After not having seen the show since it left Melbourne (*tear*), I was very excited to see it on Broadway not once but twice! I was lucky enough to win the lottery for front row seats for the matinee performance on the 2nd, while I already had a ticket in Orchestra row V for the 4th.
Warning - this is gonna be fairly vague and ill-structured, with most comparisons being to the Melbourne cast and production.
Jen DiNola as Elphaba (2nd June only)
I missed Jen in Sydney, so it was a pleasent surprise to have the chance to see her (does this count in the Aussie Elphie Bingo?).
Her Elphie came off as a very angry and defensive girl, deliberately snarky - and almost deliberately insulting to both Glinda and Fiyero even after DTL. It wasn't until Sentimental Man and DG that she let loose with the emotion. Her WTF face during Popular was hilarious though.
Vocally, I like her - her TWaI was good, WITF, INTG, OSD...it was only DG that she had a few issues - she was a little off pitch-wise occasionally in the first half of the song, but seemed strong in the second until the "bring me down"s which seemed a little raspy...then she cracked on the yell. I was kinda surpised to see her back on after intermission and worried, given she seemed hoarse dialogue-wise, but her singing was fine and she killed NGD. Loved that final riff on "Again"!
ALAYM...um...I'm not really sure what was happening with this scene (the fact I couldn't really see through the smoke didn't help). It was sung well, acted well but...it was weird. I don't know.
Other stuff - I really liked her chemistry with Jenny during WWotE, and being so close to the stage in DG you could see all the green had worn off the pads of her hands. Also, she's the only Elphaba I've seen that looks like she's learning to dance with Galinda during DTL - her movements were just behind Katies for the first round. I like. Nice character touch.
Stephanie Torns as Elphaba (4nd June only)
Those of you who've read my other reviews might have noticed that I'm a little fond of understudy Elphabas.
So you can imagine my happiness at seeing Stephanie's name on the board.Her Elphie is very different creature to Jen's. This is a much more hopeful and emotionally vulnerable Elphaba - her little wave from the top of the stairs in DTL, they way she held the hat out to Galinda accusingly after being laughed at...when she tells the Wizard "No-one believed in you more than I did!", I believed it.
Vocally...I'm not entirely sure how I feel about her. She has a great voice, no denying that, she did a bit of riffing but not too much. Her TWaI was good and her INTG was beautiful. Her DG was good, though she went fairly loud in the first half and her final yell seemed a tad weak. She made some note choices I haven't heard before which was kinda nice...first single note 'again' I've ever heard in NGD! Overall great, but not earthshatteringly fantastic. Her FG with Katie was just beautiful. Great chemistry between the two of them.
Katie Rose Clarke as Glinda
My intial impression of Katies was 'Oh, she's much more subdued', which I think isn't quite accurate (well maybe, compared to Lucy). She brings the funny, and the wacky especially in Popular, but her line delivery is much more natural and less 'obvious joke - laugh here', particularly in the schoolroom scene. Her chemistry with great with Andy, and fairly good with Jen, but with Stephanie it was fantastic. They just really worked together.
Gorgeous voice. TG was a highlight for me both for her beautiful singing and the way she and Andy interact in that scene.
Cute stuff - hurting her neck toss-tossing early in DTL, her little love-fest with Pfannie and Shen-Shen after DOS, and her Morrible imitation post-melting was hilarious. WIN!
Andy Karl as Fiyero
I was honestly not sure what to make of Andy the first time I saw him. I didn't even know whether I liked his interpretation or not. He is a very different Fiyero to what I've been used to. He's less dumb playboy and more disaffected and deliberately insulting. Which makes him a match to Jen's Elphaba in that sense. One of the things that struck me was in the lion cub schoolroom scene - he's not shocked and horrified, he's ready to go along with the other students and the proffessor until Elphaba freaks out. As good as his chemistry with Stephanie was, I think I prefer him as a match to Jen's Elphie - they're both rude, disaffected and defensive. Stephanie plays Elphaba so hopeful and vulnerable that Fiyero comes across a little too jerkish for her - he's insulting her, running away from her, then suddenly wants to be with her and follows her and says she can never see her best friend again and then there's this voice in my head screaming "THIS IS NOT A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP!". Um. Or maybe that's just me...
I was really looking forwards to seeing/hearing Andy, and he didn't disappoint. He has a great voice and his DTL is wonderful (I didn't even giggle at his dancing). His ALYAM with Jen was, as I said, weird. The chemistry wasn't fantastic and he didn't go high on "up that I fell" which surprised me - he did on the 4th with Stephanie. Their ALAYM had much better chemistry too.
Rondi Reed as Morrible
I like Rondi as Morrible, she's quite different.
Some points of cool - she's intially as appalled by Elphaba as anyone else, but she's also quite dismissive of Galinda from the start; Galinda's the one she looks at when she says "...some of you." Morrible has a plummy, cultured accent - except when she's being cruel and nasty where she sounds more common and monotoned. Quite effective!
P. J. Benjamin as The Wizard
Ah, a Wizard I actually like! Great acting, pretty good singing...and I really enjoyed Wonderful for the first time. Like most of the Broadway cast, his line delivery seemed really natural.
Misc - when summoning Morrible with the book, he points in the wrong direction.
Alex Brightman as Boq
This Boq is a hyperactive jumpy dancer. Very cute. His singing was good but not great, but his acting was fantastic. So much more natural and subtle than I've seen before.
Jenny Fellner as Nessarose
Erm...the first note I wrote down for her was 'Woobie'. Take that as you will. She's a quiet and innocent seeming Nessa for the first half, and her fall into tyranny seemed pretty believable in the second half. Her WWotE was fantastic.
Timothy Britten Parker as Dr. Dillamond
Has an interesting way of mispronouncing Galinda - it's more of a squeak-pop sound. I really liked how in the palace sceneTim played Dillamond still as a senient and thinking being; just one that was no longer able to speak.
Wow, that took a while to type...
*clears throat*
Any questions?
