#1
Posted: 6/26/05 at 3:19am
For starters I have some great news...Jenna went on as Elphaba tonight. :) Oh, there will be no overly exclamted random rampants like other obsessed Wicked fans would do.
Jenna was fantastic. Kudos definitely go to her. What a voice. She had different take on Elphaba that was a little surprising but still she nailed it. (A little note: I have no idea whether or not this was Jenna's first time on so don't ask if it was.)
Kendra I had mixed feelings about towards the beginning. But by the time "Popular" came rolling about she had the audience in the palm of her hand(as the song was designed to do.) Her voice surely is unique. I wouldn't say it is bad or great. It's good and strong but not poignant and graceful as I would have wanted it to. She hit the notes involving her upper register with flying colors though. All in All, good performance.
Carol Kane was little too much for me. I preferred Carole Shelley who had a much scarier intrepetation. I had really no reason to come up with why Glinda or anyone else would have been intimidated by her.
David Garrison. Hands off best Wizard I have ever seen. And I praise him for when he found out the big detail about Elphaba's heritage he did not cornily bend down and "cry" but just dropped to his knees and had a look of despair.
Derrick Williams had his own, different interpretation of Fiyero. I liked it. His voice can be nasal at points though.
Logan Lipton. Can you say adorable? For some reason he reminded me of Princeton/Rod from Avenue Q. It worked though.
Lori Holmes as Nessarose was a little weird. I could tell that this was one of her first performances in the role. However, she had beautiful singing voice(She really belted her song) and she was good enough not to just randomly say "Elphaba, shut up!" It actually had purpose, she made it seem as though she did not want people in her palace to hear Elphaba so she told her to shut up.
As musical highlights of the evening. None. Every thing was exceptional and wonderful. Could not have seen a greater show. However, For Good really stood out for some reason tonight. The girls sounded great on their parts and they got the emotions to really come through.
Set wise. As an entirety not a whole lot has changed. Without the privileges of a sit down production certain parts of the set obviously had to be readjusted for the tour. The part that I noticed the most was the platforms on which Madame Morrible(before Defying Gravity) and Boq(during March of the Witchhunters) make their speaches on are no longer on the sides of the theatre but are platforms that roll out from the wings. And as said in other reviews their very little use of platforms throughout the show so no Elphaba rising up from the stage before No Good Deed. However, I guess to make Elphaba's entrance to No Good Deed(this could have been in the show from the beginning but no previous reviewer mentioned it) a little more lucid, they added monkeys as well I guess make the ilusion that she "flew" to where she says the incantation.
Well that's it. Oh and I finally figured out how Elphaba makes her entrance during March of the Witchunters. PM me and I'll tell you.
Jenna was fantastic. Kudos definitely go to her. What a voice. She had different take on Elphaba that was a little surprising but still she nailed it. (A little note: I have no idea whether or not this was Jenna's first time on so don't ask if it was.)
Kendra I had mixed feelings about towards the beginning. But by the time "Popular" came rolling about she had the audience in the palm of her hand(as the song was designed to do.) Her voice surely is unique. I wouldn't say it is bad or great. It's good and strong but not poignant and graceful as I would have wanted it to. She hit the notes involving her upper register with flying colors though. All in All, good performance.
Carol Kane was little too much for me. I preferred Carole Shelley who had a much scarier intrepetation. I had really no reason to come up with why Glinda or anyone else would have been intimidated by her.
David Garrison. Hands off best Wizard I have ever seen. And I praise him for when he found out the big detail about Elphaba's heritage he did not cornily bend down and "cry" but just dropped to his knees and had a look of despair.
Derrick Williams had his own, different interpretation of Fiyero. I liked it. His voice can be nasal at points though.
Logan Lipton. Can you say adorable? For some reason he reminded me of Princeton/Rod from Avenue Q. It worked though.
Lori Holmes as Nessarose was a little weird. I could tell that this was one of her first performances in the role. However, she had beautiful singing voice(She really belted her song) and she was good enough not to just randomly say "Elphaba, shut up!" It actually had purpose, she made it seem as though she did not want people in her palace to hear Elphaba so she told her to shut up.
As musical highlights of the evening. None. Every thing was exceptional and wonderful. Could not have seen a greater show. However, For Good really stood out for some reason tonight. The girls sounded great on their parts and they got the emotions to really come through.
Set wise. As an entirety not a whole lot has changed. Without the privileges of a sit down production certain parts of the set obviously had to be readjusted for the tour. The part that I noticed the most was the platforms on which Madame Morrible(before Defying Gravity) and Boq(during March of the Witchhunters) make their speaches on are no longer on the sides of the theatre but are platforms that roll out from the wings. And as said in other reviews their very little use of platforms throughout the show so no Elphaba rising up from the stage before No Good Deed. However, I guess to make Elphaba's entrance to No Good Deed(this could have been in the show from the beginning but no previous reviewer mentioned it) a little more lucid, they added monkeys as well I guess make the ilusion that she "flew" to where she says the incantation.
Well that's it. Oh and I finally figured out how Elphaba makes her entrance during March of the Witchunters. PM me and I'll tell you.
