24.11.2007 matinee

My first German Wicked show, after having seen it 18x in London (very soon to be more )
I didn’t know what to expect, because on the one hand, I really love Wicked, on the other hand, I cringed every time I heard one of the songs in German. I wasn’t even excited about the show opening in Germany, but I was too curious not to see it.
I’m glad I had heard so many songs beforehand, that way the first “shock” had already worn off and I could focus more on the cast and the show itself than just on the translation.

Cast:
Elphaba- Willemijn Verkaik
Glinda- Lucy Scherer
Fiyero- Mark Seibert
Moq- Stefan Stara
Nessa-Nicole Radeschnig
Mme Akaber- Francesca Taverni
Dr. Dillamonth- Michael Günther
Wizard-Carlo Lauber


Willemijn was really good. Her voice is very powerful, her strongest song was No Good Deed which was truly amazing. She’s pretty adult and serious in the first half which isn’t necessarily my favourite interpretation, but her act 2 Elphaba was great. She really made me feel for Elphaba. She was the main reason I went out of the show with a positive feeling!
Lucy has a beautiful voice, the top notes in NOMTW were excellent! Probably the best I’ve ever heard. Not sure about her acting, it wasn’t totally bad, but partly a bit exaggerated and somehow her Glinda wasn’t very likeable...
Mark was not very convincing I must say. He didn’t really come across as easy-going and careless in the beginning, and also didn’t really show the development of the part, as he barely changed his acting in the course of the show.
Stefan was quite cute as Moq and Nicole really nailed her big scene!

All in all, I enjoyed it more than I expected, though I still have a lot of issues with the German texts.
“No one mourns the wicked” for example is translated “No one cries for witches”.
“The good man scorns the wicked”--> “Those who are good hate the witches” So, do they hate Glinda then? Or is Glinda no witch at all? But then why is the subtitle “The Witches of Oz” and why do they advertise “1 Musical, 2 witches..”??

“Thank Goodness” –> “Wie Herrlich” Usually you say “HERRlich”, but due to the melody, they sing “Wie HerrLICH”. This way it sounds like “Widerlich” (which means disgusting), and I actually understood that a few times during the song.

After ALAYM, Elphaba says: “Zum ersten Mal fühle ich mich irgendwie...Wicked” I’m not sure if this works, because it didn’t get any reaction from the audience in both shows I saw. I doubt people really get that.

There are just so many little things that get lost through the translation. But if you don’t know the original, it probably doesn’t matter much.

There aren’t many changes to the original (London version).

There is a short summary of the events in the Wizard of Oz included in Glinda’s “Because there has been so much rumour...” speech, which ends something like this: “Little Dorothy, who was send out by our Wizard, accompanied by her comrades the scarecrow,... , managed to fulfill a heroic deed. By the well targeted use of a bucket of water, she induced the so called witch melting. Yes, the wicked witch of the west is dead!”
Dorothy’s name is also mentioned a few times, e.g. Glinda says “Bye Dorothy” at the beginning of the cornfield scene.

Elphaba + Fiyero do not run over the bridge in the Lion cub scene. They exit & come down the stairs on the left side (seen from auditorium). They also stay on the main stage the whole scene.

In Thank Goodness, a few ensemble members stand on the bridge.

There are three curtains! (That's common for Germany though)


25.11.2007 matinee

Both alternates were on for this show, apart from that, same cast as the day before.

Glinda- Jana Stelley
Absolutely excellent!! Her acting was spot on in every scene. She was funny, lovable and conveyed Glindas emotions perfectly. Her singing was amazing as well! Her wand was close to getting caught in her skirt a few times during the catfight, so if there’s anything she could improve, it would be the wand swinging. But that’s really all!

Elphaba- Sabrina Weckerlin
For me, Wicked has always been more about Elphaba than about Glinda. This time, it was totally different. Sabrina’s acting was so weak, she made Elphaba seem completely insignificant. She barely changed her facial expression & her Elphie appeared to be bored and indifferent most of the time. I can’t even say her interpretation wasn’t good, because she just didn’t seem to have one.
Jana totally stole the show!!
(Btw I went with a friend who had never seen the show before and she had the same impression...)

Altogether two good shows & I'm glad I saw the German version, but I don't feel the urge to see it again.

Thanks for the reviews. Nevertheless I can't agree to your position. I consider the German production is on a par with the English/American one. And IMHO Willemijn and Lucy are the best "witches" I ever heard and saw. Also Sabrina has suprised me. The translation had to accept compromises as every translation. And so on. Soon I will also do some reviews to show my feelings of the show. ;-)

Well, I didn’t say it’s not. The fact that I prefer the London production has nothing to do with the quality of the German show.


