Wicked – The Understudy

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of seeing Wicked for the second time on stage in Toronto. The first production was four years ago and starred Shoshana Bean as Elphaba, the wicked witch, and Megan Hilty as Glinda, the good witch. They were both excellent and I really enjoyed the show.

I haven’t read Gregory Maguire’s novel on which the stage musical is based. I read one of his books, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, many years ago and enjoyed it enough to move on to Mirror Mirror. After two books, though, I found that his unique retellings of well-known fairytales wore thin with me and I couldn’t get into Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. Consequently, I don’t know how closely Wicked the musical follows the book, but it certainly makes for a fun and entertaining evening at the theatre. Although there is a serious “it isn’t easy being green” theme and some touching moments between assorted characters, this is a funny musical with witty one-liners that make me laugh out loud.

The current production stars Jackie Burns as Elphaba and Chandra Lee Schwartz as Glinda. As soon as we were seated, however, we opened our programs and a slip of paper fell out announcing that the role of Elphaba would be played by Carla Stickler. Since I’ve never seen Jackie Burns perform, I had no issue with the understudy playing the role. The man who arrived shortly thereafter and sat behind me with his young daughter and her friends sure did though.

“Oh no,” he moaned loudly as soon as he opened his program, “I hate it when this happens!”

“What happened?” asked his daughter.

“We get the understudy,” he whined. “I paid so much money for these seats and we get the understudy. I bet she’s lousy.”

He went on, loudly, for a minute or so, eventually saying to his young guests “Let’s bet on whether she’ll be any good or not. What do you think? Will she be good or bad … you think good? I bet she’ll be bad.”

Frankly, if I purchased tickets months ahead of a show date and paid top price for front-of-the-theatre seats to see a favourite performer and then found that she was off, I’d be upset and very disappointed. But stars do get sick and my disappointment wouldn’t be aimed at the understudy – I’d be hoping she was great. That didn’t appear to be the issue with this man anyway. He never mentioned Jackie Burns by name; he just seemed to be offended by being stuck with an understudy. What a way to act in front of his daughter! I bet she and her friends were really excited about going to the show. They did have excellent seats, and he did pay a lot of money for them, so why not be positive? Why not assure the young ones that the understudy would do a great job rather than worry them? The kids probably wouldn’t have known if the understudy was slightly less than stellar anyway.

As it turned out, Carla did do a great job. She acted well and has a lovely voice. The big song in Wicked is Defying Gravity and Carla absolutely nailed it to end the first act with the audience cheering and applauding enthusiastically. I’d love to know how many people, besides me, were tempted at that point to ask the loudmouth “What do you think of the understudy now?”

We did get to enjoy a laugh at his expense. Just before the show started he looked up at the huge dragon figure mounted on the front of the stage and exclaimed “Girls! Look at the big bat!”

And parents wonder why their kids don’t want to be seen with them.

Carla Stickler as Elphaba. Photo by The Western Sky, on Flickr.

Read Full Post »

Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert

I first saw the musical Les Miserables in Toronto, starring Canadian Michael Burgess, in 1992, seven years after it premiered in London, England. I loved it. The wonderful score and touching story of love, loss, and people fighting for what they believe in touched my soul. I bought the original cast recording and listened to it regularly after that outing and shortly thereafter my daughter, still in the early primary grades at school, was singing along too. She introduced Les Mis to her friends and soon there were performances of the musical taking place in our basement playroom.

A 10th Anniversary Concert of Les Miserables was performed (and filmed) at Royal Albert Hall in 1995 by what was deemed “the dream cast”. It stars Colm Wilkinson (Jean Valjean), Michael Ball (Marius), Ruthie Henshall (Fantine), Michael Maguire (Enjolras), Lea Salonga (Eponine) and Philip Quast (Javert). Musical theatre fans are just as loyal to their favourite stage stars as movie fans are devoted to particular film stars so it’s impossible to please everyone, but it’s hard to imagine anyone finding much to complain about with the superb 10th anniversary cast. I love that recording.

