Wicked Questions...It's not what you think.

[Elphabuff2]

Posted: 12/17/06 at 10:19pm

Never seen these answered before.

"Defying Gravity" = In all of the productions and most performances I've seen, I've noticed something at each ending of the song. Why does Elphaba start to descend with the last note? Maybe it's just logistics. It makes more sense for her to ascend at the end note, right?

Elphaba mics = How is it decided where the facial mics are placed? For example, why are most Elphaba mics on the forehead, whereas Eden's is on the side?

[wickedfiyeroofoz]

Posted: 12/17/06 at 10:37pm

lol I love the disclaimer in the title. so sad that you needed to put it there, but so understandable :)

[AnaGFan]

Posted: 12/17/06 at 11:07pm

Does she descend at the end of DG? I'll look closer next time. What I did notice was that she ascends, stays put (while singing) then she moves forward at the end of the song.

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 12/17/06 at 11:13pm

I'm pretty sure she moves foward.

(Which if you're looking at those clips on the site that shall not be named, its hard to tell, but after seeing it live twice, I noticed she moves foward)

[cello_dude]

Posted: 12/17/06 at 11:16pm

i work as an usher @ wicked in chicago, and she does decend.... and I too have always wondered why

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 12/17/06 at 11:20pm

I've noticed that she decends as well. I think it has to do with the lighting that comes from behind her. It kind of gives a cool effect. Does anyone know if she decends in London? The lights move in that production, so mabey they didn't think it was necessary for her to move? I don't know. Just supposing

[lightguy06222]

Posted: 12/17/06 at 11:33pm

Ladies and gentlemen, heres the answer!! Or at least, what I think about it. Right before ascending in Defying Gravity, when Elphaba is speaking the lines "Its not her. She has nothing to do with it. I'm the one you want. Its me. ITS MEEEEE" it looks like she is walking foward. In actuality, she is already on the lift, and the lift arm is exending, which pushes her foward towards the guards. Then, Elphaba defys gravity. Oooh! As she sing the lyrics "nobody in all of oz, no wizard that there is or was" she ascends a bit more, which is supposed to be empowering, and of course the lights follow her up(all the lights lighting her from the back are called Intelligent lights. They are all recorded in the light board to move a certain way, and they are insync with the orchestra as well as with the lift itself. At the end of the number, the main drape (or the map) needs to fly in because its intermission; BUT the problem is that the lift is too far foward, as well as to high up, for the curtain to fall. Therefore, she needs to back up and come down a bit so the main curtain could come in. ALSO, as she is singing the final notes of the song, Elphaba is flying off into the distance, not to be seen for months. So the last notes of the song, she is supposed to be backing-up and "flying away" sort of.

Hope that helps!

[lightguy06222]

Posted: 12/17/06 at 11:38pm

the mic is placed in different places depending on
a)how the actress sings, and WHERE she places her voice (all vocalist place their voices differently)
b)the actors personal choice. Some actors hate having the mic on their forhead because they feel like the cable pulls when they turn their head a certain direction

[Radioactiveduck]

Posted: 12/18/06 at 12:38am

There is also a wireless mic in the hat. One time Sho lost her hat during DG and there was a dead spot for a second while they switched on her body mic.

I'm also pretty sure that Elphie moves farther upstage (back) which, from some perspectives, makes it seem as though she's being lowered.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 12/18/06 at 10:42am

as far as defying gravity, that effect has always bothered me.. perticularly that last line..... it SHOULD be better staged.

As for the mic issue, every Elphaba uses THREE mics. The primary mic with forhead placement, an over ear mount which acts as a backup, and then a mic placed in the witch's hat (since the witch's hat covers her primary mic and would alter the sound quality)

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 12/18/06 at 10:47am

Thanks lightguy06222! That does make a lot of sense :)

Posted: 12/18/06 at 10:51am

I saw Eden as an understudy w/ Kristin as Glinda, and I thought it went forward. I almost thought she was going to fly over the pit and fly into the audience a la Cathy Rigby, then fly back on her last few notes. Also, I thought more fabric flys up, covering most of the back at one point and making it wavier. I never noticed the descend.

[Fiction Writer]

Posted: 12/18/06 at 10:56am

"number of months"

Try years. She's an old hag in the end, or supposed to be...

[lightguy06222]

Posted: 12/18/06 at 1:59pm

very true... Thank you for the correction! I always forget she is supposed to be an old hag because of how beautiful she still looks!

[Claire2141]

Posted: 12/18/06 at 5:42pm

"There is also a wireless mic in the hat. One time Sho lost her hat during DG and there was a dead spot for a second while they switched on her body mic."

Happened to Idina last week too, her hat fell off during One Short Day as she ran on. She sang her lines but I doubt anyone past row d could hear her (luckily was in row a), luckily after 'palaces, museums' Helen had run on with the hat.
Updated On: 12/19/06 at 05:42 PM

[Elphabuff2]

Posted: 12/18/06 at 10:34pm

Now that I think about it, the "back up" makes a lot of sense. I can see where she does that.

[Elphabuff2]

Posted: 12/22/06 at 12:05pm

I have many of these questions; I just never seem to remember them all at once. Here's another:

When Carole Shelley played Morrible, it seems to me that the recession of the hairline throughout the show was much more apparent than it has ever been with any other Morrible (tour, Chicago, etc.). I know the recession is supposed to illustrate her own wickedness coming out. I thought it added much to Morrible.

So...why'd they only do it for Carole and no one else?

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 12/22/06 at 12:34pm

well, Carole insisted on that, for one...