Wicked in Chicago-New Cast Update; Looking Good.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 3/27/07 at 1:18am

I saw Wicked in Chicago (for the 8th time in Chicago, 9th total!) on Saturday March 24th. And I can say I'm very impressed by this cast and by some of the changes I saw. I'm going by memory of names, etc, so bear with me.

Erin Mackey as Glinda is a delight! I've seen my fair share of Glinda's and after your 4th or 5th time of seeing popular, you just kinda smile or chuckle at it (usually). Erin had me cracking up! She had great timing, and her dialogue and songs felt really connected to me. She wasn't going through the motions but actually expressing them. Great Glinda!

Dee Roscioli (probably spelled wrong) as Elphaba. I actually saw Dee during her Kristy Cates u/s days(back in like, Sept 06?) and really enjoyed her performance then. I am happy to say that she has adapted very well to her new Fiyero and her new Glinda and this cast (as a whole as well) has excellent chemistry. I was very happy with her performance.

Derrick Williams as Fiyero: now I saw Derrick waaaay back in the tour days (March of 05) and loved him, but knew he had some problems. I still love him, and he has improved a lot (he does less "soul" singing if you will, takes a little less liberties with the music). Sadly, I do miss Kristoffer (Cusick) who I have had the pleasure of seeing the last 7 of 9 times I've seen the show. You are missed Kris! But I do love me some Derrick.

Heidi Kettenring as Nessa-still one of the best there is, a very consistant performer. Love her. Gene W. as the Wizard-same to be said, he is a lot of fun to watch. Adam Fleming as Boq, I'm such a big fan of Adam's and was estatic when he was cast as Boq (instead of me searching for him in the ensemble!) but I wish he would do more with Boq. His performance really makes me miss Telly Leung. But Adam still does a fine job, but I think he needs a different role to show off his skills properly.

Obviously, the directors (music and regular) have recently come in and tweaked some stuff. Not only did I see this show tighter than it has been in the past few times I've seen it but there were some blocking/ensemble dance changes.

I can't remember all of them, but one of the main noticeable changes was during dancing for life the ensemble members in the back do a thing with books, where they hide behind them, then look at Fiyero. When Fiyero catches their glance they hide again (and so on a so forth). Plus many things that were getting sloppy the last few times I saw it (including the slaps in act 2 between Glinda/Elphaba) were much tighter.

Musically, it sounds like they went over each song as well. I feel like the counts were reinterated and cleaned up.


So anyway...I'd like to report that Wicked in Chicago is still going strong...I believe it's coming up on it's 2 year anniversary (which in my head is early May?) so I'm really glad that it's still alive and well.

GO see it!

[lfae]

Posted: 3/27/07 at 6:25am

I saw this production in December and asbolutely adored Erin :) (And Dee, but Erin stole it for me)

Just curious about any of the other changes if you can remember that - the quick scene where Fiyero's cart almost runs over Elphaba? That wasn't there in December. It was quite funny, I went London - Chicago - NY and got new Wicked, then old, then new again!

[darwhite915]

Posted: 3/27/07 at 8:42am

I just saw this production in Chicago a couple weeks ago. After seeing it 5 times in various places before, I was pretty much "Wicked"ed out, but I had relatives coming to town that wanted to see it.

I have to say, it was the best overall production I have seen to date. Dee Roscioli was amazing as Elphaba. Having seen Menzel, Block, Bean, and Gasteyer previously, I was not expecting much from her. Roscioli was, by far, the best I have ever seen in the role. Her vocals were flawless, not at all strained, and very clean. She went for the big stuff (and hit it beautifully) in the right moments, and didn't overdo it for the rest of the show.

Another big surprise was Derrick Williams. Having seen him before I wasn't excited to see him again. He has, however, improved 100% and I thoroughly enjoyed his performance.

Clearly this production has been recently worked, probably with the new cast a few months ago. It was tight and well put together. So for me, who wasn't excited about sitting through another mediocre Chicago production, I was completely blown away by the quality of this cast, and the production in general.

[sidneybruhl]

Posted: 3/27/07 at 9:47am

Glad to hear the show is in good shape. I was planning on seeing it again when I visit Chicago this summer. Hopefully the cast will still have that renewed enthusiasm for the piece that they have now.

Posted: 3/27/07 at 10:13am

I have to say that this production has been consistently great-- I have never seen a sloppy show. I think the whole cast & crew realizes what a special gift they've been given to be doing a "Broadway" show in Chicago.

[ChicagoAmy]

Posted: 3/27/07 at 10:52am

Good to know! I guess I'll have to redouble my lotto tries...haven't seen it in over a year since my luck has been so bad. :p

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 3/27/07 at 7:27pm

It's true that I too have never seen a BAD show, but I've heard of some fooling around on stage (though that never bothers me, I think it's fun usually) and I've seen some things get sloppy slowly (though not something a person who has seen the show once or twice would notice)


I think the Chicago cast is probably the best...:)

[nannerz60]

Posted: 3/28/07 at 9:17am

I loved this cast! Especially Erin Mackey!

[lovelyspotlight]

Posted: 3/28/07 at 9:26am

Hooray. Providing my friend isn't a member of BWW, I'm going to tell her that everybody thinks her sister is amazing. =]

(My friend is Erin Mackey's sister.)

Sad I couldn't see it while I was in Chicago...although Spelling Bee was great!

[sidneybruhl]

Posted: 4/15/07 at 6:17pm

Just got my tickets for the Saturday night show on June 16th. This will be my fourth time seeing the show in Chicago. I'm hoping all in the current cast will still be in the show. I would love to see Derrick again.

[JsnWse]

Posted: 4/15/07 at 6:28pm

When i saw the Chicago production, The device that lifts Elphaba up at the end of Defying Gravity did not work, and the ensemble just got on their knees and stomachs in the fog so all you could see was the upper half of their body and/or their heads and pretended to be "on the ground" while Elphaba was "in the air"

Quite inventive

[mauriposa]

Posted: 4/15/07 at 8:36pm

I really don't like Dee's performance of Elphaba. Of course, it doesn't help that she was off-key both of the times I saw her. I'm going again in May. Since all of you enjoy her so much, I'm hoping that she'll be better.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 4/15/07 at 8:42pm

I have YET to see the show when something technical hasn't worked...and that pisses me off...I really really want to see it when the lift doesn't work!! LOL


Maybe on the 10th time :)