Wicked: mexican production- Page 5

[WickedRENTAwakening]

Posted: 8/1/13 at 11:52pm

I loved the video. Thank you!

[RW3]

Posted: 8/2/13 at 12:31am

blaxx,what do you mean by "blame"?
I have several comments.
1st-Someone said that the video of Ana singing DG is from two years ago. Hopefully, her voice has improved.
2nd-Danna does not need to be singing on some award show, she needs to be learning how the sing the score. Singing The Wizard and I is great, but what about DG and NGD?
3rd-Bianca Marroquin and Natalie (forgot what her last name was) need to be pleading with OCESA Teatro for the lead role in case things go extremely wrong.
4th-The Elphaba understudies need to be rehearsed
5th-Cecilia is perfect Glinda, I just don't how they screwed up on Elphaba?

[RW3]

Posted: 8/2/13 at 12:41am

sorry for the rant! :)

[blaxx]

Posted: 8/2/13 at 12:42am

blaxx,what do you mean by "blame"?

They claim that the US creative team picked the Elphabas, not the Mexican producers. So, if they rock, they are good. If they suck, they can just blame it all on them.

It's so convenient that all the leads were selected from the company's roster.

It is also obvious that the US creatives just "approved" of the cast, but saying they made the final decision after they auditioned everyone is a huge stretch.

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 8/2/13 at 2:19am

I'm sorry, but if the Elphaba sucks, you are going to be in for a rough night. This score can't have someone who can't effing hit the notes play the role. It will just be terrible and make the audience hate the show.

Posted: 8/4/13 at 1:46pm

could be pretty in spanish

[JeffDaEgg2]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 1:00pm

There are going to be multiple understudies for Glinda and Elphaba, which will be announced eventually. I have heard there will be something like 5 Elphabas, which is a nightmare for obsessive fans, but at least if you hate one it will probably be easy to avoid one.

And yes, OCESA is the king of recycling actors. One could easily argue some shouldn't be cast nearly as much as they are, but it's a very small community. Too bad it isn't like Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar, which was done through OCESA but there was much more open casting than their typical productions...this let more people have possibilities when it came to casting.

I would argue that celebrity casting is quite common in Mexican theatre these days...even so, it's not a guarantee that a show will be a hit. I really don't think that Danna Paola was necessary casting for it to be a hit (everyone is obsessed with Wicked anyway), but it has gotten them many headlines, so I suppose the strategy is working.

I personally would have cast Natalia Sosa, who was mentioned earlier, even though she hasn't worked with OCESA since major diva issues back in Mentiras. Here is her performance of Come to Your Senses from Tick Tick Boom (never get tired of this video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO1I2WxQpgM

[JeffDaEgg2]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 1:07pm

Agreeing with a previous poster regarding confusion as to how Ana Cecilia keeps getting cast...I've seen her in Beauty and the Beast, Mentiras and ACL and all of her "vocal power" comes from her nose. Ugh.

[RW3]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 2:59pm

According, to mexican news outlets Danna went through 4 callbacks before she got the role. So, apparently the people at OCESA see something in her that we don't.

[Starship]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 4:58pm

When you say 5 Elphabas...does that include Alternates AND understudies?

[RW3]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 6:25pm

Starship, these are the Elphaba's that are mentioned from the wicked cast list wikia page.
1. Danna Paola
2. Ana Cecilia Anzaldua
3. Viviana Barrera
4. Eden Pintos

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 6:42pm

I was intrigued by this interpretation of "Defying Gravity." It's the first time I had heard it in Spanish. Some of the lyrics were kind of "huh"? She did sound screechy at certain points. Someone mentioned that this was sung in 2011. Hopefully, she's had more vocal training and more preparation for her upcoming role. She wasn't baaad...she was so-so, I thought.

[JeffDaEgg2]

Posted: 8/8/13 at 8:40am

Yes, that includes alternates and understudies. Mexican productions are often quite different from American productions in that, especially after the production has been running for some time, the main cast can be dramatically different from day to day. For example, we have mentioned the Mexican show Mentiras...every week on FB they post the cast schedule for the week, as there are so many different actors and actresses. Think Matilda, but with more than one character.

Once again, this is more common after the show has been running for a while, so at least in the beginning I would imagine it would just be Danna and Ana Ceci alternating with an occasional understudy thrown in, but who knows.

