Davis?!?!"
Updated On: 11/6/03 at 02:48 PM
