The Ongoing Wicked Discussion Thread

[madsonmelo]

Thanks guys, I read at the monkey that day seats are usually for roll A at stalls and it doesn't seems a good place, but thanks for the tips and I guess I will try the queue for the day seats instead of buying the ticket already.

[ShoesForRent]

Oct 3, 2016 23:43:36 GMT madsonmelo said:

Thanks guys, I read at the monkey that day seats are usually for roll A at stalls and it doesn't seems a good place, but thanks for the tips and I guess I will try the queue for the day seats instead of buying the ticket already.

Ahh dude the front row for Wicked is great, especially if you're familiar with the show already, but even if not. I'm short and it was still fantastic view- and you're so close to the actors in some scenes. It's great

[madsonmelo]

Oct 3, 2016 23:59:44 GMT ShoesForRent said:

Oct 3, 2016 23:43:36 GMT madsonmelo said:

Thanks guys, I read at the monkey that day seats are usually for roll A at stalls and it doesn't seems a good place, but thanks for the tips and I guess I will try the queue for the day seats instead of buying the ticket already.

Ahh dude the front row for Wicked is great, especially if you're familiar with the show already, but even if not. I'm short and it was still fantastic view- and you're so close to the actors in some scenes. It's great

Oh, good to know! I've seen the brazilian production, so I know the whole story, thanks!

[Deleted]

Oct 3, 2016 23:43:36 GMT madsonmelo said:

Thanks guys, I read at the monkey that day seats are usually for roll A at stalls and it doesn't seems a good place, but thanks for the tips and I guess I will try the queue for the day seats instead of buying the ticket already.

Like I said before, row A seats are the best in the theatre!

[shady23]

Oct 3, 2016 21:58:38 GMT hitmewithurbethshot said:

IIRC if there's an extra matinee that week both double-show days will have a standby on for each show (so Rachel/Suzie do 7 that week & Alice/Carina do 2)

The leads both each tend to miss one of the four shows on Weds or Thursday. Not necessarily a matinee, but usually is. They still do eight shows.

[Deleted]

Oct 3, 2016 23:43:36 GMT madsonmelo said:

Thanks guys, I read at the monkey that day seats are usually for roll A at stalls and it doesn't seems a good place, but thanks for the tips and I guess I will try the queue for the day seats instead of buying the ticket already.

The first time I saw it I was in the front row, and I loved it. It was absolutely magical. After that I saw it once from the circle, once from a bit further back in the stalls, and I still enjoyed it but not as much as I did from the front row. Then the last time I saw it, I was in the front row again and it was perfect once more. Take the front row if you can

[bengal73]

I was going to say that i thought you rated them decent seats

[Deleted]

I know how some people on here feel about bringing former Elphabas back, but I really want to see Jemma Rix play Elphaba in London.

[ShoesForRent]

Oct 4, 2016 9:54:54 GMT @theatremonkey said:

Oct 3, 2016 23:59:44 GMT ShoesForRent said:

I read at the monkey that day seats are usually for roll A at stalls and it doesn't seems a good place,

I rate them green? Everyone loves those seats?

For a minute there I had thought I said that ><

[Paul]

I wasn't at Wicked, but I met a Wicked fan recently who had seen the show a lot (triple figures.) I didn't think anything of the girl seeing the show so many times. It's her money. She mentioned sitting beside Rachel's husband at Wicked once and she said "he knows me quite well." I thought that was a bit much. I don't understand fans who try to force relationships like that as their claim to fame.

[shady23]

He was probably the one who put the restraining order in

[lynnm]

This question may have been asked before - so apologies if it has. Does Rachel usually do Saturday Matinee?

[Michael]

Oct 7, 2016 15:57:33 GMT lynnm said:

This question may have been asked before - so apologies if it has. Does Rachel usually do Saturday Matinee?

Welcome to Theatreboard, lynnm. Yes, unless cast holidays are announced on the official web site (which is what many are currently waiting for to specifically see the standby) and barring illness, both leads do all eight shows a week.

