The Ongoing Wicked Discussion Thread

Laura Harrison returning to Wicked tonight to play Elphaba. She just did a matinee of Sunset Boulevard and now at Wicked. Incredible scenes and saving the show yet again!

I know illness can happen etc but what is going on at the AV that they had no choice but to bring in the new standby months earlier AND when she’s already doing a two show day at another production?

What is the current Elphaba standby/cover situation? Isn’t there three?

And the bigger question, why is it the norm to miss so many shows?

I know it’s a big sing but Shoshana Bean did it for ages barely missing a show and was doing vocal acrobatics every single night.

Cast better please.

Alexia has been absolutely incredible these past few months and these last 2 days off had been her first unscheduled days off since September. Pretty sure she’s just done the last 4 weeks without a show off until yesterday

Six unscheduled absences across her contact.

We just don't have people with this work ethic anymore (mores the pity)

You seem to have completely misread their post. They were praising Chenoweth for only missing a couple of shows in her run, compared to current casts where even the standby struggles to complete two consecutive performances. Also, Chenoweth was in perfectly good health during her Wicked contract, and her health issues came years later so it wouldn’t make sense regardless. Merry Christmas.

This is so true, and is also something Michael Ball has spoken about before.

Christine Tucker was also on for Glinda for both shows!

Kate Leiper is on as Elphaba and Christine Tucker as Glinda for both shows today

None of us know the reasons actors do or don't go on and it's very much a matter between them and their employers. There may or may not be an array of reasons including physical and mental health that affects who goes on when that are none of our business. Their employers may be supportive of this and keep them on intentionally despite unpredictability. It's hardly "Glenn in Sunset" levels of problematic as to who goes on.

Producers job is to get the show on which they are doing.

Wicked is like Phantom and Les Mis and is overwhelmingly majority tourists. They literally could not care less who they are watching and very few would be able to tell you their names on the way out. Plus a lot of the fan community love the revolving door of witches and it gets them talking and buying last minute tickets.

I really don't see a problem here. And for a show 18 odd years in, it all looked pretty tight last time I went.

Perhaps that is the case for you, but a great number of people in recent pages - in fact going back years now in the thread - have noticed a decline in quality in the West End production. It was in very poor shape when I last went and others have shared similar sentiments with the same complaints cropping up. Namely underwhelming casting, poor sound, a lack of comedy beats being hit and so forth.

That isn’t to say there’s a right and wrong in this, just different viewpoints and tastes.

I agree though, shows like Phantom, Les Mis and Wicked rely heavily on brand familiarity and both the foreign and domestic tourism opportunities it provides.

Where I do disagree though is the perception that audiences are clueless about what they’re seeing. Sure, in the short term, they’ve paid their money and seen the show - and for most it’s an actress in green make up, or wearing a mask, singing great songs in a flashy musical.

However, there is a huge aspect which gets overlooked which is creeping fatigue of a show. Shows tire, people get comfortable (including resident creatives, dance captains, cast, crew - and yes, audiences).

Standards can slide imperceptibly over time, jokes stop landing but the direction is locked and rigid. What worked for one performer simply may not land when delivered identically by the next, for instance.

So in the short term, the name continues to sell. But these big brand shows, they rely on their ongoing popularity through repeat visits and positive word of mouth from friends and family.

A producer could put in a very poor cast in a top selling show, let’s say, Hamilton for example. Sales won’t be immediately affected, because of huge advance bookings and first time audiences keen to see the show. But if they see a show where standards have fallen and the show feels flat, they are less likely to rebook for their next visit or recommend to their friends or come back any time soon.

This exact thing happened at Les Mis, where the same house creatives had been in place at the then-Queen’s Theatre perhaps a touch too long. Casting became uninspired, with a lot of promoting of covers who perhaps weren’t quite up to carrying the longest running and most popular West End show in history. Ticket sales went from red-hot over a couple of years to in the absolute toilet, with the show very close to closure.

In 2005, Cameron Mackintosh personally stepped in after seeing his show in disarray and all but three of the cast were replaced in an effort to reinvigorate the show. The house creatives and MD were replaced and they went on an international casting tour for the first time in a while. They brought in the first ever black Javert, Cornell John, and cast quality throughout like John Owen-Jones, Hayden Tee, Barry James and Claire Moore.

Advance sales all through this period were still poor as a knock on from the show being run into the ground previously. Then the next year they picked right up again, because of rebooks and positive word of mouth from the previous year. Almost exactly the same thing happened at Phantom with Peter Jöback, where things were looking very dicey for a while.

At Wicked they’ve made a gesture of change, but it feels symbolic. Three POC in lead roles is good for marketing copy; but they’re made into automatons following the same rigid direction that’s been completely untouched since opening.

In an ideal world, COVID could’ve provided an opportunity to fix and clean up the show, and come back with a truly stellar cast. Fixed the sound issues, tightened the direction and cast the net wide for talent. They didn’t do this and, frankly, it’s needed it for a decade or more at this point.