Wicked OBC Review... a little late

[KMEP05]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 3:00pm

"Highly offensive; obnoxious", says Webster's Dictionary of the word, "wicked." The Broadway smash, by the same name, is exactly that. With a horrible libretto, weak casting, and an overrated rip-off of the popular movie, The Wizard of Oz, Wicked offends even the most adept followers of Broadway's "Rent Generation."

Wicked has lyrics cand a score by Stephen Schwartz, known for his contributions to theatre such as Pippin, Children of Eden, Godspell, and Working, among others. One would be justified in saying that much of Wicked's score is extremely catchy. However, that is about the only thing going for it, because Mr. Schwartz never fails to disappoint, as with many of his other works. Along with frequent insertions of overly obvious key changes (paralleling --GASP!-- huge changes of emotion), there's also a large, piping-hot side dish of immature lyrics. For example, the musical's final piece, "For Good", which lists random scenarious taht have absolutely nothing to do with the actual meaning of the song (for example, "Like a seed dropped by a skybird / Halfway through the wood" - Oh, Mr. Schwartz, if only every friendship reminded us of birdseed). Another example is the piece "Defying Gravity," which closes the first act. With obvious, second-grade mentality rhymes, and repetitive dialogue, the audience is left wishing the term "showstopper" was more literal, and desperately wanting to "Defy Menzel" - but we'll get to her later.

Winnie Holzman provides Wicked with its wonderful book (if, in some parallel universe, "wonderful" meant "predictable"). Holzman's writing makes Wicked a two-hour-long "My So-Called Life" episode, with Elphaba as the misunderstood character and G(a)linda as the popular girl everybody loves to hate. How original, Ms. Holzman - especially the obvious parallels made to the Holocaust, Japanese internment camps, the Nazis, and the KKK. It's not the parallels that make the writing bothersome, it's the horrible approach to them. God forbid Holzman take an English class and learn about allegory or symbolism or just plain subtlety. However, Wicked does contain a few funny moments, when Holzman is not trying so hard to teach the audience the timely lesson of tolerance. Her insertion of puns and punch lines keeps the audience on its toes and makes the long periods of underdeveloped characters and bad music slightly more bearable.

Normally, bad shows are cast with good talent to boost their sales. This, however, cannot be said of Wicked. Idina Menzel, who plays the horribly misunderstood Elphaba, is a stale actress. In fact, I digress. Calling waht Ms. Menzel does "acting" is a blatant lie. A piece of cardboard could act the role of Elphaba better than she, with much greater action, emotion, and character development (and less freaky faces). It could sing better too - who has ever seen screaming cardboard? Many call what Menzel does onstage "belting," but that term doesn't pertain to screaming sharp pitches. It's a surprise that she has any shred of vocal cord left, with such poor technique. The way Menzel is going, she is going to have to speak through a vocoder within the year. A casting mistake was undoubtedly made in giving the role of a strong woman figure to such a bland actress.

Kristin Chenoweth, who plays G(a)linda, on the other hand, is a brilliant comedic actress with explicitly well-planned timing, and is an equally refreshing singer. Although her poor diction and lack of a top to her notes while belting in a character voice can be quite annoying at times, she makes up for it with her gorgeous coloratura soprano sound. Michelle Federer, who plays Elphaba's "tragically beautiful" sister, NessaRose, is also an up-and-comer to watch, and Carole Shelley and Norbert Leo Butz also add interesting takes to their respective roles of Madame Morrible and Fiyero. However, Kristin Chenoweth is about the only reason to waste your hard-earned money on this bust of a musical.

Wicked's set is reminiscent of Cats, RENT, Taboo, ... and Fresh Kills Landfill. The piece de' resistance, a large dragon, is unexplaned and unneeded. Its role in the novel on which the musical is based, is never explained in the show, and therefore it does nothing positive but cause a horrible distraction from the lackluster performances on stage. Its screeching is only facilitative in drowning out the screaming of a certain green girl. The rest of the set is adorned with clocks, assorted timepieces, and the like. What "time" has to do with a bad "My So-Called Life" episode is yet to be determined.

Wicked: The Musical is based on the book of the same name, by author Gregory Maguire. It seems that Schwartz and Holzman disregarded the contents of this novel, and instead, used it to line their bird cages. By omitting important characters, key setting details, and crucial plotlines, Wicked is not Wicked at all (putting a new spin on the cliche' phrase, "which witch is which?"). It's a horrible bastardization of a well-written novel. Actually, make that two, as I wouldn't be surprised if L. Frank Baum is rolling over in a grave somewhere.

Wicked: The Musical is an ideal show for any Broadway lover to see - if he wants to be utterly disgusted with its fluff. Perhaps, the melody of the opening number should be rewritten to include the lyrics, "no one mourns the untalented" (encompassing all of the writers, and most of the cast and creative team). And it's certain that nobody who "only has a brain" will, when it someday reaches its closing date.

Posted: 4/29/05 at 3:04pm

A LITTLE late?!?!?

[Joshua488]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 3:05pm

Are you done?

Oh, and the "seed dropped by a skybird" line actually does make some sense. Just because it's not literal doesn't mean it doesn't make any sense.
Updated On: 4/29/05 at 03:05 PM

[442namffug]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 3:06pm

Get a life?

[KelRel]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 3:07pm

FYI Like a seed dropped by a skybird etc..makes PERFECT sense. Elphie and Glinda did not set out to be friends, it was an act of luck, fate, mishap, (take your pick) that they ended up coming into each other's lives. It was unplanned and random, but it made a difference. That seed that the bird dropped would plant an unknown and different plant into the wood. It would be foriegn and different, but because it was dropped there it wouldmake a difference.

