warning-Wicked....Why doesn't she FLY??!!!

Posted: 1/11/06 at 2:20am

peter pan flies! the girls in dracula flew all over the damn place!!! so whats up with that? i want that witch to fly...because everyone deserves a chance to FLYYY!

Posted: 1/11/06 at 2:24am

i posted too soon..i meant to write this too:

here is what i think..of course she doesn't fly because who the hell could sing the ending of "defying gravity" while they are FLYING...BUT...i think that they should pre-record the ending of "defying gravity" and let the lady FLY and lip synch...
don't bite my head off..they do it in Phantom! the ending of the phantom of the opera is a recording! she only has to hit that D ONCE in the studio and thats it..AND..did you know that as long as she can hit a C they can digitally make it the higher note..so christine never has to really EVER sing that high??! so they should just do that with Elphie...it sure would save her vocal chords!

[WhatDoINeedWithLove?]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 2:30am

prepare for an attack. just warning you.

Posted: 1/11/06 at 2:32am

DUCKING and ready!
but really, don't answer if you're annoyed by this post..
i am curious to know others thoughts AND I SEARCHED and found nothing!

Posted: 1/11/06 at 2:35am

I'm so not in the Wicked loop, but didn't they try to restage the end of Defying Gravity for the tour and that's how Stephanie Block got injured?
I'm sure someone here (lol) knows the answer to that.

[jimmirae]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 2:37am

But Andrew, Would you desire to see someone you know couldn't sing a role in a role you pay to see? That is interesting you brought this up, On New Years Eve, The "Amazing" Kreskin predicted a BIG DEAL regarding a well beloved woman singer/performer who will be exposed as a fake after MANY years, a la "Milli Vanilli", and that there was never any way she could have sung that perfectly - He said it would happen in public and she will be heard singing with an orchestra, but the one you will hear is more elaborate than the minimal one onstage.
Anyway, Yes, I would love to see Miss Elphaba really fly and end act 1 directly over the heads of her screaming fans and skywriting, like in the film where she writes "SURRENDER DOROTHY" - only here it will say "Intermission", a la the wooden rabbit from the other top grossing musical.
I would also like to know, How did David Copperfield "Fly" without peter pan wires all over and on TV as well, and Broadway has not found out how to do it yet? I must admit, That was amazing to this very day. Why can't "Wicked" (The Big Business) BUY that secret and get her off the cherry picker and above the heads of her fans already?

[WhatDoINeedWithLove?]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 2:42am

who did he predict? what? a broadway actress?

[jimmirae]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 2:50am

He didn't say, But it sounded like either a Broadway Actress (Where there is an obvious known orchestra) or, I almost felt he was giving an impression of a Streisand or Celine Dion, Someone with a "Beloved" background... would have to be pretty big I would say. The strange thing is, Kreskin is right a lot of the time.

[emo_geek]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 2:59am

we pay to hear people do the ending note differently. Go to the show, bring your ipod, listen to the end note on the sound track, and close your eyes and pretend she is flying all over the place (I wouldn't because EDEN IS AMAZING)

[Popular]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 3:00am

DT - No, it wasn't for Defying Gravity. They tried a new flying effect for the entrance to No Good Deed. I'm sure you can search the board for details on the actual accident. In short, a strap on her harness broke and then the computer controling the lift continued it's program in lifting her and it took a few tries and a crash into the lights before they got her down.

Updated On: 1/11/06 at 03:00 AM

[jimmirae]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 3:09am

High Tech Effects can be dangerous, Hell, I wouldn't get on the cherry picker if they paid me! Have you seen that thing? There's barely enough room for her own feet - It looks like something I would fall on.
The "Bubble" looks fun though, I actually had a dream after reading about Kristen talk about getting ready for the opening in detail, it was exciting, all alone hooken onto the bubble, way up there above the stage, hearing the audience excited just on the other side of the scrim! That was a great dream!

[respeck]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 3:28am

I love the way Defying Gravity is done. It's great that the put away the old Mary Martin cliche flying and really focused on the look, the talent, the power, the emotion. It always gets a huge response from the audience and I don't think any other way would. As far as flying somewhere else, seriously get over it. The show is about what you DIDN'T KNOW about the witches in Oz. If they added more flying I'd expect the ruby slipper, Dorothy, Toto and Glinda's bubble to be pink.

Now can we calm the sea of random Wicked threads just a little.

Posted: 1/11/06 at 4:35am

i want to thank everyone for your kind thoughts and contributions! and not yelling at me!
i think its interesting and i agree i LOVE to hear the different endings on Defying Gravity too...but for the money, i want to see a flying witch dammit! hahahah!! come on..i did a show with a freakin' flying helicopter! LOL!!! its broadWAY! hahaha...
ok...how about THIS....why couldn't they "fly" her on the cherry picker thingy outside of the proscenium like they do in Phantom at the end of act one? that would be amazing because she would be closer to the audience...come on..it would be cool...
"i wanna be a producer..." hahahah....

