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Post by Galileo Figaro on Jun 23, 2009 4:32:41 GMT -5
My friend's name is Danielle, just so you don't get confused. I ramble a bit here so it doesn't make an awful lot of sense in places... ;D
Yes, it's that time again where I post a review of a show I've been to. Yesterday I saw Wicked for the second time, and with a few surprises thrown in too... One of which I knew about, one of which I had hoped to avoid (but still managed to do!!)
Matinee show and I had full principle cast [:
May 16th Cast:
Elphaba: Alexia Khadime G(a)linda: Dianne Pilkington Fiyero: Oliver Tompsett Madame Morrible: Harriet Thorpe The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: Sam Kelly Boq: Alex Jessop Nessarose: Natalie Anderson Dr Dillamond: David Stroller
No-one Mourns the Wicked Top of the show. Before it started we were taking in the whole set (me for the second time, but still, its different sitting in the stalls!) and again I was very taken with the dragon that's above the stage. It amuses me to no end. We could see the guys getting into their positions before the music started. The opening chords came in and it was just like "WOW!" Me and Danielle loved the monkeys that came in on the beginning. One came flying across the stage, one came down on a rope and one ran onstage. It was sooooo cool. I'd heard that Ollie was in this scene and spotted him straight away: you couldn't miss him. He was easily the tallest one there, although he was towards the back of the group. The ensemble were loud! And Glinda in her bubble was sooooo cool. I love Dianne, she is easily the best Glinda. Her notes were spot on. And her bubble dress? Well, I'll tell you how much that cost later on...
Dear Old Shiz Second song in the show, where we go back in time and first meet Elphaba. She comes running onstage and there we meet the new Elphie: Alexia Khadime. I'd seen Kerry Ellis before and know that Kerry was easily one of the best Elphie's, especially vocally and was a little skeptical about Alexia because of mixed reviews. I have to say, she is one very awesome Elphaba. She seems quite at ease on the stage. Her acting is very good as well, although I think nerves at the beginning meant she said one or two lines a little quickly, the "Fine might as well get this over with. No I am not sea-sick. Yes I have always been green. No I didn't chew grass as a child..." bit, but after that it was fine. Galinda's entrance on her trolley of bags was quite funny. And the whole bit where she's not listening to Madame Morrible and accidentally offers to share her room with Elphaba.
The Wizard and I Elphaba's first song. The first time for me to judge how I would react to Alexia. I have to say, I wasn't sure at first because her vocals were a little different, but after a bit I got into it. She's quite an easy character to get into. The audience seemed to really enjoy it too. She was quite close, even though we were in row N!
What Is This Feeling? The Wizard and I is barely over and then its quickly move to the next position at the front of the stage and the starting chords of 'What is This Feeling?' start and the song begins. I can only imagine that Alexia was out of breath doing that straight after 'The Wizard and I'. Dianne's "Unusually and exceedingly peculiar and almost impossible to describe" got a few chuckles. And Alexia's line "Your voice" was very high and I found really funny. I loved her little impersonation of Galinda she did with her skirt of. It was good. Alexia's laugh at the end was sooooooo funny.
Classroom Scene/ Something Bad Meet Dr Dillamond, the only Animal professor still at Shiz University. He's a goat by the way. His pronunciation of Galinda's name is quite funny, as was the pawing at the floor with his foot. And when he started eating the food Elphie offers him... That was quite funny. The vocals between Alexia and David were very good as well. I like Madame Morrible's "Hmm, hmm HMM?" It's the way she does it that gets me every time.
Dancing Through Life This is where Fiyero, Winkie Prince from the Vinkus (If you know the land of Oz that is...) comes in, with his famous white trousers. I felt Danielle's eyes on me when Ollie stood up and got out: bingo. Talk about fitt-ness!!! Danielle is now converted to the "Fiyero's Tight White Trouser Lovers" club. I believe her comment to me during the interval was "How could he move in those?!" To which I burst out laughing. Anyways, back on track. I think my favourite line in this scene is the "Maybe he saw green and thought it meant 'Go'" line from Fiyero, which amuses me so much. I love the song. It's one of my favourites and is also one of the few songs that Ollie sings in, which is a shame because he has a marvellous voice. And then this song lasts best part of 15 minutes with speech in between the verses. I love the bit where Ollie climbs up the ladder near the beginning then jumps up and swings on the statue, its funny. We also saw the new Boq, Alex Jessop, who was promoted. I only have one criticism: The way he sang "Let's dance". He pronounced it as "Let's daaaaaaaance" rather than "Let's daarrrrrrrrrrrnce" which sounds much better with an English accent. Loved Elphie's dancing in this. One of my favourites. And I loved Dianne's little thing she does when Madame Morrible gets her wand and spins it round in a circle making a funny noise - hilarious!
