Yes it is Cilento who did the Musical Staging, so he is responsable for WITF, and quite frankly, should be ashamed of himself. However, Mantello is responsible for the rest of the nonsense.
I don't disagree. While I am a Wicked fan (one that's about 20 years older than most Wicked fans), I had some blocking issues as well. I think the curtain would have been less "oh my goodness, we have to set it up for the scene" if maybe Chistery had pulled it. Made it look like he was just doing one of those weird things pets do...? I don't know.
I believe part of the rights issue is that they could not portray Dorothy fully on stage (hence the curtain/shadow effect), and I know that they cannot say her name or say "Yellow Brick Road" (Notice they never call Dorothy by name, and the only time they verbally reference the YBR is when the Wizard says "road of yellow brick..." So the curtain may have been necessary for that part. Once the curtain is pulled though, I dig the effect. The shadows look cool.
The blocking in WITF is choppy at best. I love the song though - so I deal...but I think the director and choreographer could have done much more with it.
I was also very surprised about the staging of "As Long As You're Mine" - from listening to the CD repeatedly forever and ever, I imagined it to be a much steamier song than what I saw - how many times can we caress each other's arms while we're kneeling on the stage??? It just didn't do anything for me...
Good point on As Long As Your Mine...you know I don't remember much about that number at all - aside from the "kneeling" and a big 'ole smooch at the end of it. Guess that says something.
I wonder if when Ben Vereen joins the cast if they will restage "Wonderful?" Seems like he could add some dancing, or even a little softshoe footwork to the otherwise thankless role of the Wizard. Hearing this soundtrack before seeing the show made me think that Wonderful was going to be similar to Herod's song in JCS (whoch I would have enjoyed). Instead, there was not much choreography to this song at all. Maybe George Hearn has no moves (wonder if it was better with Joel Grey?)
What I was referring to was that the production was legally bound to avoid certain references. For example (so I've been told) they were not permitted to use Toto's name (not sure why, but yeah) so they comically refer to him as Dodo. Additionally, they could not use the hourglass and other movie-related icons.
Having not read the original Baum books, I cannot speak about what is used from them. The melting may be in them, but the production csould not reproduce the version of the melting that the film uses.
I agree with the "What Is This Feeling" staging. Bad.
I don't know if I can agree with you, Littlefish, that the stage show is a complete departure from the film. Do you really think the show would be happening without the impact of the film? People have the film's elements embeded in their head. I think the stage show uses adaptions of the film's elements and plays off of them.
Personally, and I know people will disagree with me, but I feel that Wicked's written material is better than it's production. It'll be wonderful to see what orginality will be brought by the later stagings.
I thought Joel brought much more to the role the first time I saw the show. George seemed lifeless when I saw him. His Wizard was much more laidback/motionless than Joel.
"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
That is not how I meant it. But its different, and we are supposed to look at it with different eyes. There is no reason for the house to look identical to the house in the movies, b/c other things arent the same. The munchkinds are taller. The Wicked Witch isn't hideously ugly with a giant mole and hooked nose. Glinda doesnt have red hair. There are many differences, and like someone said Wicked is more of a take off of the original novel "Wizard of Oz."
I know that the film has influenced a lot of the stage show, I just don't think making the house identical would have added or taken away from anything.
Ok, I am very confused about the copyrights and legal issues. "Toto" is "Toto" in the original Baum books. Though having many dresses, Dorothy does wear a blue and white gingham dress. Moreover, her name is "Dorothy". They say "Uncle Henry" in WICKED as well. Those should not be legal issues at all.
So, many of you say that "WICKED cannot copy the 1939 MGM musical at all." If that is the case, how can the Wicked Witch of the West be green? She is not green in the book. Also, she only has a broom in the MGM film. She has an umbrella in the book.
So, if you all are saying that certain things cannot be copied (like the name "Dorothy," "Toto," and other elements), how can other pieces be directly taken from the MGM film? Something's not adding up.
While I cannot remember exactly *why* some of these couldn't be staged, I did a bit of research to help verify what I was saying.
Answering for Stephen Schwartz, his Assistant, Michael Cole, had the following to say:
Question - "...Was the melting originally going to take place without a curtain? Any information would be great, thanks! "
"...As to the melting: the script originally called for the famous melting scene to be witnessed - so it would have been staged to look exactly like the scene in the movie. For various reasons this couldn't be done - some legal and some not. I believe the curtain came to being sometime after Joe Mantello was brought on board. "
Kristin Chenoweth explained the copywrite thing on Chatterbox I think. And it was the night before or the night of opening in San Fran that all of the changes as far as references were done. I think she even made some of them up as she went along.
Well, first off, this is musical. Suspend your disbelief! I mean who cares if someones randomly walking across stage while they're singing, they randmoly broke into song anyways. I understand that there is a reason for every movement onstage, but sometimes someone just needs to suspend their disbelief, like during the curtain scene. I don't think it was poorly done. I think it was sorta artistic and different. the whole point of the show is to take a familiar story and show it from a different angle. So I'm glad they didn't show a rip-off of the movie. Even if they did, yall would just be on here b*tchin' about how it is "just like the movie, etc." I found Wicked highly entertaining. Which is weird because a year ago, I had no desire to see this show at all, now i'm begging to see it.
"I mean who cares if someones randomly walking across stage while they're singing, they randmoly broke into song anyways."
I care. They shouldn't "randomly break into song." Isn't the reason why a character breaks into song in a musical because of some heightened emotion? It usually does have a point...as should the blocking.
And the blocking shouldn't make you think "What the heck IS Elphaba doing?"
But I dont' think in song where the characters are bascially "thinking" out loud, that it matters if they're playing the apron of the stage. they're basically delivering the song to audience. they're not playing it to each other. What's the big deal?
I find it weird that G. Maguire was allowed to use the names "Dorothy" and "Yellow Brick Road" in his book but they were not allowed to use them in the musical which is based on Maguire's book!
Elphaba pulling the curtain didn't bother me, it actually made sense to me why it was her: she wanted to hide Glinda from the crowd (Glinda would have been in trouble if the crowd had found out the two were friends) and not her see her "melting" because she might have realised Elphaba didn't really "die".
"As Long As You're Mine" ground down the production to a halt. It really was a rather forgettable song....staged very lacklusterly. It felt like..."Oh, they need to sing a love song to each other."
(I have the same feeling about "Love Song" and "I Guess I'll Miss the Man" from "Pippin." Snooze time!)
The curtain pulling in the final scene just screamed, "It's time for the MELTING SCENE!"
Although, I do agree...I did not want to see Dorothy. The musical is not about her.
Perhaps they should have just acknowledged its time for the melting and dropped a big screen or something with a large boom as if it were sealing elphie's fate
So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life.~Office Space
"I find it weird that G. Maguire was allowed to use the names "Dorothy" and "Yellow Brick Road" in his book but they were not allowed to use them in the musical which is based on Maguire's book!"
But both names are included in the original first book of the OZ series. (?.......)
