Wicked Melbourne 6 weeks on

[brettystar]

Posted: 10/3/08 at 9:27pm

I saw Wicked in Melbourne again on September 14th (6 weeks after the first time I saw it) so I thought I might post my thoughts.

The production has really found it's feet and is running at a really tight pace. The orchestra has improved significantly.

Amanda Harrison was even better than she was the first time I saw her and is holding her own in the role. She is an angrier Elphaba from the first scene to the end than Idina Menzel was. Her voice was so much stronger this time around.

Lucy Durack seemed to be suffering from a cold. She was still wonderfully bubbly and charismatic in the role but she was not holding her big notes as long as usual and was using other techniques and making alternate vowel sounds which indicated she was suffering vocally on this evening. Still fabulous though.

Rob Guest was now very comfortable in the role and was very endearing as the Wizard.

Rob Mills and Anthony Callea have both improved and do a very good job in their roles as Fiyero and Boq.

Maggie Kirkpatrick was out and her understudy, Johanna Allen was just as good - played Morrible a little differently.

This was the best performance of the show that I have seen since I saw it on Broadway the second time. I even shed a tear. Problems that I had with the book now make perfect sense. Not sure if there has been any changes to the book as I remember thinking the book was problematic (as have many others)the first 5 times I saw it. However now, there is little that I dislike about the book.

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 10/3/08 at 9:33pm

So happy Amanda is getting better! So is she making the score her own?

Do you know who has replaced Rob (may he RIP)?

[brettystar]

Posted: 10/3/08 at 9:41pm

Amanda doesn't really do anything that is significantly different to the other Elphabas that I have seen in regards to singing. However she really holds her own.

It is her acting more so, that she has put her own stamp on. Whilst I think that Julia Murney was possibly better at the comedy, Amanda is still funny where she needs to be but is very fiery and seems a little more complicated than others. Almost like you could see that she could probably do with a little bit of therapy during the school years LOL.

Rodney Dobson (who is excellent as Dillamond) has taken over the role of the Wizard. Not sure if this is permanent (as he was the understudy) but from what I hear it is.

[alterego]

Posted: 10/3/08 at 10:19pm

I guess that will be the next big guessing game - who will replace Rob Guest? Rodney Dobson is the understudy and I would think that once a suitable replacement Wizard is found he will return to his original role.

[brettystar]

Posted: 10/4/08 at 3:51am

Anthony Warlow would be nice

[Urban]

Posted: 10/4/08 at 11:44am

I walked past the theatre tonight. I got all sad inside when I saw the huge pile of flowers under Rob's Marquee-thingy picture.

[musicaltheatrefan3]

Posted: 10/4/08 at 11:57am

Who is on for Rodney, now? He really plays Doctor Dillamond, you know.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/4/08 at 3:25pm

"Anthony Warlow would be nice "

I'll pretend I didn't hear that.

[Khashoggi]

Posted: 10/4/08 at 4:09pm

Anton Berezin, who usually plays the Witch's Father is on as Dillamond. And is sensational.
At this stage, Rodney is playing the Wizard for at least the next couple of weeks. I'm sure they won't want to re-cast the role too quickly. Its hard enough as it is.
And Warlow would be terrible (and would probably miss every second show anyway...)

[Urban]

Posted: 10/4/08 at 11:12pm

I thought Warlow had a good attendence record as the Phantom.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/4/08 at 11:22pm

You would subject the man who should've played the title role in Jekyll and Hyde on Broadway, should've played Enjolras in the 10th Anniversary Concert of Les Miserables, and who knows what else with his heavenly voice to a role like the Wizard where he can't even begin to show off his vocal pyrotechnics.

[sydneyboi]

Posted: 10/5/08 at 3:14am

Saw the production a few weeks ago, saw Harrison's understudy, she was brilliant and Rob Mills totally rocked which surprised me.

Callea on the other hand I found to be really stiff and just not good - simple as that.

Other than that the show is brilliant and Lucy Durack is amazing
:)

[Urban]

Posted: 10/5/08 at 4:01am

^I saw Jemma Stevenson as well (one and a half times - I was also (along with brettystar) at the same performance that Harrison went off at intermission and Stevenson came on). I thought Jemma was fierce and hopes she has a long and successful career in musical theatre.

[brettystar]

Posted: 10/5/08 at 6:14am

Rodney is temporary according to Amanda Harrison. I still think Anthony Warlow would be good in the role. Who cares if it is an easy role for him Mattbrain?
Jemma is great Urban, and such a lovely person who cares about time with her fans.

[lfae]

Posted: 10/5/08 at 6:42am

Hehe, I too saw half a Jemma, but it was the performance where *she* was replaced midway, by Patrice Tipoki.

[Weez]

Posted: 10/5/08 at 6:59am

Anthony Warlow would be good in the role, because Anthony Warlow is amazing at everything he does. But I wouldn't subject him to such a horribly underwritten role whose two songs contribute little to the show other than to do their very best to kill the momentum stone-dead. He can and should do so much better.

[alterego]

Posted: 10/5/08 at 8:56am

Warlow costs BIG bucks. He wouldn't work work for the kind of money that was being offered for WICKED.

How long will it be before Callea leaves? January? I suspect he is on a very short contract. He would be losing too much money by staying in this too long.

[brettystar]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 2:25am

I would be surprised if Callea did more than 6 months.

[rabymon10]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 7:40am

All of the leads signed one year contracts.

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 3:05pm

Glad to hear all seems to be going well in Oz

[musicaltheatrefan3]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 3:49pm

Wasn't Jemma in the short Japanese version for awhile? The one at Universal Osaka?

[brettystar]

Posted: 10/10/08 at 3:43am

Yes she was.

[Khashoggi]

Posted: 10/10/08 at 7:44am

Callea is not on the same contract as everyone else.

[klh44]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 5:47am

It appears that Bert has been cast as the new wizard, according to the radio station 3AW. Personally I'm hoping that the source may be unreliable, but 3AW has proved to be pretty accurate in the past.

Radio clip: [url=http://www.3aw.com.au/displayPopUpPlayerAction.action?&url=http://media.mytalk.com.au/3AW/AUDIO/271008_Bert_Newton.wma]here[/url]

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 6:07am

Bert Newton starts his run as The Wizard in November.