Popular Ahahahahahaha... This whole scene is so funny. This scene is purely Galinda singing and trying to make Elphaba pretty. And the bed came out the right way this time!!!! Last time I saw it, Galinda's bed came out the wrong way around so they had to do the whole scene on Elphaba's bed, but this time they did it on Galinda's bed. It was funny. Dianne stole this scene hands down. Her prancing about was funny. The "Toss Toss" was funny. Alexia had to copy and the second time she did it, she went flying backwards on the bed and she had to straighten her wig. That was funny. As was the "Ballgown" part. Dianne’s microphone went funny and cut off part of the shout. Her "Ooooooh Hello" was really funny. And she actually had a flower to put in Elphaba's hair this time! Last time she didn't and had to lift the skirt of her dress and hold it against Elphaba's head. It was comical!
Classroom Scene/ I'm Not That Girl Dr Dillamond gets taken away and the lion cub in the cage arrives. Loved Alexia and Ollie in this scene, especially when Alexia was doing her "Toss Toss" at the beginning. Ollie's "Toss, Toss" was even more hilarious! And when Ollie runs the wrong way offstage and has to go back across... He does it all the time but it's still funny. Alexia's vocals were awesome here. I really warmed to her at this point. There is something about hr interpretation of the character that really gets you.
Station/ One Short Day Ahahaha... Three words: Dianne is hilarious. This was funny. Well I found it funny. When she was going on about Fiyero being distance and that he had been "thinking" and the way she said it... well that set me off. I chuckled and then he came onstage with the flowers and gave them to Elphaba. His line "I've been thinking-" was followed by Elphaba's line "Yes I've heard" which got a good chuckled out of us. The whole "Glinda" "Fiyero!" "Elphaba" bit was quite amusing. Really shows the 'love triangle' between the three of them. And when Dianne was going on about "this must be how normal people feel" well, that was brilliant. The lights in this scene were phenomenal! The whole stage and the theatre were swamped in green. I can still see all the green lights now! I was practically blinded. Loved the glasses too. Some of the costumes were fabulous. I think Danielle wanted to steal some of them!
Wizard's Palace/ Sentimental Man Meet the new Wizard and Chistery the monkey. The new Wizard was different. He didn't have much of an accent and when he sang it was difficult to hear some of his vocals. I'm not sure what to make of him at the moment. But I loved Chistery - me and Danielle just wanted to be that character. He got to leap around the stage and everything. It was awesome. You could easily steal the show playing him! I think my favourite line is Glinda’s one when she meets the Wizard. “I’m Glinda – the ‘Gar’ is silent.”
Defying Gravity The end of Act 1. A noticable difference between Alexia Khadime and Kerry Ellis: You can actually hear the lines! Kerry's version was very rushed but Alexia's wasn't. I was pretty biased before I heard Alexia because Kerry always stole my heart with her 'Defying Gravity'. But I think Alexia may just have won this time around. From the moment she started singing she sent shivers down my spine, which I very rarely get. I had to laugh when Dianne was saying her line "Elphie, your trembling" and Alexia was already kneeling down and packing her bag, which to me didn't make sense. But when that lift went up... Wow! I had to physically pick my jaw up off the floor! Alexia has just stolen my heart! The climax was just amazing! It really is a totally different atmosphere in the stalls compared to the circle. You can actually see Alexia just looking down at you from that lift. It's just amazing! I was in shock all the way to the ladies room and back.
So brief summary of Act 1: Met all the cast at this point. Alexia has stolen my heart with her 'Defying Gravity' and Dianne and Ollie between them have had me in stitches. On to Act 2.
