Changing things up a bit.... and adding Mamie into this!
1. Jackie Burns- Ok I def bumped Jackie up.. I've seen her 4 times now and she is soooooo much better than the first time I saw her.. I think it was because the first time I saw her was the 2nd day they were in Chicago and it was still an adjustment... I saw her at the end of December and beginning of January and she was flawless.. her Defying Gravity was crystal clear!!! It was also amazing because during intermission my friend and I had been cheering for her throughout the show and her dresser found us during intermission and gave us signed playbills from Jackie saying thank you and we were making her show!!! The third time i saw her was front row... and she was INCREDIBLE... Her facial expressions are so powerful and I LOVE the little noises she makes throughout the show! She rolls her eyes at Chandra sooo much and it's hilarious.. but you can tell she is very comfortable with her character.. Such a sweetie at the stagedoor and she stayed with us talking for about 30 mins because there was no one else there and she kept asking us questions haha. So much fun!
2. Dee Roscioli and Anne Brummel- These two have impressed me the most with how much they have grown in the role. I've seen Dee more than any other Elphaba I have seen and she is just so true to the character and REAL and she makes you really feel for her as Elphaba. Plus, she was my first Elphaba ever, so she will always hold a special place in my heart. Now as for Brummels, I am so proud of her. She has grown SO MUCH in the role. I saw her as an Understudy in Oct 2009 and then as a Standby in July 2010 and she blew me out of the water. As an Understudy, she played Elphaba more on the innocent side and that was really nice to witness in an Elphaba. As a Standby, I feel like she is a heck of a lot more FIERCE and she knows how to play that role! Also, the growl in DG... always a win!
4. Vicki Noon- OMG can she BELT! This woman is so INCREDIBLE! She is an adorable Elphaba and really knows how to balance innocence and fierceness while she is on the stage. I've seen her 7x and I've loved every second watching her! Her facial expressions are beautiful and she's always in the moment and you can really feel for her Elphaba. She gets so emotional in some scenes and it brings tears to your eyes to watch how hurt she is. She never breaks character and I love watching her performances!! She's amazing and is my favorite Elphaba vocally!! Her chemistry with all her Glinda's is FANTASTIC and her NGD riff that she sometimes does is PHENOMENAL!!!
5. Mamie Parris- Mamie is an AMAZING Elphie... saw her 11th and 12th show in the role and her voice is spot on.. she refers to herself as mini Elphaba... but she's just adorable in general.. she has a GREAT belt and this role was made for her! So happy to see where she will take this role in the future!!! Her facial expressions are effortless and her voice reminds me of Dee... which makes sense because that is who she followed but she is not afraid to have fun with the role!
6. Mariand Torres- This woman was a BEAST... Incredible! I was so shocked when I heard her sing.. After The Wizard and I, I knew that the show could only get better. Mariand sounds a bit Irish haha and I really enjoyed it actually. She held the notes out beautifully and created riffs in places you never thought could be riffed. She's a very tiny Elphie and she's adorable!! Her Defying Gravity was bone chilling!! I never thought that after 23 times of seeing this show my mouth would drop open.. but it did!! Very good Elphaba and if you see her you will not be disappointed!!!
7. Christine Dwyer- Let me first say, I am so proud of this girl! I was very fortunate enough to be able to witness her Elphaba debut and still to this day I get shivers down my back with how much she KILLED it! Of course she has a lot of growing to do but everyone around me even kept commenting and saying "If this is the Understudy... I don't know how the lead could be better!!" Christine made you really believe her Elphaba and every choice she made really added to the truthfulness of the character. My jaw dropped many times throughout the performance and the best song CDwyer sang was DG, for shiz! Words can't describe how powerful and jawdropping it was. Like I said, so proud of her and I hope she gets to go on more and really show her talent to the audiences!! Her vibrato is AMAZING!!!! She makes her NGD "Fiyero" note all vibrato!!! It's amazing... PROMOTE THIS GIRL
8. Jennifer DiNoia- I have waited so long to see her Elphaba and it was well worth the wait! She was INCREDIBLE IMO.... she def deserves to be on Broadway, mind you I saw her at the end of her run when she went on for 2 weeks for Mandy when she was on vaca. You could tell she was exhausted, but she pushed through it and gave an amazing performance. Loved DG and NGD. Def her strong songs!! She is a true Rockstar!!
9. Marcie Dodd- FIERCE is the word for her!! She was also amazing when I saw her... My only complaint is that she screams the words in some of the songs too much.. but overall she was a phenomenal Elphie! I loved her voice, but as I saw more Elphaba's, I almost felt like I forgot her performance. The song I felt was HER song was Wiz and I. That song sent CHILLS up my spine. It was PERFECTION! Glad to have seen her before her run ended!!!!