WICKED-Respects to Margaret Hamilton — Page 2

"Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream?"
Terrific picture!

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Not to detour away from Ms. Hamilton, but didn't Buddy Ebsen originally start out as the Scarecrow? I seem to remember Ray Bolger saying in an interview that he was the original Tin Man, but pleaded with the powers that be to switch them because he liked the character of the Scarecrow so much. Imagine how different Oz would have been with Ebsen as the Scarecrow and Bolger as the Tin Man. Oh, yeah, and they wanted Shirley Temple for Dorothy and W.C. Fields as the Wizard. I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!

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I seem to recall reading that various people were considered for any number of roles before the cast was finalized, and most of them, in retrospect, would have changed the "feel" of the movie considerably, and probably not for the better. I'm just thankful that they got it right in the end. I have to say, since Ray Bolger so exuded heart in the movie, his Tin Man would have been extremely interesting.

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Someone mentioned earlier about Margaret's "witch laugh" and how Idina indirectly paid tribute to it in Wicked. I have heard her mention that, too.

One of the things I'm most satisfied with as a 7-year-old, when I first met Maggie, was that (alone in her dressing room for "Oklahoma!" at the NEW Lincoln Center)... I asked her to do the witch laugh for me.

Well, if you think about it, I guess I was "testing" her to see if she REALLY was The Witch, right? She looked like this sweet little old lady, who was SO nice and comforting to me.

She smiled and nodded... then dropped her head back and let go with THAT LAUGH. Just me. Just her. And I was in the presence of the Wicked Witch of the West.

I will never forget it as long as I live.

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I, too, have been fasinated by Margaret Hamilton since I was a child. I actually found out about WICKED b/c of her, after doing some research on her character and Littlefield's "Parable on Populism: The Wizard of Oz," in June of 2003. I have been hooked ever since. Just thought y'all would enjoy these pictures. Hopefully, you can see the evolution the Wicked Witch of the West underwent as the directors changed.








And here's the "original" Wicked Witch of the West, Gail Sondergard (sp), before the Witch went in a...different direction. Just more proof that there'd be no WICKED without Margaret Hamilton.

Ok, i didn't want to start a new thread just to talk more about Wicked, so i saw the show last night in Fort Lauderdale. The show was far more enjoyable than it was when i saw it in NYC. I happened to see Idina Menzel, Megan Hilty, Joey Mc Intyre, Carol Shelley and George Hearn on Broadway.
Stephanie J Block was great. She really does sound like a young Liza sometimes. She was brilliant and she had excellent diction, and a very powerful voice. The sound was a little low on the tour. It was too loud in NYC.
Kendra Kasseubaum was just ok i thought. She wasn't funny enough but at least she did hit all the high notes, but her voice wasn't as powerful as some of the girls in the ensemble. Megan Hilty was definitly way better as Glinda.
Jenna Leigh Green was good as Nessarose.
Argentinean descend Sebastian Arcelus was great as Fiyero, he had great dancing skills and his singing and acting were very good. He was great in Good Vibrations too, so it was not a surprise.
Carole Shelley was good, but the funniest thing is that she got booed at the curtain call.
David Garrison was great as the Wizard.
Overall the show was more enjoyable becuz the audience in NYC resembles the kind of audience that i saw at the Justin Timberlake concert. And that is not appropiate for a Broadway show. The audience was well behaved, except for a group of drunk queens in the mezzanine, no wonder why they call this town Fort Liqordale. Not too many kids.
The book by Winnie Holzman is very clever.
Stephen Schwartz is a master doing catchy songs and creating hits. The settings by Eugene Lee are amazing. I am glad this high budget production is a hit, and probably this show will make a lot of people want to see other shows on Broadway. Is it the best musical? No way!!! They kinda stole the idea of the leading lady "flying" in Defying Gravity from "Kiss of the Spider Woman" where The Spider Woman sings the title song of the show in the center of a spider web. Shows like "Kiss...", "Rent", "Bombay Dreams","Wonderful Town" or "Aida" are show that i would wanna see over and over and over. This will be my last time seeing "Wicked", once one knows the story the show doesn't make that much sense anymore. Get over it Wickedheads!!! The show is a success and doesn't need financial support from anyone. It is a big fat hit.

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Updated On: 2/9/06 at 11:49 AM

tnks

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On THE WIZARD OF OZ dvd I love the Margaret Hamilton bit where she recalls how she was contacted about the part!

Her agent called her and said they would like her to play in TWOO. And she was thrilled for she loved the books.

And she asked her agent what was the part.

"Well... The witch." her agent said

"The WITCH????????" said Hamilton, surprised

And her agent replied "Of course - what else?!"

There's two performances from the classic old films that have stayed with me over the years, the other is Gloria Swanson's extraordinary performance as Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD and the other is Margaret Hamilton in THE WIZARD OF OZ. It may not be greatest acting of all time (Hamilton has said it herself) but for me it is THE role of the film. And truly one performance to remember.

I'm also really loving this thread. So fascinating. In addition to the Wicked Witch, Margaret Hamilton, for me, will also forever be Hester Frump, Morticia's mother in The Addams Family.

bump

Sorry. Next time I'll actually read the entire thread.

Here's more Maggie for the masses to love...

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Updated On: 10/2/06 at 08:05 PM