No-One Mourns The Wicked Reprise Can't remember too much about this, but I know Danielle was very taken by one or two of the costumes...
Thank Goodness How does Dianne hold those notes?! I wanna know! It's so awesome! And Ollie really made me chuckle here when he found out that the gathering was to do with Fiyero's engagement to Glinda. His reaction to her "Surprised" was funny, as was the line "Yes I will marry you if it makes to happy."
Wicked Witch of The East Elpahaba's sister, Nessarose gets her vocal solo here. I do like the new Nessa. I think she's awesome. I still wonder how Boq changes from being Boq to a tin man... a question which I will answer later!
Wizards Palace/ Wonderful This is when the Wizard returns to the stage with Elphaba. Alexia’s reacting to him taking her broom was quite funny, purely because she simply turned away, rather than actually throw a mini-strop onstage. I really don’t know what to make of the new Wizard. His vocals were really quiet and even from where we were sat it was difficult to hear him; and he had a microphone! I think this is also the scene where Elphaba, Fiyero and Glinda are re-united. I liked the part where Glinda asks them if they have been seeing each other behind her back and Elphaba says something along the lines of “It wasn’t like that” and Fiyero says “Well it was” and there was this awkward pause which the audience laughed and he quickly says “But it wasn’t.”
I’m Not That Girl (reprise) Little scene where Glinda sings an edited version of I’m Not That Girl. It’s very good. Not a lot to say here to be honest. Although I did like watching the 'vines' appearing in the background and Ollie and Alexia walking through them.
As Long As Your Mine This is definitely one of my favourite songs in the whole show and it is a beautiful duet between Elphaba and Fiyero as they pledge their love to one another. Ollie stole my heart in this scene – it was just adorable. Elphaba’s “It’s just… For the first time I feel… Wicked…” was cute. You could feel the chemistry between them... Although I think Ollie and Kerry were definately adorable!
Catfight Scene This scene is one of the more memorable scenes of the show, with the exception of 'Defying Gravity'. I’d seen Kerry Ellis do this and loved her interpretation: Alexia was just as good. Although I must say I prefer Kerry’s evil laugh, which makes her sound like she’s on day release from a mental house. Alexia and Kerry also say the line “Well we can’t all come and go by bubble” in a very similar style, which I adored. Very funny when Ollie swings in on the vine and when Dianne was nodding, which reminded me of one of those nodding dogs. I always wonder how they manage to lift Ollie up at the end of the scene without dropping him, considering he's a good 6 foot plus...
No Good Deed For me, Kerry always owned this song. But Alexia is just… WOW! I don’t know how people can say she can’t hold her notes. Her “supply” was held for a while and she was still holding it when she marched to the back of the stage. And her second “Fiyero” was brilliant. The lighting in this scene is fantastic, with all the smoke and the wind machine, which makes Elphaba look evil. The last note of this song was awesome.
March Of The Witch Hunters This song isn’t one of my favourites, I must admit. But the little dialogue between Glinda and Madame Morrible is funny, and watching Boq trying to pull a lion’s tale from offstage is amusing.
Kiamo Ko/ For Good This scene is one of the most emotional scenes in the whole show. When I first saw it I had tears in my eyes, but this time I didn’t have them, I was getting that way though. Loved Alexia’s and Dianne’s harmonies here. And the lyrics in this song really do ring very true. Elphaba’s ‘death’ is very sad, as was the bit when she turns around before going behind the curtain and pressing her finger to her lip to tell Glinda to be quiet. I really don’t like Dorothy…
Finale The final scene where we find out that Elphaba’s father is actually the Wizard of Oz. And when Glinda has Madame Morrible arrested… She used her lines against her, which is very amusing. And Fiyero and Elphaba’s reunion is adorable. Fiyero has now been changed into a scarecrow, which amuses me for some reason… The ending is really sad when Elphaba and Glinda sing their final lines.
From what I could see, loads of people in the stalls were on their feet, cheering. The audience were really good. Me and Danielle were some of the few people who were up first, which was good. Very well deserved. I really want to go again now.
