This won't exactly answer your question, but I read somewhere that the tours actually have two dragons, and they leapfrog each other, each doing every other performance. This is because taking it down, moving it and installing it takes more time than any other part of the set. This way they can begin setting up the dragon before the rest of the set actually gets there, and take longer taking it down if they need to.

I'm just amazed that even with alternating dragons, they still manage to move the rest of the set from city to city in just two days. This must be a gigantic job, especially when you also add all the costumes, instruments, and all the "everything else" that must be moved each time.

Yes, I'm pretty sure that is Chicago.



Neat! I did not know that.

Thats really interesting. Do you know if the tour dragons are actually attached to that wooden framework that they have? (ie the last picture)

I know its a strange question, but does Glinda wear white tights with her Shiz costume? Some pictures it looks like she does and others it doesn't.

I think she wears baige colored ones.

And to answer the dragon question...the dragon is it's own entity and the wood frame is attatched to it later

The original costume (worn by Kristin, Jennifer, and their covers) had flesh-tone tights. The white tights first came in with the costume change and I believe every actress since then has worn white ones.

That's the original San Fran, I believe, at the Curran. The current dragon looks different still.

It is pretty awesome...they have from approximately 10:30 PM Sunday until usually 8:00 PM Wednesday - so more like 2 1/2 days - but it's still lots of stuff. The costumes are all in rolling cabinets, as are the wigs, so I assume those are pretty easy, and the only orchestra I can see posing a problem is the drummer, as all but six instrumentalists are hired in each city, but the sets have to take forever. I believe they have about one-hundred people to help with load in and load out though.

Thanks for the dragon info!

On another, unrelated note, I was also wondering (and this may have been covered before) - does anyone know exactly when they cut the Wonderful dance at the end?

Idk the exact details but I know it was altered because of the London production. Idk why tho.

I don't know when it was but I know they had to keep altering it for different Wizards who had different dancing abilities. It's still the to some degree. I've seen three different Wizards and it's been different with each of them although the full dance is not actually there any more

It happened in London when the person playing the Wizard got injured and couldn't dance. So that he wouldn't have to dance and injure himself more possibly beng out of the show they cut the song to where Elphaba shouts "Stop" which led into the dance sequence. They discovered this worked better with Elphaba's motivations and decided to keep it in the show. Next it went into the L.A. production and then into the others permanently. I think its fits better with the show but still miss that wonderful dance sequence that plays in my head with Stephanie J Block and David Garrison when I first saw it.

Very interesting!! Thank you!

Very interesting - thanks for posting!! I'd always assumed that it was just one of the changes they made when it started in London, didn't realise it was made after it had started there.

Don't forget that the dance sequence was not there in the San Fran previews. It was added when the show moved to Broadway, if I'm not mistaken?

Ok, interesting question. Everyone has always told me that when the Chicago production closed that the set was turned into the 2nd tour set. But the 8week tour engagement article for Wicked tour in Chicago said this:
.
Very interesting. So the 2nd tour got a completely new set?

^ I doubt they would've made a whole new set, honestly. It was probably just a figure of speech.

That's what I was told as well by other fans at the stage door of the final Chicago performance, and I think they were talking to cast members about it.

Maybe parts of the Chicago set got re-used for the 2NT but definitely not the whole thing. The whole reason for the 2NT was to shrink the set in order to visit smaller theaters and the Chicago set would have been too big for that. I know they certainly didn't use the Chicago floor piece because the downstage gears are pretty much non-existent on the 2NT whereas in Chicago they were rather prominent.

Yeah; I doubt if much of the Chicago set is with the tour at all.

The real question is why are the sets in storage. Another is when the tour came back on '05, didn't they have the full Chicago sets in use? Look at this video of SJB.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgMxW-uRVJ4

The tour set became the Chicago set. It never left and another set was built for the tour.

Interesting...

Yeah; it kind of makes sense I suppose; it saves moving time. How long after the tour left did Chicago open?

July 2005 but idk when the tour came in. Though I find it strange that they built the sets for the tour and left them there while anticipating a full-fledged production. Can anyone elaborate?

The tour left Chicago on June 12, 2005 and the sitdown started previews on June 24, 2005.