[kangaroo]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 3:09pm

I'm glad you joined just today... to give us an utterly worthless review. Are you a Broadway-lover... or do you choose to come to this board to bash all that we hold high and mighty (not specifically talking about Wicked)

Who chooses their first day to bash a show?
*sarcastically* Welcome

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 3:10pm

I'm sorry, did you post this now just hoping to stir up arguemnts on the board? It has been a very long time since the original cast was in the show. Some people really like it, some hate it. I am somewhere in the middle. I just don't see why this particular review was posted now.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 3:12pm

And virtually digging for things that... kind of aren't there. References to WHAT, now?

Posted: 4/29/05 at 3:14pm

Whew, thanks for warning me away from THIS turkey, KME! What about this show "Cats" I keep hearing about-- is it any good?

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 3:15pm

1. Almost none of the cast members you mentioned are in the show anymore.
2. As everyone else said-why would you choose your first day to bash a show? The whole "Wicked sucks/rocks" thing was finally dying down here, so why bring it back?
As previously mentioned-get a life.

Updated On: 4/29/05 at 03:15 PM

[BEKA531]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 3:18pm

^^ and i second, and emphasize, #3 above.


is this supposed to be a joke? a late april fools? this is really serious?

[whatyouown223]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 3:27pm

Are you serious? Dude, you joined TODAY. Get a life, and, one more thing. I'd like to see you try and headline a Broadway musical, smartass...

[kangaroo]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 3:30pm

^^ and i third MyFairLady's comment, and emphasize, #3 above.

and I like whatyouown's comment too

Where is this guy? If you're serious about your stance, come out and show us....

~kangaroo

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 3:40pm

This should be ignored...it is an obvious attempt to rile y'all up and it is working...

[AnotherDay46]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 3:48pm

Too bad this musical that is highly filled with...fluff... is one of the top musicals on broadway now and selling out almost, if not every, performance eh?

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 4:21pm

Kangaroo, I'm in love with your icon. Yum!

[meagan9848]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 4:51pm

1) Clearly you didn't spend any time lurking...if you did you would have came to the realization that people realllllly like Wicked on this board...like, a lot. You're not going to win this.

2) Search button my friend. There are PLENTY of threads bashing the Wicked OBC...though a search might be hard at this point since the OBC left ALMOST A YEAR AGO!

3) You thought Idina was bad? Go see Shoshana.

4) You're review doesn't even make sense...proof-read my friend.

I think I'm done?

Oh wait...

WELCOME!!!!

now go away.


kthxbye.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 5:02pm

This is clearly a poster who created another user name just to bash Wicked. Haha

[meagan9848]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 5:03pm

sorry...I decided to actually finish reading your review and found more to say.

One would be justified in saying that much of Wicked's score is extremely catchy. However, that is about the only thing going for it, because Mr. Schwartz never fails to disappoint, as with many of his other works.

What? You just said that the score was the only thing it has going for it...but that Schwartz never fails to disappoint? ok.

Calling waht Ms. Menzel does "acting" is a blatant lie. A piece of cardboard could act the role of Elphaba better than she, with much greater action, emotion, and character development (and less freaky faces). It could sing better too - who has ever seen screaming cardboard?


You're right...I've never seen screaming cardboard, but I walked by some talking cardboard on my way to class today...are you Kidding?

Wicked's set is reminiscent of Cats, RENT, Taboo, ... and Fresh Kills Landfill.

Even if someone didn't like WICKED, the set was nothing like any of those other shows...Give credit where credit is due my friend...even the Tony voters caught onto that one...

Wicked: The Musical is based on the book of the same name, by author Gregory Maguire. It seems that Schwartz and Holzman disregarded the contents of this novel, and instead, used it to line their bird cages.

Schwartz doesn't have a bird.

Ok, I really think that's it...


it would be one thing if you were bashing a current cast...but seriously...get a life.

Idina: Somehow I got myself to the stage, came out at the end of the show, and I had some kind of closure.
Some guy: You looked great!
Idina: Thanks...I WAS SO HIGH! 8/21/05

Updated On: 4/29/05 at 05:03 PM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 5:10pm

To be blunt: What a dumb ass review. I'm a newly converted Wicked fan and just saw a video of the OBC and thought it was amazing. I stayed up till 4 in the morning watching it because I coudln't resist it. I think Idina was amazing in the role and her acting was suberb. I mean, hell, she did win the Tony. Kristen is alo amazingly funny too. Have you even seen the show? Or what?
BRING IT!

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 5:12pm

lets all remember that people have different opinion. some are more right than others...


*mine COUGHCUGH*

[meagan9848]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 5:14pm

sorry if I offended you Caroline...that review just bothered me. In all honesty I have no problem with people who hate wicked...I really don't...that review was just so...unnecessary.

[IMsooHyprToday]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 5:18pm

Who are you????

[kangaroo]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 5:21pm

Thanks elphaba3! I think he's scrumptious too!

I am assuming it was just some random person to rile us up again... maybe we should leave... as someone said earlier. I swear, just earlier today I saw someone write about how it has been quiet on the boards... with no Wicked loving/bashing... interesting turn of events
~kangaroo

[Elphabuff2]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 5:23pm

If for nothing else, this post was in every way worth RentBoy's opening comment. I hate that I didn't think of it. Damn myself.