[tsxmitw]

Not to douse strallenfan's fire as it were, I felt it would be more appropriate to have an ongoing place to discuss the London production of Wicked. This way we don't have to change threads everytime there is a cast change. Perhaps some moderator could merge the last few pages of 'Alexia's first' into here?

[amyja89]

Good idea.

[Misplaced]

Good idea.

Ooooh ... agree .... (sorry Kay)

[Misplaced]

I like Alexia's portrayal the best. I think she acts it perfectly, however I'm not a big fan of her voice. I think it's a tie for me between Alexia and Ashleigh because I love Ashleigh's voice and think her acting and the way she plays Elphaba is very good, just not as good as Alexia. Kerry on the other hand is just Kerry, not Elphaba. I felt she was just an incredible voice and half decent acting.
I prefer the other two girl's big belty songs better than Kerry's though because it seemed like they put there heart and soul into getting those notes right and ito making it sound perfect whereas for Kerry it was effortless therefore it didn't really look like she was trying very hard.

Ok, to add more substance to my prior non-commenting comment.

I thought Cassidy was the best acting-Elphaba during Kerry's time, and her voice was fantastic. (Ashleigh has lovely voice quality but I didn't think her acting was up to Cassidy's.) Kerry's acting came on by miles when she was in NY - I think, as others have said, she had to work on her acting because her voice wasn't carrying her.

Alexia plays the role sooo differently - I was really impressed by her acting and I think she is the best actor of the bunch. She plays Bitter!Elphaba in the opening Shiz scene, unlike Kerry's Resigned!Elphaba - when Alexia sings What Is This Feeling you really get the sense she depsises Glinda and hates the situtation she's in, which I never got from either Kerry or Cassidy.

[Viceroy]

Perhaps some moderator could merge the last few pages of 'Alexia's first' into here?

Sorry, the "merge" facility is all or nothing, it is possible message by message, but frankly I have better things to do with my time!!

[edit]
Actually I have just discovered there is a way to merge selected messages, but looking at the Alexia thread it is not clear which messages should be moved, as many of them are discussing Alexia in the last few pages. I think therefore it is best to leave things as they are.

[strallenfan]

Maybe just merge it all and call it General Wicked discussion? I dunno. Or leave it as two seperate threads, either or will do

I think Alexia and Cassidy are two of the best actresses I've seen in the role. And Sabrina was pretty damn good. I think Ashleigh is a good actress. I think Kerry is underrated as an actress, she's not the strongest but she was not at all bad as everyone makes out.

I disagree that all London Elphaba's play the first couple of scenes the same. I seen Sabrina/Alexia/Ashleigh in the space of 10 days and they were all totally different! Sabrina made it a lot less angry and more dry wit than the other two. Ashleigh was more hurt and upset - a bit like a victim. Alexia plays it as if she knew exactly how they'd all react to her and is more overly sarcastic twinged with bitterness.

[tsxmitw]

I'm just glad none of our elphabas have succumbed to that awful angry routine Eden Espinosa started. Just look at that and be grateful ours- even Kerry - give a far more faceted perspective on the character.

Eurgh, Eden Espinosa. I'm sorry - yes she has a good lower register, and is a good actress as well, but I feel she was totally miscast as Elphaba. Her vocals are strained on the high notes and her 'Defying Gravity' is as flat as East Anglia. Her performances were always an inconsistent mish-mash of different styles from all the different actresses - in fact, especially during her LA run, I wouldn't be surprised at all if she was having cheeky looks on YouTube to see how the others did it. But that's just the way it seems to me - Eden turned Elphie into a green diva.

[Dorothy]

As far as I'm concerned Eden acted the role like it was a cartoon; she started off the role jaded and ended the role jaded. The extent of analysing her character was watching the Wizard of Oz in order to copy the cackle ... I think the best actress to have played the role is Julia Murney, head and shoulders above the rest.

Digression aside I'd agree that my favourite London actresses are Alexia and Cassidy.