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Post by couldileaveyou on Nov 6, 2016 0:24:11 GMT
I went to the matinee today. well, yesterday. I ended up watching Wicked three times in the past 6 years (London-Broadway-London) and even if I have always enjoyed it in the theatre I never felt the urge to revist or listen to the score ever again. But many friends of mine want to see it so here we go.
Let's start with the good things: Rachel Tucker is the first Elphaba I saw who could do justice to the score (Nikki Davis Jones and Linsday Mendez were my other two Elphabas, in case you're wondering) and I liked her a lot. Suzie Mathers was a fantastic Glinda, Oliver Saville was not very memorable (I preferred Derek Klena) but he looked terrific in the white pants and that's ultimately what the role is about. Anita Dobson was a good Morrible and if Martin Bell was supposed to play a villain he probably missed that piece of infortmation.
The sound was terrible at the beginning! it was so incredible muddy (No One Mourns the Wicked was so bad that it sounded recorded - don't freak out, I know it wasn't) and during The Wizard and I there was an atrocious screech when Rachel started belting. The ensemble was not on point - not at all. The resident director should do something about it cause it's quite dreadful. A lot of messed up notes in No One Mourns the Wicked and they made Dancing Through Life totally excruciating. They got better in the second part and the march of witch hunters was thrilling.
The audience was not very receptive and a lot of jokes fell flat but, as the enseble, it got better in the second act. I was sitting in the front stalls and there were many empty seats, including half of row L. We moved to row G after the interval and I sat behind a little girl who couldn't stay sill for the sake of hers, but she was so young you can't really blame her. She kept turning to look at the me and at the end of the show she told me I'm cute, which was nice to hear.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2016 12:33:23 GMT
The sound was terrible at the beginning! it was so incredible muddy (No One Mourns the Wicked was so bad that it sounded recorded - don't freak out, I know it wasn't) and during The Wizard and I there was an atrocious screech when Rachel started belting. The ensemble was not on point - not at all. The resident director should do something about it cause it's quite dreadful. A lot of messed up notes in No One Mourns the Wicked and they made Dancing Through Life totally excruciating. They got better in the second part and the march of witch hunters was thrilling. Yeah there's definitely something wrong with the sound. I've sat in the front row twice and everything sounded great there, but I've had a similar experience twice when I sat further back. In the first act the ensemble didn't sound very good because of the sound, and in the second act they sounded very good. And that was the old cast, so it seems the cast is not to blame for this. |
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446 posts
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Post by tr252 on Nov 6, 2016 17:17:05 GMT
I've noticed Rachel sings "No good deed goes unpunished..." but sings it higher than she used to towards the end of he song... is that how she's been asked to sing it by Wicked or is it a riff? Either way I've always thought it works really when when I've heard other Elphaba's do it so I'm glad Rachel does it.
Hoping to catch the Wednesday matinee week after next!!
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4,369 posts
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Post by Michael on Nov 8, 2016 5:54:46 GMT
Rachel's holiday dates are out. She is off on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 15th, 16th and 17th December. Also on the Wicked website now. |
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366 posts
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Post by Paul on Nov 8, 2016 21:49:32 GMT
Is Alice on as Elphaba tonight? I'm seeing the show tomorrow evening - hoping Rachel is on.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2016 1:33:38 GMT
Is Alice on as Elphaba tonight? I'm seeing the show tomorrow evening - hoping Rachel is on. Alice said at stage door tonight that Rachel called out sick pretty late today, and that it was because of feeling sick, aka nausea, as opposed to being vocally unwell, so it's pretty likely that with some sleep and rest, Rachel will be back and ready to go again tomorrow. |
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Post by Paul on Nov 9, 2016 23:35:08 GMT
I actually enjoyed the show tonight, more than I ever have. Loved Suzie - best Glinda I have ever seen live. Rachel was fine - I've seen her give better performances. I loved Katie as Nessa but the guy playing Boq was all wrong. It didn't seem like he was attracted to Glinda, it was more like he wanted to be Glinda.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Nov 10, 2016 10:03:15 GMT
I actually enjoyed the show tonight, more than I ever have. Loved Suzie - best Glinda I have ever seen live. Rachel was fine - I've seen her give better performances. I loved Katie as Nessa but the guy playing Boq was all wrong. It didn't seem like he was attracted to Glinda, it was more like he wanted to be Glinda. this is the most accurate description of the current cast. Especially the Boq comment. |
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Post by Paul on Nov 10, 2016 13:18:24 GMT
Also - not sure who played the wizard last night, he was fine if not a bit too "silly." That's the only word I can think to use for his performance. Anita was fine too - her Morrible had a really laid back/I don't care attitude. That or she actually didn't care. I found it worked for the most part but she certainly didn't over work herself.
