Sorry it's blurry. >_>
NOMtW: Kendra seemed a little off in some spots today. One of her "aaand goodness knows" was really deep and throaty, and it threw me for a minute as I looked across the stage looking for the man that was taking Galinda's line. >_> It struck me today (the third time seeing her, lol) that she is definitely not an extremely fabulous singer, but the rest of her fabulousness more than makes up for it!
DOS: Merideth didn't exactly get a lot of applause when she ran out, like Vicki did when I saw her. Just a polite smattering. Glinda rolls out, and a girl behind me goes, "There's no way she changed clothes that fast, that must be a double." *rolls eyes*
TW&I: Ahh, Merideth's first real example. Someone else said it, I believe in the Tonight's Cast thread, that Merideth was pretty quiet overall but definitely could get louder, and this proved to be pretty much true. Her voice was pretty light and airy throughout, except for the last couple end notes. Interesting riff on the second-to-last hold. Said last notes totally filled up the theater, were loud and pure. Patty Duke's entrance got a LOT of applause, but during her intro to the song, she got a good 2-3 beats ahead of the orchestra. I know sometimes they speed it up a little on purpose and it ends up working out, but this felt like a genuine rushing mistake to me (mostly because she's actually singing her and her notes correspond with the chords the orchestra is making) and I was non-appreciative.
WITF: No comments or complaints here. Nobody fell down or anything, haha.
SB: Still unsure about Merideth. I can't help with the comparisons, lol. Vicki's Elphaba so far has seemed more strong, personality-wise, louder, more outspoken, more brash. Merideth kinda seemed like she didn't really feel most of what she was saying, aside from the parts where she *had to be mad*.
DTL: Beautiful as always. Patty's timing was still a bit off, she and Kendra crossed lines once or twice. Merideth's dance seemed... faster and drew more laughter than Vicki's ever did. Vicki's seems sadder and/or more defiant, and kept the audience in a sort of silent sympathy.
Popular: I love Kendra Kassebaum. XD She seemed even spazzier than usual, which is definitely saying something, because she's always a spaz! Merideth is indeed very smiley. She was almost giggling at the beginning of the number, but seemed to settle down a bit. Oh, Kendra threw a growl somewhere in the middle (aside from her usual "I knooow about popuuuular") which had me giggling. Merideth stared in the mirror for a second or two too long, and I felt like we were waiting for whatever was next, which shouldn't happen-- gotta keep moving!
INTG: So with this scene and the spell, as the scene before TW&I, I didn't really notice Merideth performing the spell as much as I did Vicki. I noticed that things were freaking out before I noticed her "spell-casting" pose, which it seemed she just sort of fell into, as opposed to striking vehemently. But the song was very good, and her airy, quieter tone really worked for this song, making her sound more destroyed, heartbroken, and helpless.
OSD: Cute as always. No errors with the big-headed things (brain fart here, help me out), although I keep waiting for one every time! Haha! Random, but I really love the ensemble dancer with the green ballet shoes. I love that she's trained in that and is able to incorporate it. (She's the photographer in this particular song, btw.)
ASM: I think I'm in love with David Garrison. Just so y'know.
I love his singing, I love his cute little dance moves.DG: Merideth proved herself on this one, but again, especially on the last handful of notes, I felt like she was holding back. Didn't fill up the theater like she did in TW&I, and there weren't any special riffs.
TG: Kendra did a straight hold on her last high note, only using vibrato for the last two beats or so-- she usually does it for the whole note, I wonder if she was feeling unsure about it. Patty messed up again during this number, talking over Kendra, checking herself, and waiting until Kendra was done. Then she was rushing her singing-lines again, which kinda made me fidget in my seat. :/
WWotE: Elphaba's appearance in the closet was definitely not as frightening as Vicki's was. Vicki also manages to sound more sincere when she pops out and says, "Oh I'm sorry, did I frighten you?" Vicki's opening line is... darker, more haunted, more sarcastic. Merideth was kinda like, "oh yeah, beautiful people are totally getting more beautiful" etc. Again, I think she was opting more for laughter.
