Actually, the original Elphaba was Jesus, in the very first workshop. He was really good but his skin didn't really look natural under the green make up, and didn't have good chemistry with Judas, who played Glinda. And he wasn't a girl.
It took place in between the Last Supper and the time Jesus died. A source told me that. Stephen Schwartz, you may have heard of him. I know him. My dog's mother's Priest's Back Waxer's Neice knows him, so that makes us like, *THIS* close. Trust me. I am in the know.
Really?! I heard they fired him because he was PISSED OFF that Judas was getting more bling even though his part was smaller. Jesus was like "Hhhhokay, so. In the book, Elphaba dominates and Glinda is HARDLY THERE. Just because Judas Chenoweth joins the cast, you give her way more to do than Greg Maguire originally wrote, AND you pay her more?! I AM SO JEALOUS." So the directors were like "Jesus, please." Then they booted his ass out the door. MMMMHMM.
Updated On: 12/30/04 at 05:22 PM
Al Dente: I've never heard you tell me once (for months as you say) that she didn't do it. I don't remember where I heard it - I just assumed it to be true. I couldn't care less about WICKED and who came before Idina, I just like Mandy.
Keep in mind though that Jesus did recieve severence pay. He had been through all the rehearsals before they fired him, and he ended up making more than his replacement anyway - Mary Magdalene. She did it for free, as long as everyone agreed that they would stop calling her a whore. After him being fired, our Lord and Savior moved to Las Vegas and became a back up dancer for Celine Dion's Vegas show. He was fired from there about a month later for exposing himself repeatedly to little boys. So upon his firing, he returned to the Holy land and had to face everyone again - who knew he was fired because they read it on the internet before Jesus had the chance to tell them. To hide from all the pain and shame, he tried to overdose on Lipitor, but it didn't work so he attached himself to a wooden cross. His death is highly misunderstood. He didn't die for our sins, he died because he killed himself. Disagree as much as you want, but my mom went to high school with him so she knows the inside scoop.
"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy."-Charlie Manson
Sutton Foster was, as everyone else said, in the ensemble of Wicked during workshops. To add on to what someone else said about the leads being great during the workshop, I also think she wanted to do it so she could see how the show is developed and explore the process of a workshop, without having the spotlight on her.
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611