I've been a part of the Wicked fanbase for over 5 years, now, and having witnessed many discussions here and elsewhere, I've noticed a few tidbits of information that Wicked fans have tossed around. Not so much rumors of casting and whatnot (I realize there's a thread for those already), but "facts" that many people have accepted as truth, yet I (in my experience) have never seen backed up by plausible evidence. So I wonder, are these legit, or are they just urban myths of the Wicked fandom?

These are some of the most recurring ones that I can think of at the moment:

Idina Menzel Smokes; Has Asthma
She often appeared to be short of breath during performances, but I always felt that it was more a result of her being in character. I'm not asthmatic and I know very little about it, so I can't identify symptoms as well as others might. I wouldn't be surprised if she's had a cigarette or two, but I wouldn't go so far as to blame that on her varying performance.

Kendra Kassebaum is an Alto; Doesn't Sing Her High Note(s)
I asked her once in a letter what her voice part "officially" was, but she didn't answer the question in her response. True, her voice is deeper than Chenoweth's (as are most ), but the soprano notes are more or less still in her range. Perhaps she's more of a mezzo? From what I understand, true altos are fairly uncommon, and I would find it unlikely that one would sing this role. *shrug* Perhaps someone who is more qualified in voice can weigh in.

Ana Gasteyer is Afraid of Heights
I see this used as an explanation for her lift during "Defying Gravity" appearing slower than usual. I can't say I've done a side-by-side comparison of two different performances (theoretically, that is impossible...), so I wonder if THAT is even true, or if some other factor is playing a trick on the eyes. Regardless, she seemed to perform the scene just fine.


Obviously, these are difficult to verify unless a performer has stated it outright. Respond with your thoughts...whether you can confirm or debunk any of these, or contribute some urban legends of your own!

DISCLAIMER: As the thread title suggests, most (if not all) things stated in this thread are rumors, speculation, innuendo, outuendo...we're not looking to start NEW rumors, so unless it's sufficiently supported, take everything you read in this thread with a grain of salt!

Ive heard the Kendra one. I was told my the Elphaba dresser in San Francisco that the ensemble member with the parasole in Thank Goodness sings the high note....not sure though but thats a legit source I think.

The whole Idina having asthma/smoking is false. She has never had the problem outside of WICKED (ie, concerts, other shows) so I think it was a character choice (however I do think that for the Tony's she was legit sick, at least I heard that she was very ill and almost didnt perform but I'm not sure.) For instance, before she flew in DG, she was never out of breath, but then during her "its not her" rant she would pick up her pace and become very breathy which I liked because at that point Elphaba is really on edge and if you were a girl kicked down your entire life and now you have this new found freedom and yet still feel so betrayed, I think you would be a tad out of breath, esp on the run. And during NGD before the belty bits she would get so upset that it added to the effect and emotional power of the songs. So I think the smoking thing is an urban legend along with the asthma.

Another urban legend surrounding Idina was that she "stole" the part from SJB...alot of people get the idea that she (SJB) was like the girl chosen and Idina came in and took it but in fact SJB was just there for like the EARLY workshops (2000) and Idina came in for pretty much 95% of the progression from workshops to readings to the final version.

I have heard that she used to smoke, but the asthma rumor is definitely false.

Other biggies:
Kristin Chenoweth's drugged-up performance.
Laura Bell Bundy/Coleen Sexton was fired.
Kerry Ellis' accident in the lift.
Shona White's relationship with the crew.

Idina's asthma rumor has always driven me crazy because fans use it as a way to defend a bad performance when it isn't even true. They've even said she had an asthma attack backstage at the Tonys. They've clearly never seen someone actually have an attack. They're in no condition to perform a song, even if the attack was mild.



Never heard that one.



I was told she hurt or back/neck and was on a powerful pain medication. She took too much for her small size and therefor drugged herself out a bit. But I'm skeptical. If that were true, she would have been acting funny for the entire show. She just messed up a line in NOMTW.

Is it true that Idina and Kristin hated each other for a part of their time together in Wicked? I've heard that.....

A horrible one I heard on YouTube that everyone insisted was that Kendra wanted an affair with many of her Elphabas.....that made me O_O and it's obviously not true but geez....the things people make up.....

Those two actually happened, though people always get the date of Kristin's "vicodin performance" wrong. I assume Kerry's accident refers to the time she got stuck in the lift and they had to stop the show?

A couple more that are false:
Megan Hilty originally auditioned for as Elphaba
Dioni Michelle Collins once went on as Glinda

Lindsay K. Northen(or whomever was in her track if she was out) did in fact sing the high note for Kendra in TG on Broadway. All you had to do was watch her up on the bridge to see her singing it.

Kerry's lift accident happened too. A few friends of mine were there when it happened.

I know the lift-thing happened, but some of the variations are ridiculous. One version even described how the arms punctured her ribcage. Mental.