Well it was planned that way; they could have just made new sets in Chicago, but what would have been the point of taking them down?

So the next London cast change will include recasts of every principal role - has this ever happened before in Wicked?

I don't believe so - the closest I remember was "Wicked" Broadway November 2008 - new Elphaba (Marcie Dodd), Glinda (Alli Mauzey), Fiyero (Kevin Kern), Nessarose (Brynn O'Malley), and Boq (Alex Brightman).

It seems like London is the only production that has annual cast changes. All the other productioins have contracts ending at all different times.

I think it's a West End thing in general, there's quite a few other shows in London that have annual cast changes.

My friends and I are seeing the show tomorrow in Syracuse, does anyone know where the stage door is?

Are we not allowed to write our opinion about a performer we have not seen live?

Well there's only one other way you can form an opinion, and it can't be discussed. I'm all for having an opinion, but I'd say no.

The last time this issue was raised the moderators said to just not say whether or not you saw them live. Don't begin your sentence with "Well I've never seen them live, but..." or "Judging from audios I've heard..." and it's fine.

You are allowed to write an opinion about a performer you haven't seen live...it can be based on legal recordings you have seen, it can be based on what you have heard from your friends, etc (however, if the means you used was illegal, you can't actually talk about it on this site).

However, I think there is a distinction between what is "allowed" and what is "respected". Although you are allowed to write an opinion about a performer you haven't seen live, people may not respect that, or may not give much weight to your opinion for making judgements based on limited exposure to the performer.

Respect is as you said the key distinction for me. Those I read from people who have seen the performers in person I respect; those that haven't I don't.

I don't know where to put this, but it seems random so, where Marcie and Natalie the only Elphie/Glinda pair in which both played Nessa?

I know Marcie Dodd & Michelle London has happened (I saw them together) but I can't think of anyone else.

Shoshana Bean and Stacie Morgain Lewis.

thanks for answering! All I could think of was Eden Espinosa and Megan Sikora.

Did Chelsea Krombach ever go on as Nessa?

Yes, on tour. There's also Shoshana and Megan Sikora.

Marcie,Alli,Kevin and Brynn all started the same night Nov 13,2008. Alex was a week or 2 before.

It was November 11th. I was there

I do have a random question. I don't know my German Geography particularly well, but how come the German production went into random cities that I'd never heard before? Like why not any of the major capitals?

I don't think the German production went into "random cities". Stuttgart and Oberhausen are both quite large cities with large theatre's. Which capitals would you think suited for the German production? I know that Stage also has big productions in Hamburg and Berlin... which might mean those theatre's were occupied at the time - but I'm not sure.

I'm not complaining though, Oberhausen is relatively near the Dutch border

Oh ok, that makes a bit more sense

It just seems that the global productions generally go into capitol cities or very major cities, ie London, Sydney etc and I'd never head of Stuttgart or Oberhausen before. Not that it really matters, but it's interesting anyways

I thought the same too Catherine when I first heard of Wicked being in Stuttgart...how come not Hamburg or Berlin which are more well known...well to ppl outside of Germany with theatres in the actual city centres. In discussing with the Wicked Fan Club president, Thomas, while over there for the Wicked finale, he mentioned how Stuttgart has VERY strong theatre culture and hosts the bigger productions. Also the factor of it being closer to the border....although everywhere is close enough in Europe...akin to us traveling to Sydney from Melbourne to see our production here!

I think the comment of the Fan Club President also makes a lot of sense I guess the same would count for The Netherlands. If/When Wicked finally comes here, it will be in the Fortis Circus Theatre in Scheveningen. Not Amsterdam or Utrecht, but the unpronouncable town by the name of Scheveningen. I don't think a lot of people have heard of that place either - and it's definitely not one of the largest cities in The Netherlands, although it's quite close to The Hague But here is probably the biggest theatre in The Netherlands, that has had productions like Elizabeth, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Tarzan and Mary Poppins. All big, spectacular shows that don't go on tour in The Netherlands (or finish there).

The place is definitely not the most convenient geographically speaking, but it is close to the beach and it has this relatively huge theatre - so people come.
And hopefully in a few years people will come there for Wicked...