On broadwayworld.com, there was a topic on last night's Wicked show. The poster said SJB didn't fly during her defy gravity scene.. Anybody go??

-gasp- Steph didn't fly??
DUNDUNDUNNNNNNNN
Okay dramatic effect. I HAD to do it.

hmm...i haven't heard anything about that. why wouldn't she fly?

She prolly didnt lean back far enough for the lever to click or somin like that
I am really getting sick of the idiots on BWW.Com, that freaking site is FILLED with people who cant help but bash WICKED. Its rather annoying. If you go on there and say "I like WICKED" people fricking say "Your an idiot" but if you go on there and dare to say "Ooh I dont really care for Mary Poppins" they will kill ya. I hate that site
it needs to go DOWN!
sorry had a moment
but I think Stephanie just didnt get into it right maybe? Or the computer malfunctioned and didtn raise the lift.

Sometimes the cherry picker just doesn't work. It's happened a lot of times. I believe every actress has had it happen to them at least once.

Oooh and just wanna say congrats to WICKED
IT MADE $1,707 MILLION!!! WEE!! It made more then the Grinch, which is a Holiday show on a Holiday week lol I find that funny.

This is a list of the Elphaba's the lift hasnt worked for.
Idina
Shoshana
Eden
Ana
Stephanie
Julia (I think)
Kerry
JLG
Kristy
thats all I can think of

OOHH!!! Claps for Wicked!!!!

As for the lfit...hmmm....it's definitely possible. I know when Idina didn't lift, it'd only boost her performance like 90%--she could get so fierce!!! Maybe it was the same for Steph!

yea Idina got TICKED when it didnt fly in London one time when I saw her. She was really angry looking...rather scary I must say

OMG sounds scary enough! I can only imagine what it must have looked like in the front row for that show!

Now back on topic......

Add Victoria to the list.

omg i really hope she flies when i see her... if she dosnt i will cry even more than when she actually does fly.... make sense?

I don't think you have a problem of her not flying. I think it's a rarity that the lift doesn't work, and/or that whomever is playing Elphaba doesn't fly.

She probley was looking forward to go up probley most of all the actress like going up in the lift remember SJB looked very excited going up the lift in the how it works video chicago!!

i don't know about you guys, but i would LOVE to see an elphaba not fly. it would be interesting to see. how they do it differently.

I... have no idea what you just said... >_<

Sorry I have problems compeleting sentence and the grammer

Okay what I meant

I mean Idina was looking forward to going up the lift or was embaressed that the lift didnt work. And most actress who play Elphaba role probley likes going up the lift. And in the chicago of how it works video where SJB showing how to defy gravity in wicked looked excited!!.

thats good to hear

When did JLG and Kristy Cates not fly?

Haha, it's no problem! I just didn't understand.

is there a link to that video?

What was the date?

/threadjack/

When I saw it? It was during a preview...the exact date I dont remember I will have to look up in my scrap book (which is barried under a pile of clothes lol)

And those who are wondering what they do when the lift doesnt work...the actress playing Elphaba basicaly steps off the lift, runs to the front of the stage, and the guards fall down like usual (but when it didnt work for Idina they sorta moved off more to the sides if I recall correctly) and the Elphaba basicaly stands there and sings...and alot of fog sorta covers the ground more then usual. And when the chorus run out at the end, they either get really low to the ground around Elphaba or they stand behind her. Either way it doesnt look all that good. I knew that its a quick effect and there isnt much time to prepare for somin else if the lift doesnt work but they should have SOMETHING worked out...like maybe have a harness RIGHT next to the lift that the Elphaba can just quickly switch from the lift to the harness really quickly maybe? Idk but they have to have somin a little better looking cuz the lighting and stuff is a mess.

I'm not sure about Kristy, but it happened to Jenna on her very first performance as Elphaba.

Aw, that must suck to not defy gravity on your first show!

IDK about you guys..but i think it would be interesting to see an Elphaba not fly. lol. I mean..whenever i see videos online or w/e of defying gravity, i always get chills watching them go up..its just SOO exciting. like my fave par.t i remember seeing lisa go up i was so excited [first and so far only time seeeing wicked] but i think it would be a stroy to tell if the lift didnt work. lol

I hope that if I ever get to see it, that the first time I do see it the lift works.. but after that, I wouldn't mind if it didn't.. but I would feel bad for the actress..

