"Wicked" in Good Hands

[OrdinaryJukebox1]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 6:05pm

Dear God, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES. ANOTHER "WICKED" THREAD. Anyway, this is not my first time seeing "Wicked" on Broadway, but this was my first time without Idina Menzel and with a new cast almost all the way around. This is, basically, what I think of the show in it's current state.

The ensemble is still, in my opinion, top shelf. Their harmonies sounded so great, at least last night, and I just love when I can hear people sing in groups and the chords they hit gives me chills. When they would get that perfect harmony going, either in "What is this Feeling?" or "No One Mourns the Wicked," it made me very happy. The acting by some of them was a little over the top, but I suppose that's what they've been asked to do. A talent bunch of people, I wouldn't mind having their job, at all.

Megan Hilty as Glinda. I had seen some photos of her in the role, and I went in saying, "There's something about her face I don't like." I'm slightly jealous at how young she is and what a great debut she has on Broadway. A lead, in a mega hit. It's just not fair to performers such as myself, at least I like to think so. So, I went in saying, "I don't think I'll like this girl." I had seen JLT and loved her greatly. Well, by the end of the opening number, when she hits an optional note that I've only heard Kristin Chenoweth hit, I was won over. Her acting was never over the top or obnoxious, her vocals were dead on and I was loving it. Her belt, in addition to her soprano, were both great. She deserves to be where she is, and may she have a great and long career ahead of her.

I'm less than impressed with the men of this show. David Ayers, I believe, and Jeffrey Kuhn. I'm sorry if I mispelled their names. David, although a lovely face, has nothing to offer as a singer and/or actor. This is his third Broadway production, not to mention regional and touring shows. How does someone with such little skill get so lucky? It's obvious that it's his "look," which just really makes me mad. I wanted to jump out of my seat, leap on stage and just tell him, "You know what pal, I'll take it from here." I may not look that great, but I sure as hell can do a better job with such a nothing role? How do you f**k up such an underwritten part? Well, he manages to do it. Jeffrey was okay, as far as his acting went. He's much too old for the part, and those stupid hats he wears to conceal his balding just annoy me. His singing left much to be desired as well, but he acted the role fine.
Michele Ferderer, again, if I'm spelling these names incorrectly, I do apologize. I know we have some grammer/spelling Nazi's on this board, and as I don't have the program right in front of me, I'll have to make do. But, I digress. Again, she surprised me with how great she does with so little. That scene in Act 2, where she sings "The Wicked Witch of the East," gives me chills every time. I don't know, there's something about her voice, the tone, the quality, the way she belts then brings it in so beautifully, gets me every time.
Rue was so cute as Madame Morrible. Her singing, or lack their of, didn't really bother me because it's not much of a "singing" role. She really got herself into it, relished her scenes, hamed it up a bit, but I thought she was adorable. I miss Carole Shelley, but I think the role is being handle well by Blanche...well, I mean Rue.
Ben Vereen annoyed me from the moment he got on stage. He's an actor that breaks all the rules about "the fourth wall," which at times is okay, but he seems to forget that he's in a play, and that there isn't supposed to be an audience there. Well, there is, but I hope some of you know what I'm saying. He constantly played out to the crowd, rather than to whom he was in a scene with, and it got on my nerves. Just over the top, all the way around, and I was ready to tell him to pack it up. "Wonderful" wasn't too terrible, it was cute, but again, just TOO DAMN MUCH.
Shoshana Bean. Well, I had heard many things about how she's not as good as Idina...better than Idina...her acting is better, her singing is better...her acting sucks and her voice is annoying. Well, kids, the only way to make up your mind is to go see for yourself. I'm an Idina fan. Have been long before "Wicked," and I'll always favor her performance because I saw it and loved it and was so glad for her when she won that Tony award. I'm also an Eden Espinosa fan, and enjoyed her take on the role. However, that doesn't mean that no one else can play the role well. I thought Shoshana was wonderful. Her acting wasn't as natural as Idina's, at least in my opinion, but her singing was spot on. She made some changes, but was never over the top with riffs and all that sort of thing. I loved her "Defying Gravity" and "No Good Deed." She played them much angrier than I remember Idina playing them, but it worked and there was true passion and fire there.

All in all, I think the show is in GREAT hands. The lottery crowd was still huge, it was still a sold out crowd who were on their feet, cheering the whole way through. I still love this show. May not be the best thing on Broadway, but I love it and think the current company should be VERY proud of themselves. Lord knows I'd be.

-Vincent

[admanrich]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 6:18pm

I definitely agree with you. Here's my review that I posted on another board from Tuesday night:
----------------------
So I saw Wicked for my 4th time tonight. It was great, but not my favorite out of the others.

My seats were pretty good-- front mezzanine row D. First four seats on the right. A little too high up, but they were definitely not bad.

I'm not gonna post my review by song because I don't remember every detail :)


1. Megan Hilty - She's amazing. I saw her back in December when she was standby. I liked her then, but it was my first time, so I wasn't sure who to compare her to. The next two times I saw Jennifer Laura Thompson who I liked better than Megan. However, Megan has definitely improved. She has such a great voice and she sings the role incredibly. She's great acting wise also. Her Popular was hilarious. She acts this really well. She does the best impersonation of Rue at the end-- everyone cracked up. Megan is getting very close to being better than Jennifer.

