Wicked-Best Broadway Play? — Page 2

Everyone just remember that everyone has their own voice. Some people love WICKED. I know I do. Some people don't. It's ok if you don't but if you don't like it you don't have to put down the people that do. And for those of you that do like it you don't have to get offended when people don't like it. Just my 2cents! So we don't have to attack wickedlover's! We all have different tastes.

Wicked's sort of like Titanic. Titanic was a great movie and it did a lot for pop culture, but it was very overhyped and had the cult following of pre-teen girls for LeoDeCap which, admittingly, made it less enjoyable. Now, watching Titanic, you can enjoy the movie for what it is. Is it the best movie ever made? No. Is it enjoyable? Yes.

That's like Wicked, the hype is sort of bringing it down. It doesn't mean the show's any less enjoyable to me, though. I mean it's a smart move: well advertized, great story, great songs.

Then again Titanic won the Oscar. And Wicked lost the Tony.

Updated On: 8/19/04 at 07:18 PM

I think that if a person is a fan of the Wicked OBC, then they will not be disappointed by the show. After all, it won the Tonys for best costumes and best set design, neither of which can be experienced from the CD. The recording is only enhanced by the production.

The answer you will get on whether or not this is the best musical on Broadway depends mostly on the person you ask. If you ask a teenage girl that plays the recording obsessive-compulsively in her room and pretends that she is Idina Menzel while straining her vocal chords screaming/singing into a hairbrush in front of a mirror, then Wicked is not only the best musical on Broadway right now, but the best musical that has ever existed. If you were to ask a person that has read 3,000 posts a day for the last several months discussing Kristin and Idina's every move in annoyingly trite detail, who has seen every other show currently on Broadway, then Wicked is not only far from the best thing on Broadway, but it's the worst thing that's happened to the musical theatre industry since RENT.

Ah, the beautiful debate.

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Updated On: 8/19/04 at 07:39 PM

Wicked is both beloved and despised on this board, depending on who you talk to. Many claim it's the best show currently on Broadway, but they'll grow out of it as we all had to grow out of Rent. Others claim it's the worst show on Broadway, but that's not true either because Dracula opens today. It's hovering around midrange, but that's more a reflection of how weak last season's musical crop was.

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I think it's a great musical. True I haven't seen it, and true, I won't see it until next year. I do not think it is the best musical ever. Because A) There will never be a 'Best Musical Ever' agreed on by everybody and B ) Everyone has their own choice. Yes I'm one of those teenaged (15) girls who play it on their living room whilst cleaning and singing along with it. But hey, it's everyone's choice what they do in their own house when they're home alone. I choose to belt out music, which I've been doing for the past eight years of my life. So I wouldn't be 'Straining my voice chords' Everyone has their own opinions, that's what makes this world great. I still have a lot of things to see before I can decide on a 'favorite' musical. There is no best, there is a favorite. Just like what you like and don't like what you don't like.

And for the people who have to read about it all the time, Don't read it! It's your choice what you click on to read!

But yeah, feel free to bash. I really don't care.

*Linzy*

Updated On: 8/19/04 at 09:50 PM

"Straining vocal cords" doesn't refer to the fact that the girls sing their cords out. It refers to the fact that those songs are very bad for a voice that hasn't matured- and women's voices don't really mature until their late 20s. It's not safe to continually belt "Defying Gravity" as Idina does.

Linzy, you can go ahead and listen and sing along to what you want. Quite honestly, I don't see how those high "belted" notes in "Defying Gravity" could be healthy for anyone. But concerns like that never stopped me from attempting "Green Finch and Linnet Bird." :)

Go ahead and like Wicked. That's fine. And the show's fans aren't inherently silly. It's the constant posting about the tiniest meaningless details about the show and its performers that drove people who were ambivalent about the show to distraction. It's great is Wicked is giving young people a positive introduction to musical theater. I'm just hoping they expand on that and learn to like other shows.

Nicely put, Plum -
Have you heard Harolyn Blackwell sing "Green Finch" on the Sondheim Celebration CD? It is really beautiful. That Sondheim knows how to write a song! So does the other Stevie S., so Wicked fans do not attack me!

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My thoughts on Wicked:

I awaited this musical for three years, ever since I first heard it was going to be on Broadway. After reading and re-reading the book several times, I couldn't wait until it was on the Great White Way. Then eventually the OCR came out. I loved the music. I began to listen to it very very often. I got my ticket, flew to New York and was very excited. And then I saw it. The book to the musical is horrible. While the "Wizard Of Oz" jokes were cute, I thought they were overused. The plot is mediocore at best. Anything that made the book great, was dashed in the musical. In lost it's magic and became something much much more commercial. Wicked could have been incredible if it stuck closer to the book, but in doing so it probably would have lost some of it's family value. The talent is good, and the music is good, but overall the show is just alright. Nothing to speical and nothing to horrible.

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So if I continuously belt out defying gravity in my car every day on the way to work what will happen? Will one of my vocal cords break or something? I am dead serious. The only reason I ask is today, it kind of hurt straining to hit those final notes. I guess it doesn't matter because I'm no singer.

But I really like singing it really really loud in my car on the way to work. It makes my morning happy. Could it really be that bad for me if I have no intention of ever singing in public EVER!

Hey LongIsland Grl... First off... You cannot technically "break" a vocal cord, as they are not cords at all. You could, however, damage your voice severely if you belt incorrectly. I'm not an expert on voice, but i do know that untrained belting, especially from the throat and not the diaphragm, is one of the worst things you can do for your voice. If you have no intention of taking voice lessons, at least, please, for the sake of your voice, sing from as low in your belly and not from your throat as possible! I hope I have been helpful.

ciao.

Wicked is the best musical on Broadway only if the only other musical you've seen on Broadway is Aida. Seriously, Wicked is fun and pretty, but not the best musical on Broadway. I had a great time, but it wasn't the best show I saw.

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