It's probably no serious issue. Either the flying machine was temporarily malfunctioning or SJB didn't lean back far enough. ALthough if the lift doesn't work when I come, I shall be a bit disappointed (30 more days! )

In a matter of safety, that would be INCREDIBLY dangerous, not to mention difficult on the actresses breathe support.

Just saying...
I've worked with on shows with flying harnesses before, and even if you don't fly, a lot of times you have to be at flight rehearsals to make sure you don't get kicked in the head by flyers. It would be dangerous if you suddenly had a flyer in the air and the ensemble or crew was unaware.

Yeah, carry on..IDK if Steph didn't fly, but I'm sure she kicked but anyway.

hehe I just had a vision of SJB soaring upinto the air in the harness and kicking the guard she stabbed her hand on for revenge lol
tho it was an accident

And I'm sure SJB is not to fond of harness's right now after what happened before the tour started.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that this is the first time that the lift in New York hasn't worked. To my knowledge, Idina's first flightless performance was in London, Shoshana said it didn't happen to her, it happened to Eden on tour and in LA, to Julia on tour, and to Ana in Chicago, but to none of them on Broadway.

If so, I wonder if it's because of the kind of lift used on Broadway, since it's the huge slow one that goes straight up as opposed to the small one on wheels that goes upward and outward quickly, which the other productions use.

No its malfuntioned on Broadway before.
For Idina it nearly didnt go up till "Everyone deserves the chance to fly!"
and for Shoshana it didnt work once.

When did it not work for Kerry?
I don't recall that at all.

About Idina's date:
The first Sat Matinee of the London Previews... I want to say the 9th September 2006?
And again in November... Possible the 11th?

well, thats still a good place to go up.

Sho never said it worked she had issues with it once that once it was going up it was shaking very aggressively and she said she thought she was going to die lol...but it ended up that she was fine the whole time and the curtain got caught or something.....but she always flew.....


idina was late once...there is a certain something that shows it......

but this is the first time on broadway that elphie has not gotten off the ground...there very anal about it lol...if you watch some videos you see a stage hand help them lock into the machine from behind especially since the broadway one is visible in under 5 seconds...

she runs the sound effect ends the lights on the side turn on "its not her (spot light goes on) she moves forward and its me up we go...

I think that's kind of cool that it went up at that line.

Someone said that Jenna's first time as Elphaba (I guess on tour?) it didn't work. That must've been terrifying. I probably would've jumped off the stage haha.

I hadn't heard that about JLG. That must have been a bit of a let down for her.
As for SJB, everything weird that could possibly have happened has happened. What a strange run.

When I saw Lisa it didn't go up until "Everyone Deserves the chance...blah blah..." she was standing trying to get out of the lift but couldn't and it went up...I almost crapped my pants lol

^^ That's prettyy funny. She was probably like freaking out when it was just suddenly going up, haha

OMG. thats what i wanmted to ask @ the SD yesterday!!! if the lift worked!!!! i knew i was forgetting to ask something. i was gonna ask steph..and if she didnt come out [pwhich she didnt] i was gonna ask annaleigh! ugh. lol

The thing that shows the lift working incorrectly, is if the orchestra holds the final noyes before she flies. THis gives time to either push back on the bar to get the actress up in the air, or to get her out if it isn't working properly...

Jenna's happened her first time going on because she didn't know how to work the thing.

aw i feel so bad for her! that must have been freaky.

EEEEEEEEEEEEERRRR.... If we are reffering to 26th December 2007, i was there, and she 100% flew!!!! I just got back from my vacation to NYC, and i went on that Wednesday evening and she flew, she was really good, and definatley flew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing went wrong with the lift!

There were two performances

the first post in the topic said "at last nights show"...

...so..lol..maybe she did fly?..if it was NIGHT...hehe =]

anyway, i still want to know if she did infact fly or not fly!

So how exactly does the lift work, anyway? Is the actress wearing something that she clips onto the lift, or is she standing on a platform, or what? Sorry if this seems a stupid question, I'm relatively new to Wicked(only seen it once, in LA on Nov. 23. Saw Eden and Emily Rozek(Hilty's s/b)). I loved it. I just wish I'd been able to see Megan and Eden together before Eden left on the 30th.

here ya go...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RgMxW-uRVJ4

Thanks a lot, I always had the illusion that her feet were free. I guess all the backlighting does its job so you can't see her feet. Thats really cool, thanks, great find.