Paulie,
According to an original cast member, (Melissa), Idina was not grasping the character of Elphaba. Joe would get extremely frustrated with her and start yelling at her. She would leave the rehearsels crying. Joe got so frustrated that he was about to replace her. Greatfully, Idina finally understood Elphaba, and therefore, she won the Tony.
"Do you know what pledge time is, Andrew"? said the PBS Executive.
"Yes", Lloyd Webber replied. "My 50th birthday special must be one program that gets done a lot."
"No", mused the man from PBS heedlessy. "Not so much. Our Stephen Sondheim Carnegie Hall concert. That's a big one."
Spoons, forks and knives seemed suddenly to suspend their motion in horror, all around the table.