The Ongoing Wicked Discussion Thread

What are the differences?

Wonder if the tour cast will take over?

Would be nice for some fresh faces but also they need consistency.

With the film coming out the show is pretty secure so they could have some 'safe' casting. Hopefully they don't fall on the stunt casting Fiyero again to boost sales.

Same with Elphaba. Alexia is great but plays it so safe. I would love Lucy to stay on for another year but I don't think that will happen. 

Wicked needs new people in the roles. 

I’m ready for some new blood full stop.

Lucy is fine but it’s a very weak Elphaba and Fiyero currently.

Casting websites are asking for new talent across the cast list, including leads, so I have ^some^ hope. I’m yet to ask ,but I’m debating on whether or not they’ll bump another standby /cover up to lead?

Sadly it's likely they're just chugging along until the film and then they get another few years from that alone, then some stunt casting to probably extend it a little more - then maybe a re-imagined version in a few years using songs from the film and new visuals, perhaps in a smaller theatre? Who knows! But I think they'll keep it going for a while yet.

I think a lot of the problem lies in the direction, or lack thereof. The London production has been a museum piece for years, and casting that could have been exciting has been allowed to sink into identikit performances and going through the motions.

When I saw it last year with the family it was incredibly dull and I vowed not to watch it again. Lacks humanity and visible energy these days, though I'm sure the cast are doing their best. Needs new direction or some kind of revamp desparately because as danb says, it's like going to the Wicked museum rather than seeing Wicked. When you go, you feel like you're years late to the hype and it's all blown over, and that's not the mood you should be going home with.

Very much seems to exist without much help but somehow draws people in... because it's basically sustained by tourists.

They should do a noughties Best Musical throwback and stage Avenue Q in that massive place

On Broadway it rarely grosses under $2,000,000 per week. The show is taken care of, well directed and supervised, and only the best of the best are cast (usually with a “trial” run on the US Tour). The 23 piece orchestra sounds divine. All of the recent leading ladies and her standbys have put their own spin, but also been terrific. Some of them have slightly struggled with attendance but nowhere near a Lucie Jones level. It does help that the standbys go go on on a more regular basis. When I saw it, the cast was giving 200%, the acting was beautiful, the pacing was smooth, the vocals were perfect. The quintessential Broadway experience.

Then, when I see footage of the current UK tour doing Defying Gravity at 500% speed with three Elphabas who can sing “pretty” but cannot act the song; or go see the latest West End Cast and realise its leading man cannot sing… and all I want is Wicked gone from the UK. It’s so poorly directed, losing its magic. Much like Chicago, the resident UK team cannot take care of the product. Frankly, the only show that I think isn’t getting “stale” in the UK is Les Mis. Even Mamma Mia felt overdone the last time I went.

Makes one wonder what Stephen Schwartz thinks about it. He’s pretty hands on with his shows, can’t keep him away from them a lot of the time. Doesn’t he ever check in on his cash cow?

Schwartz has been to both US productions for touch ups within the past year, and was actively participating in rehearsals for both the US Tour and Broadway companies back in 2021. The US tour even just got an entirely new lighting plot a in July (interestingly, to match London). 

A shame that the same care is not being put towards the show over here. Alexia is easily one of the best to ever play the role, and it was not enough to redeem the shortcomings of production as a whole.