In 1998, when Les Mis returned to the Toronto stage, my girl was old enough to attend the show with me and we had the great privilege of seeing Colm Wilkinson in the role he originated. I remember being very touched when he cried during Fantine’s death scene; imagine doing a show eight times a week, week after week, and still being so moved by a song, so in character, that you cry when you sing it. He was marvellous, and I loved that production.

Time flies and on October 3rd of this year Les Miserables celebrated its 25th birthday with another spectacular concert, this time at the O2 arena in London. This production features hundreds of performers, including the London casts from both the long-running production at the Queen’s Theatre and a special 25th anniversary touring production that finished at the Barbican Theatre, where the show premiered in 1985.

Yes, I love Les Miserables, so I (along with my daughter, now just as big a fan, for almost as long) was excited when I heard that the 25th Anniversary Concert would be filmed and shown at select movie theatres in Canada the next night. (The show was broadcast live to a selection of theatres in Britain and parts of Europe.)

British tenor Alfie Boe stars as Jean Valjean. New to this role, Alfie’s acting is not stellar, but there’s no denying his vocal talent. I believe that most of the audience members were reserving judgement on Alfie until he performed “Bring Him Home”, the defining moment for any Valjean. This song was written for Colm Wilkinson and apparently, after he first sang it in the original show rehearsals, a hush fell over the cast. Director Trevor Nunn said, “I told you this show was all about God,” and one of the company members responded “Yes, but you didn’t tell us you’d engaged Him to sing it.” Colm set the standard by which all Valjeans are still judged, so you could have heard a pin drop while Alfie sang “Bring Him Home”, and then … a standing ovation for a beautiful rendition. I found it endearing that Alfie appeared quite moved by the crowd’s enthusiastic response.

Although for me not a dream cast, I nonetheless enjoyed this 25th Anniversary Concert immensely. Casting highlights for me include

• Lea Salonga (Eponine in the 10th Anniversary Concert) – outstanding as Fantine this time.
• Canadian Ramin Karimloo (currently starring in Love Never Dies in London’s west end) as a passionate and engaging Enjolras – not note perfect, but still excellent overall.
• Earl Carpenter (fresh from playing Javert in the west end) as the Bishop – it’s too bad he has such a small role.
• Robert Madge as Gavroche – this young man has a very bright future in theatre.

Certainly the emotional high points in this production, outside of the actual song performances, are during the finale when the original 1985 cast joins the current casts onstage. Colm Wilkinson teams with the three other Valjeans present for a wonderful presentation of “Bring Him Home” in four-part harmony, followed by the original cast members leading the entire ensemble in “One Day More”. In particular, I noted

• The crowd’s excited roar of welcome for the original cast.
• Colm Wilkinson, at age 66 still more than holding his own with the younger Valjeans.
• Crowd favourite Michael Ball, so obviously delighted to be onstage in the finale (as Marius) for this memorable night.
• Ramin Karimloo, visibly thrilled to be singing arm in arm with his childhood inspiration, Colm Wilkinson.
• The obvious camaraderie among those onstage, their support, respect and love for their fellow performers, and their delight at being part of this historic night that will, surely, be remembered as one of the great celebrations in musical theatre.

If you’re in the United States, you still have the opportunity to view the 25th Anniversary Concert on the big screen in select movie theatres on Wednesday, November 17th. It’s lovely to see it on a large screen with the corresponding sound quality. If you would like a preview of the show, imagine the YouTube scenes linked below filmed and recorded professionally.

There’s no release date yet for the DVD in North America but it’s set for November 29th in the United Kingdom, so hopefully it will arrive here shortly thereafter. I recommend putting it on the Christmas/birthday list of anyone who knows and loves Les Miserables.
 

Below, the four Valjeans perform “Bring Him Home”.  From left to right, Simon Bowman (Queen’s Theatre production), Alfie Boe (25th Anniversary Concert), Colm Wilkinson (original cast) and John Owen-Jones (25th Anniversary touring company).

Below, “One Day More” finale, led by the original cast.

Read Full Post »