Wicked Billing Change?

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 1/10/05 at 10:38pm

i was just reading the bios on the wicked website and now JLT is listed first, followed bu shoshana, i realize the latter is lesser known than idina but still it strikes me as odd

[BEKA531]

Posted: 1/10/05 at 10:40pm

yes, i just noticed that as well. considering they almost never update their site, this was very fast.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 1/10/05 at 10:42pm

they did it as fast when kristin norbert and joel left

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 1/10/05 at 10:42pm

Geez, David Ayers is beautiful!

Wicked has a good looking ensemble...

[Dreamcatcher]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 1:39am

Well sometimes the actor or actress will only be in a play on the condition that the character they portray gets the most attention. IE: they are the first ones listed in all cast lists, they are in all the promo shots etc. Just a possible speculation.

[jacobtsf]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 8:53am

When the show started Cheno had top billing with Idina second.
When Cheno left Idina got top billing and JLT got second.
Now that Idina left, JLT gets top billing and Shosh gets second.

[timote316]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 10:12am

JLT is more of a name than Shoshana, so I'd bet thats it. Either that or the Wicked site creators couldn't figure out how to put Shoshana's bio above JLT's

[gherbert]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 10:50am

The billing for Wicked has always been a bit odd. Kind of like the billing for THe King and I, but not quite.

When the show first debuted Kristin Chenoweth had the "top billing" spot to the left above the title, but Idina's name was on the right but slightly raised about Kristin's name. So in my eyes they got basically equal billing, plus I liked how Miss Menzel's placing kind of showed that her character was an outsider or whatever.

Then Miss Menzel won the Tony. Now winning a Tony usually constitutes better billing, better pay, and after Miss Chenoweth departed the cast, Menzel got just that. Now she was on the left and her co-star, Miss Jennifer Laura Thompson, was on the right, but NOT raised as Miss Menzel had been.

I have not seen the posters for the show with Shoshana Bean and Miss Thompson, but would assume they will go back to the way that the billing was before.

When The King and I first opened it was a vehicle for Gertrude Lawrence and accordingly, she got billing over the title with her co-star, Yul Brynner, over the title. When Brynner caused a sensation in the role (but certainly didn't steal any thunder from the Miss Lawrence, who also won a Tony), he remained in his billing uil Miss Lawrence left the show and died. Her replacment, Patricia Morison, was below the title while Brynner shined above.

In the first Broadway revival of The King and I with Brynner he was again above the title with his leading lady Constance Towers, placed below. But when the two vacationed and were replaced by Angela Lansbury and Michael Kermoyan, the billing flip-flopped, with Angela above the title and Michael below.

All about contracts and people. It's just the way it goes!

[sports620]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 10:51am

I passed the theater yesterday and just about all remnants of Idina are gone. That row of free standing frames that used to have pictures/advertisements with Idina in them have been replaced with the staple Wicked poster. Shoshana's name is now after JLT on the list or performers hanging outside the theater. I did spot a few posters that still had Idina's name on them but they were few and far between...

[CaTheatreGirl]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 11:23am

Monday is a busy day on Broadway when the cast changes. Once again, workers were also busy at the St. James Theatre with The Producers cast change. Before you can blink, all evidence of the previous cast member is gone. Sometimes sad, but that's the way it is.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 11:44am

I don't know if this has been talked about before...but does it strike anyone a little odd that Jeffery Kuhn looks a tad old to be Boq? I mean Boq is supposed to be the short munchkin with a very youthful face. In some manner he looks older than David Ayers!

Now, perhaps it's just the headshot, he may look different in person. But, it just seems he Kuhn is a bit old for the part. But, that's just my opinion. I don't know his age though...he may just look older than he actually is.

Updated On: 1/11/05 at 11:44 AM

[timote316]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 1:06pm

His headshot definately looks too old for the part, I agree FOAnatic. But who knows, makeup can do wonders lol

[AnothaPartofMe]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 3:02pm

Especially in his ASSASSINS role, with full scruffy beard and "thinning" hair... but, acting is acting! If David Cassidy could do Mickey Johnstone (whose character never reached the age Cassidy actually was), then Kuhn could do Boq.

Updated On: 1/11/05 at 03:02 PM

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 3:09pm

True, but did Norbert really look like a school boy?

[rock00]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 3:16pm

Fyi, Kuhn played Zangara in Assassins (short guy, high voice, gets electrocuted). You're confusing him with Denis O'Hare, who played Guiteau.

-b

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 3:25pm

and the hottie awards go to: DAVID AYERS, CLYDE ALVES, JERAD BORTZ, KRISTOFFER CUSICK, ZACH HENSLER, REED KELLY, MARK MYARS, ROBB SAPP and PHILLIP SPAETH.

[Joshua488]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 3:26pm

Hmm... interesting. I was wondering how they would change the billing for Jennifer and Shoshana. Now I see that Jennifer is "more noticeable" than Shoshana. Intriguing.

Also, how come the WICKED website doesn't work for me? If you know anything about computers, maybe you can help! When I first visited the website a few months ago, I had this problem, but then it went away and the site was fine. Now the problem resurfaced! All I can see is the lower left corner where it has the graphic that says "Tickets? Click here" until "View Tour Info". Nothing else shows up. And the area to the right of the part I can see has that little white box with a red X in it. What does this mean???

Also, I can only view text when I go to other pages of the WICKED site. For instance, when I go to the Bios section, I can only read the bios. Absolutely NO graphics show up. Everything is just black, except for the little white boxes with the red X's that are where the headshots should be. Updated On: 1/11/05 at 03:26 PM

[Swiftynifty15]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 6:48pm

I don't get it. Do they pick the order they want to be in For the Playbill.

[Parks]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 8:43pm

Donde esta la...understudy de Elphaba? Ah, isn't Spanglish the greatest thing ever? I realized that there isn't an understudy for Elpbaba...Megan (sp) must be really lonely on that page.. Anyone know why there's no understudy for Elphaba?

[TonyBWay]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 8:51pm

Agents will negotiate with the general management from the begining through the end in regards to billing, travel arrangements, additional pay; etc., but it varies from show-to-show and by person (and their "status").

If someone is billed over the title, and for some reason that person is not in the show that night, you could (at most) get your tickets refunded.

Its a lot of contractual jargon, but is very interesting stuff to wrap your head around if you are not familiar with it.

[gherbert]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 8:57pm

It's ALL contractual. Sometimes big time billing struggles have errupted.

During Red, Hot, and Blue, Ethel Merman and Jimmy Durante went into a billing war. The two both claimed that top-billing should be theirs. The way it was settled?

The names were criss-crossed above the title so there really would be NO one who was noticable over the other.

Maybe Wicked should get creative and try that!