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Post by Dawnstar on Nov 10, 2016 19:32:59 GMT
Also - not sure who played the wizard last night, he was fine if not a bit too "silly." That's the only word I can think to use for his performance. Anita was fine too - her Morrible had a really laid back/I don't care attitude. That or she actually didn't care. I found it worked for the most part but she certainly didn't over work herself. Assuming the photo tweeted by the official account a couple of hours ago was taken yesterday evening, then that was Mark Curry as the Wizard so he must be back from surgery. |
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Post by welsh_tenor on Nov 10, 2016 20:26:50 GMT
I agree with the comments about Boq, he's very miscast for this role and I also think the same for Anita Dobson.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Nov 10, 2016 21:14:37 GMT
I'm by no means an expert, but I think I saw a video of an Elphaba painting her arms green, while when I watched the show Rachel was clearly wearing a sort of green "diving suit". Is that a thing they do on Broadway or...?
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Post by shady23 on Nov 10, 2016 21:25:20 GMT
They just paint the hands I think and then she wears a zip up green top.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2016 21:38:46 GMT
I'm by no means an expert, but I think I saw a video of an Elphaba painting her arms green, while when I watched the show Rachel was clearly wearing a sort of green "diving suit". Is that a thing they do on Broadway or...? On both Broadway and the West End, they paint their hands and wrists, and also obviously their face and neck down to just above the collarbone. Then the rest is a bodysuit that goes over the rest of the arms, shoulders and top part of the back for the scenes where she goes to the Ozdust Ballroom/Popular.  |
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Post by AliceFearnFan2212 on Nov 16, 2016 16:38:14 GMT
Rachel did Shoshana Bean's "Rest of my Life" RIFF in TWAI today!😍💚
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4,361 posts
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Post by shady23 on Nov 16, 2016 16:53:13 GMT
Any update on the midwife's nose riff?
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Post by Being Alive on Nov 16, 2016 16:58:43 GMT
Rachel did Shoshana Bean's "Rest of my Life" RIFF in TWAI today!😍💚 These posts annoy me as much as the next person but GIRL DID WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! |
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Post by tr252 on Nov 16, 2016 17:12:28 GMT
How is the show selling at Matinees on Saturdays at the moment? I don't have much money but I'm considering coming down to London this weekend but I was going to buy a £30 ticket for the circle. Could I get better at the box office on the day?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2016 18:17:00 GMT
How is the show selling at Matinees on Saturdays at the moment? I don't have much money but I'm considering coming down to London this weekend but I was going to buy a £30 ticket for the circle. Could I get better at the box office on the day? Day seats are always the best seats for quite a low price. But there's no guarantee you'll get a ticket if many other people are waiting in line. If you're a student though, you can just go at any hour on the day of the performance and they'll give you the best available seat for £30 if you can show a valid student ID. That's one ticket per student ID though, so if you're not going alone you have to consider that. |
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446 posts
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Post by tr252 on Nov 16, 2016 18:21:24 GMT
How is the show selling at Matinees on Saturdays at the moment? I don't have much money but I'm considering coming down to London this weekend but I was going to buy a £30 ticket for the circle. Could I get better at the box office on the day? Day seats are always the best seats for quite a low price. But there's no guarantee you'll get a ticket if many other people are waiting in line. If you're a student though, you can just go at any hour on the day of the performance and they'll give you the best available seat for £30 if you can show a valid student ID. That's one ticket per student ID though, so if you're not going alone you have to consider that. I am going alone but unfortunately not a student anymore! I wanted see Rachel before Christmas and this weekend seems the best, if a little last minute. I won't be in London early enough to rely on day seats though unfortunately... I'll have to have a think! |
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Post by tr252 on Nov 16, 2016 23:01:55 GMT
Booked for the matinee on Saturday. |
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Post by tcodd1 on Nov 16, 2016 23:22:58 GMT
Booked for the matinee on Saturday. I'll be there on Saturday afternoon too...very excited to see Rachel again after seeing her last at cast change in 2012! 😃 |
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Post by tr252 on Nov 17, 2016 0:51:40 GMT
Booked for the matinee on Saturday. I'll be there on Saturday afternoon too...very excited to see Rachel again after seeing her last at cast change in 2012! 😃 Exactly the same as me - first time since her last show in London. So excited! |
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Post by welsh_tenor on Nov 17, 2016 7:48:57 GMT
And Kerry Enright is on now until next Wednesday who is quite frankly, one of the best Morribles I've ever seen! You're in for a treat there too!
Make sure you let us know what you think of the show seeing as it's been a while since you've both been!
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Post by tcodd1 on Nov 17, 2016 8:06:27 GMT
And Kerry Enright is on now until next Wednesday who is quite frankly, one of the best Morribles I've ever seen! You're in for a treat there too! Make sure you let us know what you think of the show seeing as it's been a while since you've both been! I've seen it a few times since Rachel left, but I haven't seen her in the show since then... And Rosa is on for Nessa...yippee!I'll be seeing Anita and Katie on January 28th for their final performance anyway! Will definitely feed back on how it is. I'm taking 2 friends who are completely new to the show (and want to see why on earth I've seen it 19 times) so I'm excited just to see their reactions! Can't wait! |
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