#1
Posted: 6/1/08 at 5:02pm
I saw the show for the second time here, yesterday. Took my grandmother to the matinee for her birthday, and had orchestra-level seats for the accessible seating so she wouldn't have to walk much.
The point is, I was a lot closer to the stage than the last time I saw it, in Feb of '06. Dee Roscioli was just as stunning and talented as the first time I saw her in the show here. I was surprised to still see her as Elphaba for at least a year and a half, considering there were just auditions for various replacements here, last Fall, and that role has turned over a few times since they arrived here in Chicago a few years back.
Kate Fahrner played Glinda, and she was an adorable actress: great comic mannerisms, facial expressions and timing. When she sang, however, she had a look of uncertainty or something on her face, like she wasn't totally into what she was singing about, or was afraid to give it more or something. Her voice is pretty, but not as strong as some other actresses who have played this very vocally-demanding role. Not sure how long she has been in the role here...if she's fairly new, or whether she was not feeling well or something.
They were both good, but something seemed a little off, either with the one or other, or both of them, or the show as a whole, yesterday. I can't put my finger on it. The audience didn't applaud when Elphaba makes her first entrance down center. They paused a second or two at the end of certain (typically blockbuster) solos before applauding. Usually the power of a song prompts people to erupt with praise, no matter what show it is. I'm not sure if was just a dead matinee audience, or if people had not seen it before (I mean, who hasn't seen "Wicked" already?), or if the cast's heads just weren't in it, yesterday. Some of the jokes didn't get the laughs they should have gotten, either. Some kind of energy seemed to be missing. (That said, I still teared up at certain points and enjoyed the show, but between seeing it last year and having learned all the songs on the OBC since then, it's easy to connect to the material, regardless.)
Dee and Kate hugged at the end of their curtain call yesterday, and I don't know if the lead actresses in each production do that every time, to celebrate and congratulate each other, or not. I didn't know if one or the other might be leaving soon, or...what the things I noticed were about. Anyone have any insight?
EDIT: On another unrelated note, on the page in the Playbill with cast headshots, I noticed that many of the actors are smiling with their mouths closed, or don't even have happy expressions at all. I was always taught to show at least a little bit of teeth in your headshot, because casting directors want to see that you have nice teeth! Interesting...what's up with that? And yet, clearly these folks have found success anyway...
The point is, I was a lot closer to the stage than the last time I saw it, in Feb of '06. Dee Roscioli was just as stunning and talented as the first time I saw her in the show here. I was surprised to still see her as Elphaba for at least a year and a half, considering there were just auditions for various replacements here, last Fall, and that role has turned over a few times since they arrived here in Chicago a few years back.
Kate Fahrner played Glinda, and she was an adorable actress: great comic mannerisms, facial expressions and timing. When she sang, however, she had a look of uncertainty or something on her face, like she wasn't totally into what she was singing about, or was afraid to give it more or something. Her voice is pretty, but not as strong as some other actresses who have played this very vocally-demanding role. Not sure how long she has been in the role here...if she's fairly new, or whether she was not feeling well or something.
They were both good, but something seemed a little off, either with the one or other, or both of them, or the show as a whole, yesterday. I can't put my finger on it. The audience didn't applaud when Elphaba makes her first entrance down center. They paused a second or two at the end of certain (typically blockbuster) solos before applauding. Usually the power of a song prompts people to erupt with praise, no matter what show it is. I'm not sure if was just a dead matinee audience, or if people had not seen it before (I mean, who hasn't seen "Wicked" already?), or if the cast's heads just weren't in it, yesterday. Some of the jokes didn't get the laughs they should have gotten, either. Some kind of energy seemed to be missing. (That said, I still teared up at certain points and enjoyed the show, but between seeing it last year and having learned all the songs on the OBC since then, it's easy to connect to the material, regardless.)
Dee and Kate hugged at the end of their curtain call yesterday, and I don't know if the lead actresses in each production do that every time, to celebrate and congratulate each other, or not. I didn't know if one or the other might be leaving soon, or...what the things I noticed were about. Anyone have any insight?
EDIT: On another unrelated note, on the page in the Playbill with cast headshots, I noticed that many of the actors are smiling with their mouths closed, or don't even have happy expressions at all. I was always taught to show at least a little bit of teeth in your headshot, because casting directors want to see that you have nice teeth! Interesting...what's up with that? And yet, clearly these folks have found success anyway...
"There is no use trying," said Alice; "one can't believe impossible things." "I dare say you haven't had the practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." --Alice in Wonderland
Updated On: 6/1/08 at 05:02 PM
