Who's Your Favorite Elphaba?- Page 3

[WickedOne2]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 8:58pm

Idina Menzel all the way.

[Benzy92]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 9:02pm

Shoshana Bean

[Broadway_Bound_Star]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 9:18pm

I have only seen Wicked twiced and both with understudies/Sbs, and I would have to say, Saycon is just amazing, and with a little more work, Brandi can be just as good.

[defying_gravity2]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 9:35pm

Idina. She's just amazing. I think she really embodied the very essence of the character. I think her voice is amazing, but more importantly, she made the songs exciting.

Eden is my second favorite. I saw her in SF and she was incredible. Her voice was dead on. She hits those high notes effortlessly. I absolutely loved her take on the role. I'm glad she's back.

I really like Sho, and I think she's amazing and incredibly nice, but I don't think she loves the role as much as others. You can see it in her eyes. She doesn't have that passion. I think she'll really do well with her solo career. Her voice is amazing, and she has the best NGD by far.

[wickedly_addicted]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 1:27am

Eden Espinosa! She IS Elphaba for me.

I saw her twice this week. Amazing voice. She just blew me away when she sang Defying Gravity.

[juice23]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 1:34am

I have seen the show three times...twice with Idina and once with Kristy Cates (her 1st show as elphie ever!)

Idina is my personal fav... She was my first and I just loved everything about her performance. Even though she is not a perfect performer...she has a magnetism and electric quality on stage.

Kristy was so great too, and it was so nice to have won the lotto on the day of her first show- She had a good grasp on the role already and had a georgeous voice but some things were just a little off...which is completely understandable... but I rooted for her the whole way and she did a great job! (and I loved how JLT pushed her forward to give her the last bow!)

[TheBalladeer]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 2:09am

For me...Shoshana Bean. I REALLY enjoyed her performance as Elphaba. Not only did she have an incredible voice, but I just loved her serious and more restrained take on Elphaba. I found the other Elphabas to overact and unsympathetic. But I was with Shoshsna from "The Wizard and I" and she really brought something special to the role.

Cheers,

The Balladeer

[BtMartin25]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 8:55am

in my favorite elphabas in order
1) Idina
2) Shoshana
3) Stephanie
4) Eden
5) Saycon
6) Ana


might as well do glindas
1) Kristin
2) Megan
3) Kate R.
4) Laura
5) Jennifer
5) Kendra

[OasisBroadway]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 9:06am

Baby Swiss!

(Check out the google video if you don't know what I am talking about.)

[boo41419892]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 9:46am

Idina

[whyareyoutellingme]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 10:03am

definetly Idina...shoshana is good but Idina is GREAT. All you have to do is listen to the OBC cast recording and you'll know why.

[kasim]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 10:04am

Shoshauna Bean by far.

[landryjames]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 12:07pm

Idina Menzel is/was the best. When I saw Kristin and Idina in their powerhouse roles, I thought they were absoluely amazing, but wondered if I was seeing something special, or if any two actresses could recreate easily what these first two had done.

Then I saw the replacement cast last year, and was completely underwhelmed and disappointed in the lackluster (and marked) performances.

My question had been answered--I had seen something special.

[renthead2]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 1:14pm

I think that idina is great but I like shoshana more. I think that Shoshana does a better job at singing defying gravity than idina. Mind you I've never seen idina sing it live.

[Fabrizio2]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 1:49pm

Well Idina is the best all around, but I will tell you...if any of you were there for Sho's last performance, She beat Idina in that one. It was utterly amazing.

[BtMartin25]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 3:03pm

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Shoshana sounded like she had just smoked a pack of cigs right before she sang? it was so raspy. It was good, but not better than her other performances, and Idina.

Updated On: 1/20/06 at 03:03 PM

[Galilee]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 3:05pm

It's too hard to judge if you haven't seen them all live.

[ken8631]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 3:30pm

Would be Stephanie J. Block, but haven't seen her in the role yet and guess now I won't since she's leaving the tour before Philly (which I bought my tickets for months ago....)

[OrdinaryJukebox1]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 4:01pm

I've now seen Idina, Shoshana, Stephanie, and Eden. I loved Idina Menzel's work in this show. I saw her two or three times, and every time was great. I will admit, her voice did seem to lose some steam towards the end of the run. However, she was in it for over a year on Broadway alone, not to mention the workshops and the SF run. It's a hard role to sing 8 times a week, from what I remember she wasn't out too often, so she was just tired. After her, I'd have to say my favorite (if not tied for first) would be Eden. I saw her last week from the front row, and the work she is doing is breath taking! Shoshana can sing, she's not a very good actor, and her voice would be more suited for pop/r&b, not theater. Stephanie was my least favorite, leaving out high notes, straining for notes she did hit, and just screaming certain lyrics that drove me MAAAAD.

-Vincent

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 4:26pm

I saw Stephanie on Tour, I've seen a video of Idina and clips of Shoshana.

Stephanie was the best actress because she brought so much emotion to the character and actually made the role seem so much more than some type of "cartoon" character. I'd probably give her the best overall singing too. Although, I like Idina's "Defying Gravity" on the CD the best.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 4:32pm

You can't judge based on "video clips." You have to see a whole performance before you decide the actresses you haven't seen make Elphaba look like a "cartoon character."

If I judged by video clips, I'd say Stephanie J Block looked like a pretentious little cartoon character. But haven't seen her, so what do I know?

[wheresmyprize]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 8:51pm

Good call on Kristy Cates! I know I'm gonna get a lot of flack for this, but I'm gonna say it anyway:

Idina - I loved her, she had that wild wide eyed look that I've not seen anyone else get. I saw her twice, first time she blew my mind. Second time, she had some serious fatigue in her. I'm not saying she was horrible, and I don't expect her to be super human but... she had some wear and tear.

Shoshana - Where she wasn't a complete rock powerhouse, she most certainly could sing to me anytime she wants too!! And I completely agree that her "No Good Deed" will never be matched.

Saycon - I had the wonderful pleasure of seeing her, and let me say that every note in those songs fit her voice like a glove. It was sick how easy she made them sound. I don't really like her glottal attacks though. But she was vocally amazing.

Ultimately, I would go with early Idina. Got to love her.

[BroadwayRandy0711]

Posted: 1/21/06 at 2:00am

I love Shoshana and she was the first Elphie that I saw.
I do feel as though Jenna did a fantastic job and comes in 1st in my books.

[wicked1]

Posted: 1/21/06 at 8:34am

Idina

[Musical_nerd]

Posted: 1/21/06 at 9:17am

Jenna Leigh Green