Wicked Reviews - 10/31/07

[bwayguy22089]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 11:32am

So, it was Halloween and a great day to see Wicked! Annaleigh Ashford (Glinda) went to the college I attend and managed to get a bunch of people discounted tickets for both of yesterdays (10/31/07) performances (including me). I had seen the show two weeks ago (3 days after Stephanie J. Block and Annaleigh had started their Broadway run). Stephanie was incredible! Annaleigh was alright, but it was obvious she didn't have a solid character built yet. Let me just say, she has grown SOOO much since then. No joke, she is probably one of the greatest Glinda's there has ever been. I know many people reading this will find it hard to believe that she has improved this much within just two weeks, but believe me - it's like a whole other character. I would definitley put her in the same category as Jennifer Laura Thompson, Kendra Kassebaum and Kristin Chenoweth. Her comedic timing is perfect! She had the audience in tears during Popular. She also has made the character her own. It is very original. I have seen the show 9 times, and many if not all of the things she does on that stage are new, creative and have never been seen before. It was a very fresh performance. Also, I was pleased to see the arch in her character. It is great to see how much Glinda changes between Act One and the end of the show. All in all, Annaleigh was fantastic! I was also lucky enough to see Lisa Brescia as Elphaba. Wow! This girl has it all! Beautiful to look at and listen to! There is something about her voice that no other woman who has playd Elphaba has had. Her voice isn't as powerful as some of the others, but it makes up for it in beauty. It was strange hearing "Defying Gravity" sung by her. It sounded so beautiful! She didn't riff everywhere. She just sang the song as written, and it was PERFECT. It actually brought tears to my eyes. Her voice is so young and fresh. These two also have awesome chemistry together. Something Lisa did that I have never heard before is sings "Again" twice at the end of "No Good Deed". For some reason, this one little difference made the end of the song SOOO much more powerful than it already was. Great choice . I would really recommend seeing this cast. Either Annaleigh and Lisa, or Annaleigh and Steph. You won't be dissapointed!
Updated On: 11/1/07 at 11:32 AM

[HBP]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 12:47pm

Hey there, I was at the matinee yesterday, too! What an incredible performance! I'll give a short little review.

Lisa was an incredibly amazing Elphaba. I've never seen such a talented woman play the role, and she's only the standby! The audience LOVED her. Seriously. It was a Wednesday matinee, which is usually pretty lackluster, and the audience started off kind of boring - no entrance applause for Annaleigh, small laughs at the funny lines, but by the time Lisa finished The Wizard and I, the audience was out of control. I don't even know what to say about Defying Gravity. It was INCREDIBLE. I literally almost cried it was so good. Her voice was incredible and she held the audience right until the end. She actually got applause like halfway through the flying portion - I guess the audience was too frozen when she sang "It's me!" The best Defying Gravity I have EVER seen (and the lighting didn't hurt haha, wow). Also - No Good Deed was SOOO freaking powerful. The last "again"s were soo great and strong and...wow. Go see Lisa, I really hope she gets the role full-time soon. Wow.

Annaleigh Ashford: In my opinion, and this is my fourth time seeing the show, including OBC, she has the best voice of any Glinda. I teared up when she sang to Elphaba during Defying Gravity "you can have all you've ever wanted" it was so beautiful. She's gorgeous, nothing like the pictures online. Her Thank Goodness was heartbreaking, she really got the end of the song, it looked like she was gonna cry and I was in the second to last row of the orchestra. Popular: one word... HILARIOUS. The audience was in stitches at points and she got a huge applause when she started jumping around. I thought she was gonna break her ankle. I will say though that during certain other parts of Act II, her acting really was not up to par, but she was so great everywhere else that I'm sure she'll pick up. Great singer.

Now, I need to comment on Annaleigh/Lisa together. They both had two of the most beautiful voices the Gershwin has seen in recent years. When they sang together (end of DG and especially For Good) I thought I was listening to a recording. Flawless and so beautiful. They were great together and had quite a few people in tears during For Good. Lastly, Carole Shelley is back, the original and definitive Madame Morrible. She was great, the Defying Gravity speech scared the crap out of me.

Thanks for listening, go see Lisa and Annaleigh before Steph comes back!!!

[WaltSummersPI]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 12:48pm

OK, so you know you have to automatically disqualify any review that thinks that Ashford has the best voice of anyone who has played Glinda.

[HBP]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 1:32pm

Ah, yes, I was trying to avoid any such comments by starting that sentence with "In my opinion". I won't insult you back because I don't think this board needs any more negativity, but can I just ask, honestly? I'm very insulted that you would "disqualify" my review because my opinion differs from yours.

But I stick to what is, as I said, my opinion. Annaleigh has a crystal clear operatic voice and a beautiful belt. Acting wise, she needs to focus on the maturity in Act II a little, but overall a great Glinda.

[WaltSummersPI]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 1:39pm

I just disagree about her voice. It was fine, but she's light years behind both Chenoweth and Thompson.