Afterwards we had to go to the stage door, because we’d been allowed to have a backstage tour. I’d said I wasn’t to make a fool of myself… Ahahaha… That went down the bloomin’ toilet! I was walking to the door and turned to Danielle to say something to her and I turned around, the door opened. Guess who walked out?
Oliver Tompsett. (He is very tall. I feel like a midget!)
I had the deer in headlights look on my face when I saw him and didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, say something or run as fast as I could in the opposite direction! I could almost hear Danielle wetting herself laughing at me. But he smiled at us and said “hi” to which we were like “…hi…” it was frighteningly funny. Didn’t get no signatures or photos – the cast were leaving as we were going inside.
The tour. Wow. The view from the stage is just… WOW! I felt about 2 foot tall! It was frightening. But we saw all the costumes, including Glinda’s blue dress, which had recently been re-made for some reason or other. It cost something like £20,000, which I was like “OUCH!” Danielle got to touch the dress – I didn’t in case something broke… The wings are quite cramped actually. We also saw the Oz Head and is actually controlled by two people from the wings while The Wizard speaks. It's quite awesome actually.
Now, Boq. I always wondered how he changed so quickly from being Boq to Tin Man. Well, it turns out the wardrobe is double sided, so Elphaba comes out one side and Tin Man comes out the other side when the wheelchair goes behind it and the two characters change over, there is someone else dressed as Tin Man, which I found quite clever because I would never have been able to tell the difference.
We walked past all the costumes worn by the cast – Danielle was going on about the white trousers and was like “Darn, I should have nicked them” which I found really funny.
It was an awesome day. Me and Dannielle are planning another trip up, this time so we can get autographs and photos. It will be awesome. I think Alexia Khadime has stolen my heart once and for all.
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Post by Meatloaf on Jun 23, 2009 8:17:20 GMT -5
Sounds like you had the quite the amazing show! I've only seen the tour of Wicked when it came to Toronto back in 2005 and the Broadway production back in 2003, but a new production of it is opening in Toronto June 2010, I can't wait! I've watched vids up on Youtube with the London cast and that's when I had fallen in love with Olli. Dianne always cracked me up in those vids but I have to say though my fav Glinda will always be Kristen Chenoweth. Also, Alexia sounds great, but I think I'll always love Idina's and Kerry's performance as Elphie.
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Post by Galileo Figaro on Jun 23, 2009 9:03:44 GMT -5
Oooft! There's one opening in Toronto! Right, I'ma go there one day! ;D
Ollie's gorgeous! <3 Love him. He's just AWESOME! I love his voice, I really do. He's fantastic. I don't think there'll ever be another Fiyero in my eyes! Lol, I have been spoiled! ;D
The only thing that puts me off is the American accent; having done shows before and listening to some of the Broadway singers they sound really nasally and a little off key in places, the one that springs to mind is Shoshana Bean. Although she is good, she is really nasally and that puts me off. Although of all the Broadway performers, I think Stephanie J. Block and Idina Menzel are the clearest singers and are ones I don't mind listening to. (Although their diction is sometimes a little off...) my argument is, particularly in American versions of Defying Gravity is this: Where is the "D"? They sing "GraviDEE" as opposed to "GraviTEE". Having done a show before, that hacks me off lol.
Although I absolutely adore Kerry Ellis. She was the first Elphaba I saw and I adore her vocals. The only thing that let her down for me when I saw her was that she slipped in and out of the American accent and, particularly in The Wizard and I, it was very nasally. But she is definately the best Elphaba vocally, although I think it was the right time for her to leave. I just wish I'd have seen her before she went to Broadway 'cos she was amazing, or even in her Standby Days. One of her best Defying Gravity's was the 9th of November '06. Although I don't particularly like Helen Dallimore's vocals... :?
Dianne is fab! Love her! Her G(a)linda voice is toned down a bit now but she is just amazing.
I found Alexia so great because I didn't know what to expect. I'd heard mixed reviews from people who saw her last year and some of the youtube audios aren't great. So when I saw her, because I didn't have such high expectations of her she blew me away, and I am a devout Kerry fan! I just think she was so different and her interpretation is so different. She is far better live. The audios and videos on youtube just don't do her any justice. You really have to see her to understand just how amazing she really is; the acting and her vocals make it far better.
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