I'm pretty certain the producers asked Kendra to refrain from singing the note due to the fact that she is not a soprano, and she refrained from doing so-- with an ensemble member hitting it for her-- during her initial run on the Tour, both Broadway runs, and the beginning of San Francisco. I believe she began doing the note herself towards the end of 2009 in SF.

Nice thread idea!



There's a clip of Kristin on one of the late night talk shows where she tells the story about her vicodin performance (hilariously). I think people confuse it with a date when she simply mixed up her opening words (possibly because it was around the Tonys and she'd had that intro speech in her head? - possibly another urban legend as I can't recall what the date is)

A friend told me they'd read someone talking about Laura Bell Bundy being fired because she went to LA 'to audition for Legally Blonde', which made me laugh. I recall reading on BWW that LBB was all but announced to take over after Kristin, but they couldn't come to terms on her contract, after a bit of searching I found the Playbill interview where she confirms it http://www.playbill.com/celebritybuzz/arti...Egan-and-Mazzie



I also recall when seeing Kendra, noticing the note-ghosting thing, but only because I was looking out for it.

You're right. She messed up in NOMTW two days before the Tonys. The actual vicodin performance was about two months earlier.

re: Kendra Kassebaum - She just has a massive range. She can sing whatever part she wants. I do feel like her alto range is better than her soprano, especially from the low G in "I'm Not that Girl (Reprise)", but she can do soprano as well. And as Val stated, Lindsay took her high note on Broadway, and oddly enough, Angel Reda did it a lot of the time in SF, then when she left Alexa Green did it, though as has been previously stated, she occasionally did it as well.

What's the deal with Shona and the crew?

It was said that Shona didn't get along with the backstage crew or the FOH team (there's a story about them making fun of how flat her Defying Gravity ending was, not to her face, but as to show their dislike for her), which culminated in their having something to do with her show when the trapdoor failed to rise at the start of No Good Deed and she had to run round to take the stairs, reviews from that show are still around here somewhere.

Another that turned out to be urban legend was the 24 hour period when it was said that Ashleigh would be taking over from Alexia, it was the weekend of last year's Scott Alan concert IIRC. I even read someone saying Ashleigh pulled out as her photoshoot for the new brochures was that Sunday!

The whole Kendra wanting a relationship with her Elphaba's makes me laugh quite alot. I HIGHLY doubt thats true...

Shona and the crew thing I've heard, similar to the whole thing that the orchestra for the Broadway production purposely tried to slow the flying portion down during Kerry's run because she rushed through it so much

If the orchestra thing is true, I see no problem. Kerry did have a bad habit of rushing through songs.

However, if the Shona thing is true, that's sad. Even if they hated her, intentionally trying to screw up a performer during a show is so unprofessional.

I wanna know more bout the relationships of actors and producers. Like bad blood stories?

I remember that weekend very well - the amount of gossip flying around the Leicester Square Theatre that night at Scott Alan's concert was unbelievable! Nothing like a room full of theatre fans to fuel rumours.

re- i highly doubt this one...


Dioni Michelle Collins once went on as Glinda

Just popped into my head. Idk if anybody hear knows this but Kendra was originally hired to cover Kristin. It turned out that she got the cast in Assassins (Also Dir. Joe Mantello) and booked that because she felt it was more secure or something like that. This is not an "urban myth".

Dioni as Glinda never happened. That's why I listed it as false.

That was one crazy weekend! We had the "SJB is coming to London for two weeks" rumour buzzing round the theatre too and "Alexia's not coming back", I don't know how that much gossip fit into that tiny theatre!

Never heard of her. I Googled her, and found out she's black. Since that would be a first for the Glinda character, it would be all over that it happened. Where did that rumor come from in the first place?

^She was a Morrible understudy in the original Chicago and original Los Angeles casts.

IIRC, the rumor was that during Stacie Morgain Lewis' run in Chicago, Stacie couldn't make it to the theatre one night and Dioni performed as Glinda for almost the entire show. Stacie finally made it to do the finale/curtain call. There was a review somewhere of it that turned out to be fake.


Also, I actually think I saw somewhere Ana did say she was scared of heights, and that during rehearsals with the lift she was very scared. But the combination of the adrenaline rush of being in that moment onstage coupled with the amount of smoke made her fear of heights not much of a factor.

Just backing it up as truth.

http://www.mjolnirarmor.com/news/Interview...raKasseba.shtml



Also, Re: Megan Hilty... IIRC, her friends went to NY to see the show and they thought she'd be going in for Elphaba, but someone (either someone at Telsey or a producer) saw her senior showcase at CMU and asked her to audition for to replace Kristin Chenoweth. So she never actually auditioned for Elphaba, but she and her friends felt that she would actually play Elphaba.

In that same vein, I remember hearing somewhere that Christina DeCicco actually did audition for Elphaba, but they asked her to sing "Popular" at her Elphaba audition and they loved her. Is there any truth to that?

I did hear that Christina went out for Elphaba, but I haven't heard anything about what she sang.