[Kev]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 1:52pm

I just disagree about her voice. It was fine, but she's light years behind both Chenoweth and Thompson.

And Hilty, for that matter.

I saw Ashford again this week, and little has changed. She's leagues below the three talents mentioned above.

[bwayguy22089]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 6:00pm

also, i have to add, she knew that over 100 people in the audience were from Marymount (the college she went to). so maybe that gave her the extra "punch" of energy and amazingness. I really thought she was great though. I've seen Chenoweth, Thompson and Hilty, all more than once. Not saying Annaleigh is better, but I enjoyed her performance just as much as the others. When Lisa and Annaleigh sing For Good...just go...you all have to hear it for yourself

Great job ladies!

[i_love_megan]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 9:13pm

any stagedoor pictures or stories? also is there any other way to get discount wicked tickets other than lottery?

[bwayguy22089]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 9:27pm

no I didn't get any pics I did talk to Annaleigh for a bit. A huge amount of people from Marymount Manhattan College (where she went to school ) were there so she spoke to us for a little. I also waited outside for Lisa (who I had met a few other times) to talk to her. No one else waited and she was the last one out so it was nice to talk and not have 429837417108472 kids pushing you around and yelling in your ear to move over lol. They were both very very very sweet. I love Lisa...on stage and off lol.

[bwayguy22089]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 9:27pm

double post Updated On: 11/1/07 at 09:27 PM

[Tchi4Lif188]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 10:46pm

Since you went to the night show, did Annaleigh continue to sing the low note at the end of the I'm Not That Girl Reprise? I know she changed it Tuesday and it sounded wonderful but almost every time I've heard her go for the low note she's butchered it.

[bwayguy22089]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 11:19pm

she sang up to "he loves her so..." and then took a huge breath lol and sang "i'm not that girrrrrrrrrlllllll" and held it out through the beginning of As Long as You're Mine. It sounded great. I remember the first time she did it it sounded a little funny. It was obvious both her and Lisa had trouble with that part of the song, but they did the best they could and it sounded fine to the general audience. I have to mention...during both shows yesterday, when Lisa started flying...her "It's meeee" was soooo powerful! She sings most of the songs softly. However, the second she "took off" she blew the roof off the theatre. Lastly, usually when other actresses sing the "nobody in all of oz..." its very loud and threatening (which I love!)...however, Lisa dropped back down and was quiet. She made it so creepy, I loved it!!! I can't get over how amazing the show was.

[Kev]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 11:24pm

she sang up to "he loves her so..." and then took a huge breath lol and sang "i'm not that girrrrrrrrrlllllll" and held it out through the beginning of As Long as You're Mine.

So...she continued to sing it low? Not sure that's the best decision, as I heard her sing it both ways, and taking it up was a wise choice.

[AngActing]

Posted: 11/3/07 at 10:06pm

All right, my friend from Canada and I saw "Wicked" on Thursday evening. I was, very much, looking forward to seeing Lisa Bresnia (she and I both attended AADA -- different years, but just the same). And I wanted to see what many of you called a terrible performance by Annaleigh.

This was my third time seeing "Wicked" on Broadway . . . first with Ana Gasteyer/Kristy Cates(?), 2nd time [London] Cassidy Janson, Julia Murney/Kendra Kassebaum and now! Perhaps, yes, in two weeks or whatever she has improved -- by leaps and bounds!!!
Annaleigh was wonderful funny, cute and seemed as if the role was written for her.

Now, at the very first scene . . . her eyes did seem, to me, distant, not connected -- but, wow, after Lisa (Elphaba) entered; she was perfect!!! Lisa is a delight and I don't know why her fan base isn't bigger. My friend and I were the only fans at the stage door! Of course, it's cold, Stephanie and Sebastian are out -- still, I do not know how Annaleigh was in the beginning; but she is great!

[Testing1232]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 12:53pm

Saw the show last night-- let me preface this my "review" by stating that I consider myself a fan of the show.

I've seen it around 20 times, mostly during its first year of the run.

Liked Cheno, but JLT was my favorite Glinda.

So anyway, HAD to see Stephanie in this role. Went in with very high hopes, but was very disappointed. Not so much with Stephanie. Her voice was excellent (although, I wasnt crazy about her last note of "Defying Gravity", and she was a bit uneven in "The Wizard and I"- ), but just didnt think she really nails the role. There was just something missing.

I didnt get a true sense of her change during "Defying Gravity"-
Still, I thought she was the best of the current cast.

Annaleigh just didnt do it for me. I WILL say that she is absolutely adorable, and I liked her voice a lot, but I just didnt find her to be funny at all.

Honestly, there was forced laughter last night that I am not used to hearing at "Wicked"- Her "Popular" was by far the worst that I have seen. Cheno was very good, but JLT used to leave us in stitches with her antics !!!

The rest of the cast was okay--- I know this is going back a bit, but really miss Christopher Fitzgerald as Boq, and NLB as Fiyero (although, I liked Taye in the role as well)

Glad I got to see Stephanie, but show not as magical as it used to be for me.

Just my .02