[welsh_tenor]

Kerry Enright has tweeted her first Morrible cover dates for this contract, so I'm guessing there's no conspiracy or ban on cast posting them as to the lack of Rachel/Suzie dates, they might not have booked any yet!

[lynnm]

Thanks for that - I will book & keep my fingers crossed😀😀

[tom]

Oct 7, 2016 16:16:27 GMT Michael said:

Oct 7, 2016 15:57:33 GMT lynnm said:

This question may have been asked before - so apologies if it has. Does Rachel usually do Saturday Matinee?

Welcome to Theatreboard, lynnm. Yes, unless cast holidays are announced on the official web site (which is what many are currently waiting for to specifically see the standby) and barring illness, both leads do all eight shows a week.

Many are waiting for Rachel to be off? Think many more are waiting for holiday dates to ensure they don't miss her.

[Deleted]

Oct 7, 2016 17:03:39 GMT welsh_tenor said:

Kerry Enright has tweeted her first Morrible cover dates for this contract, so I'm guessing there's no conspiracy or ban on cast posting them as to the lack of Rachel/Suzie dates, they might not have booked any yet!

That's what I said. We're still quite early into the run. And Rachel probably won't take that much time off either because she's only there for a very limited time

[Deleted]

One thing that bugs me about the Wicked super fans is there seems to be a need to have a twitter "team" for every cast member.

[bengal73]

Thats a very general dig. I know of plenty of superfans who dont operate any twitter teams and just love the show as a whole

[Michael]

Oct 8, 2016 17:43:39 GMT @pointone said:

One thing that bugs me about the Wicked super fans is there seems to be a need to have a twitter "team" for every cast member.

...sometimes even before said cast member had their first performance. And it isn't a prerequisite for the "team" to have actually seen their cast member on stage either.

Completely odd.

[Dan213]

Oct 8, 2016 18:05:36 GMT Michael said:

Oct 8, 2016 17:43:39 GMT @pointone said:

One thing that bugs me about the Wicked super fans is there seems to be a need to have a twitter "team" for every cast member.

...sometimes even before said cast member had their first performance. And it isn't a prerequisite for the "team" to have actually seen their cast member on stage either.

Completely odd.

Seems to be a competition amongst fans on who can set up the first fan account

[CBP1]

Oct 8, 2016 18:35:06 GMT @kevinuk said:

I have to be honest, I've never really seen the fabled fan boys and girls in person. Plus I avoid twitter. But, a recommendation popped up on YouTube the other day of a Wicked video diary. I've still not recovered from it. It was just plain weird.

I've nothing against people being fans of someone's work - even obsessed with it (I grew up with Harry Potter after all) - but when it is about everything except the work and more to do with status and bragging rights, I think it's time to evaluate.

I'm just not quite sure what meeting Rachel Tucker for the millionth time would actually bring to your life. Yes, she's excellent at what she does, but I can't believe she can be THAT important to someone in the same way someone like Michael Jackson was to his fans.

I was with you until the final sentence.  Why is she any different?   If you recognise that there are some celebrities who can be that important to people, why can't theatre performers be similarly important? Surely it all depends on what you're impressed by/who inspires you.   

In some ways, I can see how it's easier for people to obsess over theatre performers. Their smaller fanbase, coupled with their availability at stage door, means there's more scope for interaction with fans. I can see how some people could get carried away and start to see themselves as friends of the cast (or at least more than just normal fans). Some performers are very personable at stage door and do make a point of chatting to fans they see regularly. Rachel's one of those.  To a certain extent she has developed friendships with some of her really loyal fans - She chose to break the news that she was doing Wicked on Broadway via one of those fan accounts. That account is run by a 'superfan' who Rachel knows quite well, so she invited her to do the interview about Broadway. If the performers are happy to engage with the fans this way, and it makes the fans happy too, where's the harm?
           

[talkstageytome]

Yeah but exactly, it's about perspective. I personally appreciate what Michael Jackson and the other music legends meant to people and did for music, and would never want to disparage their achievements,  but couldn't care less about him aside from that. It's just not important to me as an interest. Meanwhile there are several musical theatre performers who I adore and would see in anything. Just like a famous popstar or movie actor could RULE the media in the country where they work, but those in different countries may never have heard of them.