Yeah, I remember Christina saying that.

not sure if its been sad buttttt

i THINK in a review on here, someone said Kendra Kassebaum sang Teal's last "it's meeeeee" cuz Teal was incredibly ill...


actually i almost know for a fact i read that here, on WoO
is this true?

From people I know who were there, I've been told that was incorrect.

yeah i didnt think that would happen, cuz if she cant sing the "its meeee" how would she get thru the song? ya kno...
thanks!!

was this rumor from when she was in LA or Chicago?

So she did?!? Wow that woulda been a sight!

Chicago.

what happened was they sang the its meee part together I think....thats what her dresser said...

^But why? Like it just doesnt make sense...unless they planned in beforehand then why would Kendra just randomly start singing "its me" esp if she heard/saw teal singing it...I highly doubt it happened and from what I recall only Teal did it...and also why would Teal say to Kendra "hey sing "its me" for me, even though its not even close to being the hardest nor highest thing in the flying portion" ?

[ Post Edited]

I dont know, but i think they planned it before hand....her voice wasnt in good shape though so it was probably to be safe. Remember she did mess up the ending though. Poor Teal.

I was just thinking that the "it's meeeee!" isn't even the hardest part of the song, too. If Teal really was having trouble, the "ahhhhh" at the end would have done her in.

Kendra did not sing Teal's last "It's me." Teal did. Period. In fact, those who were there can likely attest to the fact that Kendra was still shouting "Elphie" when Teal began singing "It's me."

and it did =(

Really curious: what did she mess up durring NOMTW? Lemme guess: did she accidentally say "Fellow Tonyians"? lol. Or what?

Also, can someone please describe this vicodin performance? Was it a funny or horrible site? What made it weird?


Also, i'd still like to know if the rumors are true if Idina and Kristin practically hated each other at one point durring their run in Wicked.

Another rumor ive heard is that for one night, Shoshana and Megan actually DID for real want to switch roles but TPTB wouldn't hear of it. interesting haha

"Let us rejoicify that goodness to see us through...is a wicked witch that you know who." I guess she had the Tony lyrics on her mind, lol.

She describes the vicodin performance starting at 2:50 in this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7SnpOiryE8

As for Kristin and Idina hating each other, we'll probably never know for sure. They've only said nice things about each other in interviews and such, but have also implied that they didn't see each other outside the show. They both have strong personalities and are very different, and I'd be surprised if they didn't clash a few times. If they didn't get along at all, at least they've been professional about it and not badmouthed each other publicly. It's clear that they both respect and admire each other's talents. Even if they didn't get along offstage, did they hate each other? I highly doubt it. Their chemistry was so profound and magical. You could see the mutual trust between them as actors. You can trust and give to someone you hate. Anyway, that's my take on it.

Teal was incredibly sick and should not have gone on that night...I was sitting in the 2nd row...It sounded like Kendra sang it's meeee but what she was really singing is Elphieeeeeee and it overlapped with Teal...she was the stronger voice and carried that part for her...Also Kendra is incredibly aware of what her costars need on stage and wouldn't need to be told beforehand that Teal wouldn't be able to carry the note. It was clear from the first notes out of her mouth that she was in trouble that night.

As for Kristin and Idina not getting along, in curtain call pics of Kristin's last night, she jumped into Idina's arms. That would be a weird thing to do to someone you don't like.

Regarding Teal's last, I've heard from like 2 or 3 people who were there that Kendra did "It's me." It's even mentioned in reviews or quick notes here.

i'm just gunna believe Kendra did help Teal, and I'm sticking to that. lol



I'm pretty sure that they did clash but who dosnt?.... the reason why we cant see it is because Glinda and Elphaba are friends while performing Kristen and Idina disappear for the next 3 hours. Also Kristen's last show, she did something funny with Idina in Popular, and they seem to have liked each other.... but i did hear they got into a huge fight one night before the show and Idina cried her green off.... but i doubt thats true, i cried wearing the same makeup and nothing happened. the makeup is like permanent haha


and Kristen on her pain killers?.... she went on as Glinda in a neck brace? hahaha i'd die to see that!

I am really doubtful they hated eachother. They very well might have had clashes but when I saw them outside of the show (signings, promo concerts, stage door) they were always acting like sisters...joking around and stuff and I agree with FORGOOD, the amount of compassion and chemistry they had was intense, something that is VERY hard to do if ya loath someone. They worked on that show for years, so they spent lots of time together and I'm sure they fought once in a while but in Kristin's own words..."we loved eachother, and we made magic"

There's our answer.

^ Precisely, Jess. I've heard from several sources that those reviews were inaccurate.

I'm sure it's pretty common knowledge (especially given that she announced it on radio the other week) but Kerry Ellis (original London s/b, and 1st replacement + replaced on Broadway) was originally in the running for both Elphaba *AND* Glinda. She has a stunning soprano apparently - I wish I could hear it.