Wicked - Elphaba and Glinda's songs

[AngusN]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 1:55pm

I am a huge, HUGE fan of the musical 'Wicked'. However, it does puzzle me why Stephen Schwartz chose to give the higher melodies to Elphaba rather than Glinda. Surely the pretty, feminine character would be more suited to singing the higher notes than the dowdy outcast. It is especially notable in 'For Good', I almost can't enjoy the beautiful, moving song because their harmonies sound wrong (to me).

[TheBoyfromChi]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 2:02pm

If you mean that Elphaba gets higher notes when the two sing together, that is only true in For Good. In What Is This Feeling, Glinda sings higher, which leads me to think Stephen Schwartz did that on purpose, maybe to show the evolution of the characters?
Hopefully that's what you meant, I apologize if it wasn't. It's something that I've always noticed in listening through the cast recording that during For Good, the "normal" part division is flipped.

Updated On: 12/8/05 at 02:02 PM

[AngusN]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 2:22pm

She also sings lower notes in 'Defying Gravity'.
I understand that, that song is essentially Elphaba's but that doesn't mean that she has to sing much higher. Perhaps it was done to convey the slightly crazy element of her character in this song?

[cathywellerstein]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 2:27pm

i think it allows the character of elphaba to belt those high notes. glinda is a soprano. when she sings higher notes, they are in her head voice usually. so the character of elphaba sings the higher line in certain songs, so that belting can be used.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 3:18pm

Surely the pretty, feminine character would be more suited to singing the higher notes than the dowdy outcast


????? Why? Because a dowdy outcast are less is less of a singer, a person, a woman?

I'm sorry I find your comment rather ridiculous.....and frankly it's a Dr. Phil show waiting to happen.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 3:34pm

I see where you're coming from, Elphaba, but the show itself typecasts pretty, popular Glinda as the soprano and has Elphaba singing the lower parts most of time. I think the first poster was just curious as to why it's sometimes different.

Anyway, I don't know why they chose to do this, but I think that it's kind of nice. cathywellerstein might have a point in that a Glinda is more likely to have to go into her soprano range when taking the higher part, whereas a crazy high belt is basically one of the requirements to be cast as Elphaba. I think that, story-wise, it shows that they are equals and co-leads.