[Sant]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 6:51am

They didn't do the flying in a more "traditional" way (like in Peter Pan) because it would have required the use of a harness. And using a harness would have affected on Elphaba's vocal performance in that particular sequence because then she would have been sitting on a broom (most likely) and she wouldn't have been able to fully use her diaphragm and midriff to support her voice. And in a high-key belting that support is really needed. And they wanted to do it live. So they decided to find another way to do it so that Elphaba's actor can stand up instead of sitting.

As far as I know, they did try out different options for Elphaba's flying but in order to pull it off live they thought this final version was by far the best way to go.

[Matty]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 7:03am

i read that on the tour and in chicago they do DG a little bit different with the flying. How so?

[mrcacou]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 7:05am

They could have had Elphaba flying over the audience while singing. At the end of the First act of The Witches of Eastwick, the three divas were flying over the audience while singing in harmony. They all had a different path and where flying up to the balcony which makes me think they could have done it with Wicked.

[kidmanboy]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 7:06am

Ummm...Maybe she doesn't fly because Joe Mantello is a good director and the image of her up in the her with her dress flowing down and all of the green lights and the people looking up at her is a beautiful and powerful stage picture. There's lots of points in theater where people aren't ACTUALLY doing what they say they are doing or aren't ACTUALLY where they say they are (in fact they're on a stage in front of you). If you wanna see someone fly, go to the movies or the circus.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 7:11am

Matty, I don't believe it's different on tour with the flying effect. As a matter of fact, Stephanie Block did a segment on TV about the affect in Chicago and it's exactly the way it is in NY.

[Sant]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 7:16am

MRCACOU:

Yes, they could have done it with wires and harnesses like they did with THE WITCHES... but as I already described, they didn't want to use a harness because the flying sequence includes a pretty demanding belting for which the actress/singer playing Elphaba needs to have her whole diaphragm & midriff to support the voice. And the best way to achieve it is to have her body weight on her feet instead of on her waist or hips - where it would be if she was using a harness and wires.

In THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK the leading ladies did sing while up in the air but the vocals were at the very end of the scene and were not such a high key belting as Defying Gravity is.
Updated On: 1/11/06 at 07:16 AM

[perfectlypink3]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 9:47am

One other thing... I have heard it discussed that the broom in just a symbol in Wicked and that something Elphaba is saying in DG is that she doesn't need the broom to fly... She can do it on her own... she doesn't need anything to help her any more she is perfectly cabeable... So maybe thats another reason they didnt want her sitting on the broom...because it takes the power away from the character and gives it to an object and makes it seem that without the broom, the witch has nothing? And its making me chuckle to think of the witch flying around without the broom a la peter pan....ehehe. Somehow I don't think that would work...

[Celestial Entropy]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 10:21am

"High Tech Effects can be dangerous, Hell, I wouldn't get on the cherry picker if they paid me! Have you seen that thing? There's barely enough room for her own feet - It looks like something I would fall on.

I sure wouldn't, either... especially after seeing Shoshana fight with it. If memory serves me correct, others have reported that the lift has malfunctioned on numerous occasions.

In regards of flying/floating woohahs: I like how the broom on the tour floats in on an inconspicious wire harness, as opposed to the cheezey shaking "broom-ona-stick" thing they do at the Gershwin. I don't care how much stage smoke they use, you can still tell it's a darn broom-ona-stick. LoL

If the witch can't fly, atleast let the broom fly! LoL

Updated On: 1/11/06 at 10:21 AM

[AllNite429]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 12:00pm

I completely agree. They should change this on Broadway. I love how that broom in Chicago and on tour floats in from the side of the stage. It is so much more powerful and helped me believe Elphie could make herself fly. Also, maybe I'm reaching here, but I think people are so hung up on Elphie flying on her broom because we are used to seeing witches flying on brooms. I don't believe it is ever mentioned she needs the broom to fly, we only assume that she would need it. She made the broom levitate with the spell from the grimmerie so it doesn't seem too out there that she couldn't just make herself fly.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 12:41pm

PerfectlyPink3, in the book, it is the broom that flies. Elphaba never flies without it.

[lovinlife]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 12:50pm

Does anyone recall the moment in DG where the broom comes out of the stage trap door and she is holding the broom for the rest of the number? Guess not. Also, why would they need to pre-record the last notes if they have an impeccable track record of properly casting the role to assure that it's sung the way they want it to be. Yes, the effect is dismal compaired to WHAT they COULD do, but I have always heard these stories of Idina being afraid of heights and they just found the final effect less expensive and easier on the green girl, so they kept her on-stage.

[WickedRentEder]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 1:13pm

Well technically Elphie WAS flying and I think dubbing the end of "Defying Gravity" would've taken that certain 'umph' out. That part, to me, is very poignant and singing it has a much better effect. That's just me.