2. Shoshana - INCREDIBLE. It wasn't her best performance, but I think its because it was a Tuesday and she just had a day off. Her Wizard & I has improved so much. That used to be her weakest point of the show, but now it's just as good as everything else. What Is This Feeling was hilarious between her and Megan. Defying Gravity was awesome. It was really clear and she sounded so good. She riffed some parts which made me happy, but she didn't do as many as she normally does. Not her best one I've seen, but pretty close. No Good Deed was also incredible, but she didn't go up at the end like she usually does, so that was disappointing. She didn't go all out like she usually does, but again it was a Tuesday night. For Good was so good. It was probably the most emotional one I've seen. I could hear people sniffing all around me after the song.

3. Rue - No comment. Madame Morrible really is not the right part for her. I might be a little biased because I loved Carole Shelley, but Rue just isn't good. She turned 90% of the few singing lines she has into speaking lines, and the other 10% she attempts to sing don't even sound good. She's struggling to do it and her voice does this crack thing that sounds bad. Some of the funny lines Madame Morrible has were just not funny because of her delivery. In March of the Witch Hunters when she says "Just smile and wave... and Shut Up, she said it so fast that no one even realized the "shut up" so no one laughed like they did when Carole did it. I personally did not enjoy Rue at all in the role.

4. Ben - Good. His part isn't really that big enough to judge him. I think they might have changed the key at the end of A Sentimental Man to suit his voice because it sounded different. Wonderful was excellent. The dancing part between Shoshana and him was very good.

5. David Ayers was his usual. He doesn't have the best voice, but he can hit those notes. I like the fact that they don't change the key for him in Dancing Through Life and As Long As You're Mine like they did for Joey McIntyre. He and Shoshana have really good chemistry. Jeffrey Kuhn was also his usual.

6. Michelle Federer was also her usual. Didn't notice as much gasping as many people complain about now, but she didn't do anything special. She must be so bored with the role by now, so I don't blame her. WWOTE had some mic problems I think.

7. Sean McCourt as Dr. Dillamond-- I really like him in this role. Though it's small he does it very well. The only thing was that he didn't really portray as well as Bill that he was a goat. However, he was definitely more "teacher-like" than Bill was. I also like that he's still the Witch's father because I can't imagine NOMTW without him. I hope he gets to stay in this role because he's really great in it.


Overall, it was a very eventful evening at the Gershwin. The audience was so into it. Nearly everyone got entrance applause. Didn't get to stagedoor because I had to catch a train but hopefully next time I will get to. I'm looking forward to seeing it again on a different night (hopefully Rue will improve or I will see an understudy)

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 6:41pm

I'm so glad you caught the crack thing with Rue. When I saw it I thought that it sounded like a boy and his voice changing.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 10:50pm

Did they drop the key for Joey? I didn't think Feiyro's role was all that vocally challenging. What's the highest note he has to sing? Belt/ falsetto.

[OrdinaryJukebox1]

Posted: 8/5/05 at 12:05am

His highest belt is an A, in "As Long As Your Mine," which David decided to drop an octave. I don't know...regardless of how "not demanding" the role is, he still couldn't sing it well.

-Vincent

[admanrich]

Posted: 8/5/05 at 1:21am

In As Long As You're Mine they changed the key slightly lower for Joey. That annoyed me because Idina would have to change her part to accomodate him and it just didn't sound as good the way they changed it. But David can "reach" those notes so they left it the way Norbert did it.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 8/5/05 at 1:24am

Oh okay, it didnt sound as high as an A, but i guess it is. What else has david been in? I know Mamma Mia. was he Sky?

[Swiftynifty15]

Posted: 8/5/05 at 1:24am

I think he was a Sky understudy.

[Songsstresss]

Posted: 8/5/05 at 1:26am

I would love to see some pictures of Megan as Glinda. The Wicked website says the gallery is under construction. Does anyone know where I could see some pics?

[Radioactiveduck]

Posted: 8/5/05 at 1:40am

They also did a HUGE keychange in As Long As You're Mine when Taye Diggs was playing Fiyero. I'm not sure about "Dancing", but I'm sure they did a little to it as well.

I actually really like the way David dodges the high A, cuz that's not an easy note, and he still makes it sound like it's right.

[OrdinaryJukebox1]

Posted: 8/5/05 at 9:29am

I'm glad he doesn't try to hit that A because, to be honest, his voice is painful enough to listen to without him trying to hit something out of his range. Sorry, I just didn't care for him at all...

-Vincent

[bella cantato]

Posted: 8/5/05 at 9:58am

they didn't change the key for joey. only the harmonies.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 8/5/05 at 10:10am

are there any clips of David? How does he dodge the note?

[Derek]

Posted: 8/5/05 at 10:57am

i actually think david sings the song very sweet. all my friends LOVED him when we saw him. i agree! the show is in great hands! shoshana is a powerhouse!