[Fran_mex]

Posted: 8/8/13 at 11:34am

Hello. Regarding the "5 Elphabas", I want to clarify: there will be 2 actresses playing the role: Danna Paola and Ana Cecilia. There will be a stand by and 2 understudies.

What happens with a small long running production like Mentiras, where they change the cast frequently (sometimes, they alternate from week to week, bringing back old casts and mixing them with new casts), is not likely to happen with a big production like Wicked.

Take Mary Poppins for example. Bianca Marroquín has only missed a couple of shows, one last week to give to her understudy the oportunity to perform the leading role at least once before the production closes.

The difference with "Mentiras" is that the show has been running for almost 5 years, and a lot of OCESA actresses have been in the musical. Hence, if someone is not available for a week, they will call any other of the OCESA actresses who have been in the role before.

By the way, Bianca Marroquín announced a couple of weeks ago that she will go back to Chicago from the beggining of September.

[Fran_mex]

Posted: 8/8/13 at 11:34am

Hello. Regarding the "5 Elphabas", I want to clarify: there will be 2 actresses playing the role: Danna Paola and Ana Cecilia. There will be a stand by and 2 understudies.

What happens with a small long running production like Mentiras, where they change the cast frequently (sometimes, they alternate from week to week, bringing back old casts and mixing them with new casts), is not likely to happen with a big production like Wicked.

Take Mary Poppins for example. Bianca Marroquín has only missed a couple of shows, one last week to give to her understudy the oportunity to perform the leading role at least once before the production closes.

The difference with "Mentiras" is that the show has been running for almost 5 years, and a lot of OCESA actresses have been in the musical. Hence, if someone is not available for a week, they will call any other of the OCESA actresses who have been in the role before.

By the way, Bianca Marroquín announced a couple of weeks ago that she will go back to Chicago on Broadway from the beggining of September.

Updated On: 8/8/13 at 11:34 AM

[Starship]

Posted: 8/8/13 at 12:55pm

The Mexican production of Poppins looked AMAZING! I'm shocked Bianca only missed a couple of shows - the schedule is kind of crazy!

I've been following the cast list for the new Mexican production...does anybody have any updates aside from what's posted on Oz Wiki? Also, will there be only one understudy for Glinda? She has an alternate so I didn't know if that would shorten the amount of understudies she had.

I'm kind of surprised there's a Swing, U/S Elphaba...is this the first time a Swing has covered Elphaba?

Updated On: 8/8/13 at 12:55 PM

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 8/8/13 at 5:09pm

No. Jennifer Dinoia was a swing and an Elphaba understudy in Chicago.

[RW3]

Posted: 8/18/13 at 12:28am

Any new info since rehearsals started?

[Fran_mex]

Posted: 8/19/13 at 11:30am

Rehearsals begin today! Two months before openning night... let's see if there any news around these days

[blaxx]

Posted: 8/20/13 at 7:19pm

http://instagram.com/p/dPskoXJ1xD/

[Starship]

Posted: 8/20/13 at 7:45pm

Holy cow they're that far in on the first day?!?

[RW3]

Posted: 8/20/13 at 8:06pm

Starship, I was surprised too!!! I wonder if we'll get a chance to hear either Danna or Ana sing Defying Gravity.

[blaxx]

Posted: 8/20/13 at 8:22pm

Anyone knows how old the Mexican Chenoweth Alicia is? How can she be Morrible alternate?

Will she be the youngest to ever play this part or does she just look very young?

[ullabelt]

Posted: 8/21/13 at 8:36am

Starship, The ensemble won't don't always rehearse the numbers in the order of the show.

This could have been the mornings work for example whilst the leads blocked scenes.

[Fran_mex]

Posted: 8/23/13 at 12:07am

Some NEWS:

Wicked will be the first show in the new OCESA Theater, in Plaza Carso, an important cultural and shopping center in Mexico City.


4 days ago, OCESA announced the end of the partnership with the Centro Cultural Telmex, where most of its musicals have played before, and also announced that a theater was built in Plaza Carso.

The construction of the new theater was not very publicized, and it was natural that this came as a surprise to many since the theater was built underground, just like the Savoy Theater in London.

So, the news is that Wicked will have a new theater, specially built by OCESA to host this and many other musicals in the future.