Anyone go? (Besides me.)

The theme of the night seemed to be "let's see how many of the cast we can send into fits of giggles onstage tonight" ... so some good fun.

I was not too happy to hear her accent waver - I guess five months on Broadway has wreaked havoc with her non-American-Elphaba voice - the first act she was far too much in lazy New York drawl which thankfully managed to depart for most of the second act (although when Nessa tells her their father has died she came out with "That's good - that's beddah" and I was just waiting for a full-blown "fuhgeddaboudit"...). I just don't think her voice works as well (speaking or singing) in American for this role as in English English (I did manage to catch her on Broadway where everything was nasally-in-the-rafters and only in her lower registers did she really open up, so the sooner she loses the accent the better, imho).

Anyway nice to have her back. I still think Kerry owns No Good Deed, even having heard Alexia Khadime sing it (who did a fine, fine job - better than either Cassidy Jansen or Ashleigh Grey, in my opinion, and also better than Idina) and she did not disappoint this evening. Lots of adrenaline in her voice, though, which I hope soothes out in the coming weeks.

Dianne was fab - pushed Kerry out for a solo bow at curtain call, and the two seem really pleased to be back onstage together.

Finally, the Kerry Fangirls (gosh, there were a lot of them and a veritable stampede for the stage door) were remarkably well-behaved this evening -- posibly due to FOH lingering nearby the first few rows for much of the first act -- so kudos to them for not destroying it for the rest of us and even adding some atmosphere ... keep it up, guys.

I'm so glad she had a good first night back. And am slightly excited now to see her in a couple of weeks.

I'm surprised to hear about the accent? She did sing graviTy though right?

Yes, the AV were strict on Saturday with Alexia's last... Not that was anywhere near as bad as the Kerry fans..LOL.

Yep, by the time she got to Defying GraviTy she was back in English English. The Wizard and I was slightly weird, though -- as was most of the first act - because she kept pronouncing hard "r"s at the end of words and lines -- it totally threw me. Especially as I thought the accent was better than when I heard it on Broadway! The mind boggles.

An aside, Ollie and Dianne were also all over the place with the hard "r"s at the end of words and lines, I would assume to poke fun ...

Thank god for that. Haha, I was actually dreading if she sang gravedeeeee. I think I might have had to give my ticket away.

I'm still slightly wary of seeing her; because Alexia is my Elphaba and they play the role so differently and have such different style voices but after hearing great things after tonight, I'm hoping she will be all settled in by the time I see her. I still don't think she'll take over Alexia for me though.

And Dianne/Oli are love. They've had a hyper couple of days; on Saturday they were nutty too. Dianne with being on the verge of tears all the way through the show. And then tonight with poking fun at Kerry. I actually love Dianne, she always gives a good show.

Glad to hear she's back and on top form! Couldn't stand the thought of going because of the fangirls- mind you they have hd about 6 months to mature! lol. Look forward to going in the next couple of weeks, anyone queing, what time did you get there?

Yeah I saw kerry she's good but Alexia does it for me. I prefer someone who tells the story Alexia takes you on the journey!! Diannes so lovely she gave Alexia a solo bow on her last night ahhhhhh they were both so emotional (so was I lol)

I miss Alexia she a real talented lady and so lovely when you meet her

When does this cast now change is May?

Every time I've seen Kerry Ellis, she's sung with an American accent, especially in TWAI, DG ('nobuddy in ahll of Auz, no wizarrrd that therrre is orrrr wuz...') and ALAYM. Come to think of it, Alexia tended to slip into a bit of a mid-Atlantic for ALAYM, and dotted a few hard 'r's around here and there. On Saturday, she didn't do it so much, although a lot in TWAI and ALAYM, and I noticed Tompsett and Pilkington were doing it too. Odd.

It's a shame Kerry didn't manage to what should have been her second show back tonight, I've got friends going who wanted to see her 'triumphant' return. Sounds like she might not be back at 100% just yet.

was she off?

Kerry is on. It was just a little joke that accidently got taken seriously and spread like wildfire.. But Kerry, not Ashleigh is on tonight,

Thanks for clearing that up, it would have been a shame were she not on as I bet there's many a person at the AV tonight hoping to see her!

Glad to read her first show went well. So glad she's singing GraviTy!

I saw her on Thursday 4th and I must say, I wished it was any Elphaba rather than Kerry up there. She made no effort to act, she rushed through, she just looked around or at her feet when other people were talking and her voice really weak. If I hadn't been so close to the stage, I wouldn't have recognised her. Her Defying Gravity was just awful as she didn't hold any of the notes and for NGD, she really might as well have been singing along, quietly, to the OBCR... real paint by numbers stuff. I realise some people may have said that, aw, she must be ill. If she was too ill to perform, they should have chucked Ashleigh on, but even if she was unwell, surely she would have made some effort to perform. She didn't; she just looked like she wanted it to finish. For the price of theatre tickets these days, I would much rather have seen an understudy than Kerry taking the piss out of audiences like she did on that night. I even heard a woman in the foyer saying how someone had recommended the show to her but she couldn't see what the fuss was about and that Kerry was terrible. Although I had to agree, I wanted to shake her and say, "No no, it's usually way better than this!" I refrained though... being shaken by a stranger is not what you expect when you're on your way out for an interval ciggie.