Wonderful: Good, no complaints. David didn't bonk his mic with his hat the way he did last time, haha. After Elphaba discovers Dr. Dillamond, her "You want to know my heart's desire?" was really good, the way she said it just tugged at my heartstrings-- like she was saying you don't know me at all and you never will, so let me spell it out for you.
INTG®: Kendra has a tendency to go "nnnnGirl" on the very last note, probably because that sound is easier to hit that low than the "guh". But other than that, flawless as usual.
ALAYM: Can I just say that I love the bass drum in the beginning of this song? It's EPIC. Anyway. Merideth's movements didn't seem as passionate as they could've, especially the lean-back she has on "see how bright we shine" etc. The two times I saw Vicki and Nicolas do it, I thought it was like, the sexiest thing I'd ever seen onstage, lol.
Maybe they just had better chemistry. *shrug* Anyway, Nicolas' three-note fall at the end of "It's up that I fell" is simply gorgeous. He doesn't do it quickly, it's more like feell-lll-lll and I don't know why, but I so look forward to it each time I see the show.Catfight: The only thing I really noted about this scene was that their slaps were both really far-off and really obvious. I guess it's just timing. But yeah, I always think it's hella cute when the guard totally lifts Kendra off the ground.
NGD: By far Merideth's best song of the night. BY FAR. Little riffs thrown in everywhere, ah, it was amazing. She didn't utilize the airstream as much as Vicki did, but that's not a complaint, only a note. Haha. When she was done reading the spell the first time, she looked really anxious and her "UGH" was accompanied by slapping the book around a little bit, and it was really obvious that her Elphaba, in this instant, is aggravated, distraught, and completely at a loss for a way to save the love of her life. I loved it. <3
MotWH: Again, Patty Duke bugged me a bit. Her "the rest of Oz with this 'aren't I good' routine" line sounded way too perky & happy.
FG: Merideth had a couple flat notes in this, but the harmonies between her and Kendra were really good. This scene has always felt like one of the more awkward ones in terms of staging, because they don't really do much-- they just stand there and sing. I heard somewhere that the reason scenes and camera angles in movies change so rapidly is because the human eye can only stay focused on something before approximately 3 seconds before it wants to move onto something new. When there's nothing going on in the scene, the eye wanders.
Demise: Ah, this scene gets me every time-- specifically, Chistery handing the bottle to Glinda.
Also, when we went back to Morrible and the Wizard and Glinda shows him the bottle, a girl behind me said, "Oh my God" as she realized what had gone on, and it set me off all over again. God, really, that's a terrible thing, to know that you've just sent successfully murdered your own daughter. Sigh. Merideth's ending was really good, sweet and sincere.Anyway, so that was it; curtain call and Fiyero announcing BC/EFA again, w00t! Patty blew a kiss at the conductor on her bow, that was cute. And when Nicolas was talking about the raffle (something along the lines of "could be your chance to be on Broadway!"), she yelled, "That's how we got here!" and everyone dissolved into laughter. So my friend and I managed to get out of the theater rather quickly and into the line for pictures again; we were the second to buy but the first into the VIP room, even before the Witches arrived. So, picture:
They all loved my tattoo (as pictured in my sig) and my ruby slippers, which had been getting compliments all day long. Kendra recognized me because of my necklace! I was like, "I met you two weeks ago!" and her eyes immediately honed in on the necklace and she was like, "Oh yeaahh!" Merideth was really really sweet, she said it was lonely being out here so far from the tour but that she was loving it anyway. Kendra said my tattoo was really well done and I told them I designed it myself and both of them ogled it again, lol. One of the picture-taking ladies was like, "Now THAT'S dedication!" lol.
My friend on the way out: "I TOUCHED THEM I TOUCHED THEM!" Hahaha. It was her first Wicked experience. (: At intermission I asked her, "¿Te gusta?" ("You like?" in Spanish) and she said, "That is an understatement." Yay.
Who came out at the stagedoor?