Ana Gasteyer.
Her singing is amazing. She doesn't add any riffs or anything. But really, she doesn't have to. I don't really like people who over-riff. I don't understand how people say she doesn't belt. In Chicago, the three times I saw her I thought she really belted. And her "Defying Gravity" end note can't be topped. It lasts about ten seconds.
Her acting is great. She brings out the more human and darker side of Elphaba. She IS dark, but her mother and father and sister are dead, and no one has really loved her. Of course she'll be somewhat moody. But when good things do happen, she does get happy.
Her "As Long as You're Mine" is really unique. I love how she seems uncertain of the whole thing at first. And at the end, I love how after she says, "For the first time, I feel... WICKED!" she attacks Fiyero and wraps her arm around his head.
[Victoria]
Weaver of Satiric Truths