The only reason I stayed for the second half was because my friend was desperate to see No Good Deed. I didn't have high hopes for it... I was right. If I'd have paid for my tickets, I'd have been doubly p*ssed off... it was so disrespectful to the an audience who have paid up to about £75, not to mention a whole front row of fans who had queued for however long they queue for day tickets at half-past-ungodly on a December morning. She got no pity from me; the girl made no effort to act or sing and it showed. So much for her triumphant bloody return.

I heard from some people I know at the AV that she was phenomenal on the Monday but it all went downhill from there. Has anyone seen her since? Has she bucked her ideas up yet?

That is just a shame. Sam Barks should be playing this part. I have just been to seen her in Cabaret and honestly she is such an amazing performer. We waited to see her outside the stage door at Malvern and we asked her about when she sang define gravity, she said she had only three days to learn that song. Can you imagine if she had the amount of time that the others have had to learn a song. I know she would be amazing, when she sings Maybe This time, it is just brilliant. I also know the following she has got and that includes a lot of young people. I am telling you if she took over the role, she would be fab. Although I am a big fan and it was through her singing define gravity it got me hooked on Wicked.

I went to Saturday's Matinee not knowing what to expect. She hasn't had great reviews since her first show back and as you all know my feelings on Alexia, I really didn't know if I was going to like her. But I'm happy to say, she was FANTASTIC. Seriously, I really do think she was holding back because of the RVP but she didnt hold back at all on Saturday and sounded effortless. Her lower register didnt sound as healthy as it could but when she was belting, she sounded amazing and I was very impressed. Her acting was, although not up to Alexia's standards IMO, solid and I actually found myself thinking that in some scenes she was stronger than Alexia. She overtook Ashleigh for me and I didn't think that would happen.

Obviosly there were a few negatives. There were sometimes I did feel that it was Kerry in green up on that stage, not Elphaba which is something I never got from Alexia (except for in her last few lines of For Good ). She always sings in an american accent, and it did annoy me a little bit. Especially in As Long As You're Mine. This isn't a negative about Kerry but more about the hype around her; I didn't really get the whole Dianne/Kerry hype. Although it was adorable to see a real life friendship on stage, I didn't really notice THAT much difference from Alexia/Dianne. I feel that becase people know that Dianne/Kerry are close offstage, they've kind of exaggerated the whole chemistry thing. Infact, this is the first show I didn't cry at For Good. The same with Oliver/Kerry, after months of people telling me of Oli/Alexia have zero chemistry compared to Kerry/Oli, I wasn't feeling it. The Lion Cub scene was the only scene where I agreed and I think that was because Kerry's line delivery was excellent.

I did sit there comparing to Alexia all the way through and I'm not afraid to admit that but it didn't mean I didn't enjoy Kerry's performance at all. I do think she's an incredible performer and a really strong Elphaba. I think Kerry is definitely stronger than Alexia vocally, althogh I prefer Alexia's voice and overall characterisation. I think that Alexia's weak points are Kerry's strong points and vice versa so I think that may be why I love both of them. But I'd be happy to go see Kerry again and am no longer worried about having to avoid Wicked.


I think Samantha would be good in the future. Not now though. She's too young and isn't a strong enough actress yet. But I do think, give her five-ten years and if Wicked is still open, she would be perfect.

What is Alexia doing now? I believe she was not chosen for that part but it had to be given to her, will this hinder her for future auditions.

I can't imagine that having played Elephaba is going to hurt her audition prospects.

It has been said that she was not chosen for Elephaba but she caused such a fuss and used the PC card that got her the part. I wondered how she will get on in the future.

What a load of bullcrap. No offense but I doubt they'd cast her in the role unless they wanted her. It's not like they wouldn't of had plenty of other people bashing the door down for the role. Plus, have you ever met Alexia? She's one of the most polite and shy people I've ever met (and adorable). I can't see her kicking up a fuss to be honest.

And she's workshopping a new musical and working on her album at the moment.

Sorry but I have never seen Alexia, that is great she has so much going on.

Plus...why would she make the PC fuss...she would be painted green. No one would really know she wasn't a white girl! Apart from the fact she has a voice hardly any white people have.

How strange ... I really did not think she was singing in an American accent on December 1, but that may well have been because she was thinking hard about *not* singing in an American accent. And I did think she slipped into American English in dialogue a fair bit on that day, which (i) bothered me, but (ii) I thought was a better American accent than she pulled off when I saw her on Broadway in August. Bi-zarre. I do hope she gets over it, because she is sooooo much better when she leaves that on the other side of the Atlantic.

As if the 'PC card' would get her a part... this is professional theatre, not a school play! For a role that has become so iconic so quickly, it's incredulous, stupid even, to think that she'd have been cast on anything other than merit, and it's not as if she's the first black Elphaba either. Whoever said that is a willy and you, my friend, are a willy for believing it.

It will be such a shame when she leaves.

I dont think shame is the right word. While It'll be sad that she's no longer part of the cast anymore, I think that she's done all she can do for Elphaba and it's time for her to move on and give someone else a chance to recreate the role again..

I'm actually more upset to see Dianne go...

Dianne is great, all the best of luck to her.

Just seen that Kendra and Teal are the new Glinda and Elphaba for the San Francisco company. I thought I heard ridiculous rumours of Kendra playing London's Elphie? seems like these were in fact wrong!

Be fun if it was true though.