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WICKEDly bad blocking

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#1

WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 1:47pm

I know there are thousands of Wicked threads out there, and I apologize if this is redundant, but... I finally saw Wicked for the first time last night, and while I thoroughly enjoyed the performances, the costumes, the set, etc., some of the staging seemed to me that it was ill-conceived and somewhat amateurish. Here are my examples (these are veiled references, cause I don't want to spoil anything) - 1) the Boq/Nessa/Elphaba scene with the wardrobe seemed to be blocked that way for only one reason, and it didn't fit with the way the scene played... 2) The last scene with Glinda and Elphaba - the shadow effect was very nice, but what the heck was the motivation for moving the piece of fabric? 3) too many of the company numbers looked they were staged from the "Sweeney Todd" book of blocking (i.e., clumping together at the edge of the stage with menacing looks)

I am by no means a Wicked hater, and I would see it again in a heartbeat, but I was just shocked at some of these things, and I'm curious to see if anyone felt the same way. (I'll now get ready to be stoned)...

"Not a day goes by..."

#2

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 1:51pm

A lot of the blocking is also performed without any motivation by the original cast. "Oh, Joe told me to walk. So, um... I'm going to."

"I know now that theatre saved my life." - Susan Stroman

#3

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 2:20pm

SPOILER!?

"2) The last scene with Glinda and Elphaba - the shadow effect was very nice, but what the heck was the motivation for moving the piece of fabric?"

SPOILER!? That was brilliant! How else would they have staged a melting scene and make it happen flawlessly? It was well done with the silhouette of Dorothy and the guards chasing her projected from behind the fabric curtain! It would have been much less believable had we seen her go down the trap door on the stage, don't you think?

"there are people in our lives who change us in a way that nobody else can, and it's not necessarily the people you expect," Menzel

#4

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 2:22pm

sorry metoog I thought that scene was terribly staged. There are many ways of fake melting someone through the stage. that was far from an effective one!

"Judy Garland, Jimmy Dean, You tragedy Queen" ~ Taboo

"Watching a frat boy realize just what he put his d!ck in...ex's getting std's...schadenfruede" ~ Ave Q

"when dangers near, exploit their fear" ~ Reefer Madness the Musical

#5

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 2:23pm

I thought it was amazingly well done.

"All the while making faces like a baby platypus who forget to take some Beano before eating a chimichanga." FindingNamo in reference to Jessica Simpson's singing.

#6

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 2:29pm

I'm not saying the scene was not well done - except for the fact that prior to the scene, she drags the curtain across the stage - kinda like "excuse me, we have a great effect coming, I just need to get everything ready" - in the context of the show, why the heck would she actually do that??

"Not a day goes by..."

#7

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 2:30pm

To hide Glinda.

#8

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 2:33pm

Not sure I buy that - the curtain was already there, Glinda was already somewhat behind it - I guess it makes some sense, but it just seemed awkward...

What about the Boq in the chair scene? How does that fit?

"Not a day goes by..."

#9

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 2:36pm

So the trap door is out during the melting scene on the tour?

Just give the world Love. - S. Wonder

#10

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 2:38pm

No, it's TERRIBLE done. Why anyone would stage that behind a curtain is beyond me - it's just terrible. The plot doesn't make any sense anyway, so that's the least of their troubles.

"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy." -Charlie Manson

#11

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 2:39pm

On the Aisle - I thought the same thing on Saturday - she is closing a curtain? Was this a doctor's office? It did not really bug me but I did notice it.

#12

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 2:41pm

I tend to believe you with the bog scene. The wardrobe is placed there for a reason. Even more obvious when she puts the wheelchair behind it and comes back out front, then goes back behind and pushes the chair out, after a minute. I think that could have been achieved another way. I can only think of the Beauty and the Beast transformation at the end. It seemed so magical the first time I saw it.

"there are people in our lives who change us in a way that nobody else can, and it's not necessarily the people you expect," Menzel

Updated On: 5/4/05 at 02:41 PM

#13

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 2:53pm

SPOILER!

Thinking about the curtain - the curtain was used to protect Glinda and Chisery from a plan that Elphaba and Fiyero had made. I literally think it was used to "protect" the audience as well. We were kept in the dark until the plan is later revealed. I still think it was well done!

"there are people in our lives who change us in a way that nobody else can, and it's not necessarily the people you expect," Menzel

#14

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 2:57pm

One must remember that the production definately had to skirt around the issue of the melting. The rights for the movie forbid reproducing that scene onstage. While I do miss some of the movie-specific scenes such as this, I think the show did the best they could with the sensitive rights issues.

Having said that, I've been quite vocal about my feeling that 1/2 of the blocking and staging in the show is...less than stellar. For that reason alone, I can't wait to see regional productions in a few (many?) years.

