Wicked - please no more teenage attempts at this- Page 2

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 2:13pm

Wow, how revoltingly pathetic... of all of you! You have a group of 12 year olds singing at a school concert, many of whom have little experience and are trying their hardest to give a decent performance. How about supporting the arts in our schools while they are still there instead of tearing apart a bunch of middle schoolers?

[HatBoy]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 2:18pm

They're highschoolers.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 2:28pm

Okay, fine. Highschoolers. That's not the point. The point is they're trying--they actually have an arts program in their school, let it be. Try being supportive instead of judgmental.

[Parsley]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 3:16pm

Oh dear. So instead we have to embrace any old rubbish thereby doing them a greater dis-service, particularly if they have an arts program in their school? No. Praise where it is due, and there are other schools who deliver great performances etc etc etc. But this was certainly not one of them.

Who are we trying to kid here?

But it is not the participants' faults themselves if they cannot handle the material and come across dreadfully - it is that of those who thought it acceptable for them to do this to this 'standard'.

[mateo]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 3:24pm

I know many highschoolers with loads of talent. So dont knock all Highschool kids...

This is just some tone deaf kids with poor direction.

I thank god when I was in HS, we had a great program.

[WhenURScrap]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 3:38pm

I have seen several HS productions ... both with just a drama club and others with a performing arts education program.

'Popular' was badly choreographed, badly costumed, and most of all badly performed. What were they thinking?! Any school with a performing arts program would know how to prepare and put on a good show. And Popular is not an Ensemble number. Tho, I do think it would have been a better ensemble number if they knew how to sing the song. I'm just glad they didn't pick 'Wizard and I'. 'Popular' got old for me REALLY fast.

[JustChillin8908]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 3:49pm

Why should we support them? So they think they're better than they actually are and then when they find out the truth they're even more embarresed?

I saw a chior performance of Defying Gravity online awhile ago, I think I'll go try and find it again.

[HatBoy]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 3:53pm

Practicality, please.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 3:59pm

Unfortunately choral arrangements of Defying Gravity, Popular, For Good, and a Highlights arrangement have all been released by Hal Leonard. They've become INSANELY popular among middle school and high school show choirs. The arrangements are all awful and I have yet to see a performance of them that isn't vomit inducing.

[JustChillin8908]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 4:05pm

Here's what looks like a high school chior attempt at Defying Gravity:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7771636384527338097&q=Defying+Gravity

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 4:07pm

vocally they sound decent (though you can hear what I said about the arrangements), but what on earth were they thinking with those costumes and that choreography!!!!

[Holliwoodblonde]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 4:09pm

Aww, props to the Defying Gravity kids, they sound pretty good, choreography and such aside.

[ILoveMyDictionary]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 4:10pm

eek! It's like a train wreck. I can't look away.

Updated On: 5/21/06 at 04:10 PM

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 4:19pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb2Hyj5ii4U

Another High School Defying Gravity. They have a great sound but they're like one big show choir cliche. All that's missing is the jazz hands.

[WhenURScrap]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 4:22pm

Ugh ... the choreography! Ugh!!! That school is huge ... I'm sure they can find some talent somewhere.

[It's All Good]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 4:22pm

I agree with jimmycurry. Yes, they kind of suck but so what? It takes courage to even join a choir in the first place and I bet a lot of these kids are just "testing the waters." So they're not the best singers/have the best choreagraphy/and they could have picked a better number for sure/and they shouldn't have posted online- I don't think they deserve the amount of criticism they are receiving.

Perhaps we could use a parallel with sports, shouldn't we encourage kids to do the physical activity and have fun even if they're not that good? Of course recreational soccer isn't going to be as good as professional does that mean that we shouldn't support them b/c the kids will then think they're good enough to go pro.? What ludicrous logic.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 4:28pm

My HS Chorus did DEFYING GRAVITY. We murdered it. It made me sick.

I sang WONDERFUL at my school's CABARET NIGHT, I dont think I'm Ben Veeren or Joel Grey. I'm just a teenager singing a song I like, I didnt take myself seriously like the girl in the clip, I did it for fun and to raise money for my school's musical.

[WhenURScrap]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 4:33pm

What cast is Saycon Sengbloh from in Wicked? I don't know who she is. Is she african american? She does a fabulous job for Defying Gravity from what I can see. Would love to have seen more of her.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 4:36pm

Saycon was the stand-by for Shoshana (I believe). She is African-American.

ETA: Apparently she's still there. I thought I remembered her being offered a role elsewhere last year, perhaps I was mistaken.

Updated On: 5/21/06 at 04:36 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 4:37pm

She's U/S for Eden on Broadway. Yes, She's African American.



Saycon on Wicked Website Updated On: 5/21/06 at 04:37 PM

[soapguy17]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 4:44pm

. There are some HS choirs that could pull of songs from wicked. And if a school can't it doesn’t make them a bad choir. My chior is # 1 National champs, but the wicked's pop score makes it difficult for even the best of choirs to do it justice. And as colleen lee pointed out, a bad arrangement can make this 10 times worse.

Edit: Saycon is American I was thinking of someone else

Updated On: 5/21/06 at 04:44 PM

[WhenURScrap]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 4:46pm

All I have to say for the second show choir video is: SPIRIT FINGERS!!! I think they did better than the first one.

But Saycon is fabulous! I want to check her out.

[GClef2]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 4:49pm

The orchestra is pretty good.

[kaboodles041]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 7:19pm

I agree with some--we should support the arts no matter what. It is sickening the amount of schools cutting their music programs. I mean, would you rather these kids go out on the streets and sell drugs-or God knows whatever else kids are doing after school these days?
And as for giving these kids false delusions of grandour--c'mon do you really think all these kids are going to be pursuing this for their careers? I was very fortunate to have had a really great theater program in high school, and I know most of the people just did it for fun, on the side, not as part of their "lifelong dream."

[JustChillin8908]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 11:02pm

Perhaps I'm just not understanding the people who say we shouldn't critisize them. I'm all for chior and performance arts, but does that mean I have to pretend they're good when they obviously aren't?