WICKED REVIEW - 1/7/05 @ 2:00

[Fiyero2]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 4:05pm

WHAT A CRAZY SHOW! This was my third time seeing wicked and was a bit iffy about this performance.

SHOSHANA BEAN(ELPHABA) - Great singing, she really has made that character her own. Then after popular, she didn't come back on! Being a huge SHoshana fan, I was very dissapointed.

MEGAN HILTY(Glinda) - Amazing job as usual. She two has brought so much to the character. She's hilarious. I loved her high notes in "Noone Mourns the Wicked". Her "popular" is by far my favorite.

DAVID AYERS(Fiyero) - I've never been a big fan of his voice, but he did well. There's really not much to sat about him.

RUE McCLANAHAN(Madame Morrible) - I was not a fan of her performance. Her voice was just annoying. Another problem was that she didn't sing AT ALL! Morrible only has a few singing parts and Rue spoke all of them. I MISS CAROLE!

ANTHONY GALDE(Wizard UNDERSTUDY) - He was suprisingly really good. The best part for me was the audience's reaction when he came, because they were expecting Ben. Overall, he did a pretty good job.

I was so excited with the show untill Shoshana left and Saycon Sengbloh came out.

SAYCON SENGBLOH(Elphaba from "I'm Not that Girl" to the end) - I though she was absolutly terrible! She was stiff the entire time. I could tell she had a little cold but still. Her "defying gravity" was awful. SHe cracked 3 times in that one song and didn't even sing the last note! Her and Megan, and Her and Dave had no chemistry whatsoever! I did my best to block out her "No Good Deed" becuase her constant cracking and off-key riffing was killing my ears! Thank Oz she's not taking over the role!

In conclusion, I love Wicked, but yesterday was not the best show. Congrats to Megan for keeping it together yesterday, without her, the show would have been a total disaster. I hope Shoshana's feeling better. She will be missed. For anyone wondering, she finished "Popular" then never came back on. During intermission they announced that "Due to illness, Shoshana Bean has left and Saycon will be playing ELphaba."
Feel better Shoshana! Hope this review was helpful,
-Dan

FYI:
I'm sure by now most of you know Shoshana left yesterday's matinee show after 'Popular'. Just to clarify something, Shoshana isn't sick, her vocal chords are strained.
-SHOSHANABEANONLINE.COM

Updated On: 1/8/06 at 04:05 PM

[Diva in Training]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 4:16pm

Was Saycon rele that bad??? I've only heard her sing a lil bit, but i thought her voice was strong. I think it will be hard for the next round of elphaba's because everyone will compare them to Shoshana and Idina. I never rele liked David either as Fiyero, he never seemed that developed vocally as a performer to me. But I know Shoshana will do an amazing last performance tonight. thanks for ther review.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 4:18pm

Saycon really isn't that bad. In fact, I'm sure she's not bad at all. She's just not everybody's beloved Shoshana, and therein lies the problem.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 4:18pm

She may have had a bad night, but Saycon is quite strong. She is a great singer!

[Fiyero2]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 4:19pm

It's Not just because i Love shoshana, I really felt Saycon was terrible! Her songs LAST NIGHT just weren't good. I'm not judging her as a performer, I'm juding her by what she did LAST NIGHT! and what she did last night was not good!

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 4:20pm

Saycon to Shoshana fans

=

Shoshana to Idina fan.


For what is is worth, I think Eden is going to be amazing.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 4:20pm

Is Saycon going to remain the standby when Eden takes over? I really don't pay much attention.

Updated On: 1/8/06 at 04:20 PM

[Fiyero2]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 4:21pm

FYI:
I'm sure by now most of you know Shoshana left yesterday's matinee show after 'Popular'. Just to clarify something, Shoshana isn't sick, her vocal chords are strained.
-shoshanabeanonline.com

Posted: 1/8/06 at 4:35pm

I love Shoshana and hope she'll have an awesome last show. I get to go see Eden in March w/ my school. Im exicted- here's to my third time!

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 4:40pm

Saycon told me she is staying with "Wicked" through September and then probably leaving to do other things.

[tagiunagi]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 5:07pm

I don't know what all the fuss is about Saycon. I'm sad that I missed out on seeing Sho. Does anyone think that Saycon was better than Sho?

[Fiyero2]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 5:14pm

NO WAY is or was Saycon better then SHoshana.

DOes anyone know if SHoshana did the show last night or today??

[Parks]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 5:16pm

I saw the show in March with Shoshana and was not a huge fan...she did certain things with the character that I loved...but I wasn't a fan of her very nasily voice.

When I saw the show again in July (William's last day), we had 3 understudies in, including Saycon. The show was a disaster. Saycon has a very weak voice when she's not belting. She was putting me to sleep. Her Defying Gravity was absolutely amazing at the end--she blew me away, but she was very weak in the role for most of the rest of the show. I think Elphaba is a strong girl--and Saycon didn't show it. Saycon just needs to improve on her acting and perhaps working on making her notes where she isn't belting a little more poppy. She sounded like she was whispering them.

I'm sure she's improved though. As Shoshana has improved a LOT since I saw her in March (I've heard clips).

[Parks]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 5:17pm

Shoshana did not go on for last night's performance and most people are saying she did go on for today's performance.

[boxers7]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 5:33pm

So, did Anthony get entrance applause or groaned at when he entered? How was he?

[Fiyero2]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 5:34pm

I think ANthony kinda expected applause because most wizards so when they come out, but he didn't...
In my opinion, he was pretty good, but a little shaky

[AngusN]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 5:42pm

I'm not a fan of Megan's. I don't think she is convincing as Glinda, nor is she pretty enough to play the beautiful, vain, superficial prom queen-type character. I think she was totally miscast. I could she her as Little Riding in 'Into the Woods' she kinda resembles Danielle Ferland and a certain female friend of Kermit's. Sorry.

[Parks]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 5:51pm

Are you kidding? Megan is so incredibly bubbly and she is GORGEOUS!

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 6:36pm

I didn't find the clip of Megan to be all that amazing. Seems she lost some of the comedic flare, but then again she was working with Saycon, which, since they haven't worked much together, might be why. I don't think its fair to judge Sho and Saycon. I mean, Sho's been doing it for a year straight and Saycon has only gone on a handful of times, so i can imagine its pretty hard to get a real grasp on something you rarely do. Esp when you're thrown into the show half way through and expected to just pick the emotions out of the air w/o going through the entire show.

[Luckydave14]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 6:42pm

What clip of Megan is this?

[greenegirl87]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 6:43pm

How come there are no reviews of today's show yet??

[matiboi]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 11:04pm

I think Megan makes a BEAUTIFUL Glinda.

[PJ]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 11:12pm

"Saycon really isn't that bad. In fact, I'm sure she's not bad at all. She's just not everybody's beloved Shoshana, and therein lies the problem"

No, she's really that bad in Wicked.

[SirLiir]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 12:08am

Well Saycon won me over. She wasn't Shoshana but she wasn't bad at all.