That of course it a matter of personal taste.
I did like Willemijn as well and the fact I didn’t really like Lucy has nothing to do with her being in the German production. I still like her more than Dianne. ;-) And Jana definitely is one of the best Glindas I’ve ever seen!



I hoped she would surprise me, too, as I had read quite good reviews about her. But she just didn’t.


Sure it had, and it obviously wasn’t made for hardcore fans of the original. That’s what I said, if you don’t know the original –which I believe applies for the majority of people seeing it in Stuttgart- I don’t think it matters much. Nevertheless I think the points I mentioned above could have been solved in a better way. ;-)

Well, I hope you haven't misunderstood my post. I didn't want to bash your opinon about the German show. I just gained different impressions during my four or five shows in Stuttgart. ;-)

I didn't think so. (we're here to discuss after all, aren't we?) I just wanted to point out that I wasn't bashing the German show either. ;-)

Wow, I really enjoyed both of your reviews. It was so nice to hear about various changes, both staging and lyrical. Hopefully as time moves on various performers will tweak things and really get into their characters. Thanks!

Thanks for the reviews, I enjoyed them very much!
It's interesting to read another opinion, especially if it's different from my own. And that it is, not in all points, but definitely concerning Sabrina (I really liked her, she 's not the best Elphaba I've ever seen, but I love her voice and her acting wasn't that bad) and the general impression of the show (I'm already tinking of buying tickets for my next time).
But I absolutely agree with you about Jana. She was great, maybe the best actress on stage.

You're right, that thing about in NOMTW about saying that all good people hate witches, that doesn't makes sense, what do they think, Glinda is "Glinda, the Good Fairy of the North"?

Also:


Same thing in the LA production.

Thanks Elphaba 79 for the fab reviews......I still cant wait to see thias show lol! However what is with addition of the Dorothy References I konw that I have see and heard *cough*coz I've heard of Glinda telling munchins to go away at the cornfield scene but thatwas removed I believe by the time it got to Broadway!!
x

I think in the German version of WoO, Glinda is called the "Enchantress" (Zauberin) of the North, so saying that good people hate witches would be correct.
I am not really sure about it, though, but I think it was like this in the WoO-musical my school did last year.

Oh thanks, that would make sense, except in the poster and advertisement they say "2 Witches"

In the film, she introduces herself as the good witch of the north. Considering the fact that the film isn't that well known in Germany it wouldn't matter much if they decided that Glinda isn't a witch in the musical, but then, as stated above, it doesn't make sense to call it "The Witches of Oz" and to advertise 1 Musical, 2 witches. Plus, witches aren't necessarily wicked.

I also forgot to mention, the “Lemons and melons and pears”- joke and “There’s no place like home” are completely left out. (in fact I never got those because I didn't know the film either when I saw the show for the first time )

Quick question for those who have seen it a few times or those in the know: now it's been open a week or so, is there an approximate schedule for when the alternates are going on or does it seem to be completely random performances? I'm coming to see it with my sister in 2 weeks and we'd quite like to know who to expect!

Thanks
Sarah x

Isn't the movie far less-known than in the US? So I guess it would be ok to take out the references. Because they aren't funny if you don't understand them.

Willemijn has a schedule on her website of which six performances she's doing each week. It appears to be updated weekly.

Here's the link to Willemijn's schedule: http://www.willemijn-verkaik.com/deutsch.htm

and here's Sabrina's http://www.sabrina-weckerlin-fc.de/html/spielplan.html.


Exactly, the movie isn't as well known here, and a lot of references (like "And now that wretched little farmgirl has walked off with them", or the Yellow Brick Road) didn't really get a reaction from the audience.

English speakers should rather use this link:

http://www.willemijn-verkaik.com/english.htm

3 curtains?? how so??

3 curtain calls ;-) (There's only one in London and I always thought that's not enough)

How do you have 3 curtain calls??? Isn't the norm one? I'm mega confused.

In Germany nearly every Show gets 3 Curtain Calls. I don't know why they change it, when bringing the Musicals over to Germany, but they do.

One is normal for Wicked but in theatre generally multiple curtain calls happen a lot, depending on audience enthusiasm for what they've just seen. In fact the first time I saw Wicked (London with Idina)I was surprised, given the reception it received, that there was only one curtain call as with an audience that enthusiastic I would have expected several. But then I'm used to opera where I've seen anything up to a dozen curtain calls.

I seem to remember that, in seeing the U.S. tours of "Rent" and "Avenue Q" in the last couple of months, both shows had two curtain calls, but I could be wrong.

In Germany three curtain calls are usual for musicals. If there is only one the people are disappointed. They tried one curtain call with "3 Musketeers - The Musical" but in time they do three calls as well, cause the audience wanted it.