I do agree with the rest of your point though. Sometimes I think these fans are less keen on the show, and more keen on the way their relationship to the show is perceived by others. Very odd, and I certainly witnessed examples of this at stage doors when I used to go and get my programme signed more often.

[Deleted]

Oct 8, 2016 20:20:24 GMT @kevinuk said:

Well on the one hand, you have a woman who has been in about 5 musicals, and on the other hand, you have a music genius that'll live forever.

I'm not saying Rachel isn't good or isn't deserving of fans - but I don't understand how or why she should be important to any of them.

It's about perspective. At the end of the day people are impressed and inspired by her talent: I'm certainly a fan. But she isn't important to me and hasn't contributed enough (yet) to warrant the adoration I've seen.

That's the difference, at least for me.

That's all opinion just as much as anything else - I appreciate that Michael Jackson's music touched millions of people and to many he is a legend, but most of it does nothing for me and I personally wouldn't consider him a genius.

That's not to say that I would consider Rachel a genius either, for example, because I don't.  But it's not for you to say that it's wrong for her to be important to other people.  Some of the superfans undoubtedly take it too far, but so did/do many superfans of Michael Jackson.  Contribution is a very personal thing, and I think it's wrong to measure it by the level of impact on the world as a whole - it's about what a performer's art does for you personally, no more and no less.

[CBP1]

Oct 9, 2016 2:44:58 GMT @kevinuk said:

I think the key for me is that as good as Rachel is - or any west end performer is - for someone to be important to someone, you have to 'know' them.

Actors (including musical performers) are conduits that present someone else's ideas, opinions and commentary on the world. An actor's work has nothing to do with them as an individual - they are the face of the character. Therefore you can't know them and as such, I fail to see how that relationship develops to a stage where the actor is important to their fans.

But aren't fans trying to get to 'know' these performers better by doing the very thing you're criticising them for?

In any case, I think it's unfair to suggest that an actor can never put their own personality into a role they play. Surely the reason people feel connected to an actor is because they can see the actor has connected to the material. If you're connected to that same material, there's your connection to the actor.

On this thread alone, we've compared actors who phone in a performance with those who absolutely embody the character. And again on this thread, people get incredibly excited for cast change because they want to see a new take on an old character.  Or because they love a particular performer's take on that character and she's coming back to play it again.  Just as Michael is avoiding Wicked at the moment because he doesn't like Rachel's portrayal, so I am coming back to a show that I swore I was done with, because I don't just love Wicked or the character of Elphaba -I love Rachel's portrayal of Elphaba.  But I'm not going to tell Michael his opinion is more important than mine. It's all about perspective. In fact, I'd say that the overarching message of Wicked itself is that everything is about perspective. People can look at things in different ways.

Plus many of those actors do work outside of the shows in which they perform. Rachel's done multiple concerts where she sings a wide range of songs, dressed as herself without green facepaint on. If you've ever been to one of those, you'll also know that she chats an awful lot in between songs. That gives people the chance to get to know her personally. And I have to say the show she did at the St James after launching her album is still one of the best nights I've ever had.  I'm sure other people would have enjoyed a Michael Jackson/Madonna/Beyonce gig more. Others still may prefer a different musical theatre performer. I went to a Cynthia Erivo gig last year where everyone was absolutely raving about her afterwards. I think she has an amazing voice but I personally didn't connect with her the way I do with Rachel. But I could totally see how other people did. It's still just a matter of perspective.

I almost certainly wouldn't come under your definition of superfan. I don't hang out at stage door. I don't act as if I'm friends with the cast. I don't run a fan account. I'm on under 20 visits to Wicked and don't intend to go above that. Yet my own friends would probably say I'm completely obsessed. I'm into double figures. I see almost everything Rachel is in. I've been out to Broadway to see her twice
 in the last two years. By many people's standards, that's probably quite tame. By others, it's bonkers. Perspective.