But, alas, it works - and it keeps packing them in. Mantello got it entirely correct with Assassins, though.

- Charlie
magicpiane@kc.rr.com

#15

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 3:02pm

one other thing for you Wicked-philes out there - in the Munchkinland scene after Nessa is gone - was I supposed to assume that the barn was supposed to be Dorothy's house, or some other barn that happened to have been blown over in Munchkinland? At first I thought it was just a random barn, but I swear they actually reference the house when talking about Dorothy - does anyone remember that? Why not use a house that more closely resembled the movie instead?

(I realize this is picky, but I firmly believe exceptional theatre is in the details...) Thanks!

"Not a day goes by..."

#16

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 3:33pm

I think the curtain was to hide the audience...or in a way, show us what we think really happens doesnt actually...we never reallllly see it SPOILER so at the end we're like whoa! She's alive...I thought she melted....ah ha! But we didn't ACTUALLY see that. I thought it was brilliant.

#17

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 3:35pm

Nope, it was Dorothy's house surrounded by other wreckage from the twister...it did kind of resemble a barn lol now that i think about it ....

#18

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 3:41pm

Couldn't they do something with lighting to create a silhouette in the melting scene? I could've sworn that during "At the End of The Day" in les Miserables, the lighting made the people look like silhouettes toward the beginning of the song...or maybe it was my location in the theatre.

I do think the curtain thing is kind of stupid. Although I don't think she pulls out the curtain because "Oh, we have an effect coming up." She knows she's about to "die." She does, after all, say it's time for her to surrender. (I won't even get into my issues with my problems with that....)

Updated On: 5/4/05 at 03:41 PM

#19

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 3:42pm

I like the curtain thing. I think it would have been dumb to have someone dressed like Dorothy run on stage and throw a bucket of water...

#20

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 3:46pm

Well, I'm not going to get into the effect of the melting scene other than to say that the only problem I have with the use of a curtain is the fact that Elphaba has to pull it herself. But the reason the stage show doesn't reflect the film is because "Wicked" is based on "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" and not the MGM film. In fact, if you read "Wicked" and have read the book, a lot of things really jump out at you that wouldn't have made sense or that you wouldn't notice. I believe the witch melts in the original book, so I don't think there are any copyright issues. I think it's the fact that maybe they didn't want to have an actress playing "Dorothy", because THIS isn't HER story. I think the presence of Dorothy, as opposed to just her silohuette, would take you out of one story and into another.

#21

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 3:54pm

I agree with you Fosse! Imagine the crowd leaving the theater going on and on about Dorothy and her ruby slippers...that is not the point, but if Dorothy had been seen then that would have taken away from Elphie's story

"All the while making faces like a baby platypus who forget to take some Beano before eating a chimichanga." FindingNamo in reference to Jessica Simpson's singing.

#22

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 3:55pm

1) There is no reason for them to make the house look more like the house from the movie, because, if you couldn't tell--the musical is a complete departure from the movie. Everyone we are supposed to know about the story is changed, and making the house look more like the movie would be stupid if the munchkins don't lool like the munchkins etc.

2) I do agree that the Melting Curtain the Boq and Wardrobe thing are amatuerish, and I believe I have stated this before. There are many aspects of the show that just seem to fall flat. And I think these are two examples of that.

3) I think the worst blocking happens during What Is This Feeling. That might be the lamest attempt at musical staging/choreography I have ever seen done onstage. A lot of the times, characters are moving across the stage for no reason other than that's their blocking. And one an audience member can tell that, then there is trouble. If I was in that cast, I would study the WITF blocking every single night, b/c I would be so nervous about messing it up and screwing up the entire show.

*Forward, Forward, Side, Side, Back...Back, Side...AHHH*

#23

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 3:55pm

Fosse:

Thank you - your statement is exactly what I had the problem with - Elphaba has to pull the curtain herself! That was the part that bothered me - not that we didn't see the melting or that we didn't see Dorothy - as I said, I think that was well done - it just killed me that in order to acheive this effect the actress had to set it up herself, with no true motivation.
Again, it was the same thing with "let me just roll this wheelchair behind this piece of furniture for no discernible reason other than to put this actor out of sight for a costume change" - out of character, poorly executed, and seemingly without thought in my opinion.

That said, I'm grateful to you all for your comments - I'm thrilled to be able to hash this out with people who "get it"!

"Not a day goes by..."

#24

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 4:07pm

I applaud everyone for making this most the civil and educated Wicked discussion ever. See, people can take Wicked and its fans seriously.

#25

re: WICKEDly bad blocking

Posted: 5/4/05 at 4:10pm

haha, I agree, Little Fish. The blocking to "What Is This Feeling?" is ridiculous.

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