WICKED Broadway and West End differences | how the musical differs in London and New York
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- Опубликовано: 25 апр 2023
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OHMYGOD HEY!
In the last month, I've seen the musical WICKED both on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre and in London's West End at the Apollo Victoria Theatre.
Although the two productions are replicas of each other, there are a handful of subtle differences between them including extra cast members, different dialogue, missing props and exclusive trapdoors!
Check out today's brand new video to learn more about the differences between the two productions!
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#wicked #musical #broadway 
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Playbills are free? I always wondered how Americans manage to pay for a program at every show. The fact that they're free blew my mind!
Ads. That’s how.
As an American, I had the opposite experience my first time seeing a show. When I inquired about a Playbill I was asked if I wanted to spent £10 on a commemorative program. I think I responded “No, I just want to know who is in the cast” and was directed to a board in the lobby.
It's crazy right?! It was such a culture shock for me when I went last year! You can pay for a programme as well though, glossy with pictures like the ones here and for a similar (extortionate) price.
There are lots of ads, and also they're printed on really cheap paper, and mostly b&w inside. They just hand them to everyone as you enter the theatre. I always save mine, but a lot of people just throw them away after the show -- you'll see a lot of them on the floor under the seats, or people putting them in the trash cans on the street as they leave.
The ads are a combination of big color ads for other shows, and for expensive stuff like luxury cars and jewelry and "wealth management" firms, and smaller b&w ads for local restaurants and bars and stuff. For Broadway shows, the ads are essentially the same for every show -- there are new ones printed each month, with new ads and new articles, but if you go to a few shows during the same month, the ads will all be the same. For touring productions, though, local businesses sometimes customize their ads to the show. Like, when Hamilton came to my city, nearly every ad was some variation of "A new revolution in [whatever they're selling]," except for one ice cream shop that bizarrely went with, "Talk less. Spoon more." And local jewelry stores and spas somehow thought that "Be Treated Like Royalty!" was a good tie-in to Anastasia.
You… have to pay for yours? Is it more than just the credits / cast & crew bios, promotion of upcoming shows, and a bunch of ads?
West End Nessa here!! First, so cool to hear about all the differences between us and Broadway, I had no idea!
But on the Witch’s Father being the same performer as Doctor Dillamond, here’s a little Wicked London trivia! Ordinarily Doctor Dillamnd is played by the incredible Simeon Truby, but his 1st cover is Harry Mills, who day to day plays Frex. As these roles don’t overlap, when Harry is playing Dillamond (as he was when you came), he plays both characters! 💚
Thanks for sharing this trivia! I love hearing things like this.
@@verona8144 No one who’s followed Glinda’s character up to that point expects her to be able to successfully do magic at that moment. The one with power is Elphaba and the reason it is so strong is that she is a child born of both worlds.
@@wizardofoz93 yes, just as I am a Glinda understudy - it’s not too unusual to have principles understudy other principles!
I just saw Wicked in London last week after seeing it on Broadway last year-you were phenomenal!! Thank you for sharing your talents and trivia with us ☺️
I loved you as Nessa 🥹
Oh, I am *so* excited for this video! *Edit:* Avaric's horse is the Sawhorse, a character from the second Oz book The Marvelous Land of Oz who goes on to become the official mount of Oz's ruler, Princess Ozma, for the rest of the series. Wicked's version of him is a design directly taken from the book illustrations (but made into a bicycle) as an easter egg book cameo.
Such a great easter egg! I read a number of the books from the OZ series as a teenager and I remember loving the second one but I had no recollection of this reference. Thank you for pointing it out!
@@nyctheatergeek Of course! As a kid, I learned to enjoy reading and get over my speech impediment by reading the Oz books out loud with my mom, so they've always held a soft spot in my heart and all of the book-only references in Wicked give me joy.
Avaric (the name) is also an Easter Egg … for those who have read Gregory Maguire’s novel. He is part of Galinda and Elphaba’s circle at Shiz and develops a closer friendship with Elphie through being part of that group IIRC. Avaric also runs into Elphaba many years later in the Emerald City when she has gone into hiding. I don’t recall much else about him though.
@@Mrnickstr89 Avric gets tied to and does the horizontal combo with him in the philosophy club chapter in the book where everyone but Glinda and Elphaba go cause they are sent to Emerald City to see the wizard, I have always hated the Oz dust ball room idea give us a cool gambling and sex club on stage its Broadway after all. lol its also where the students realize that Madam Morabal has had the students under a spell of some kind to keep them from figuring out the Animal persecution and the wizards harsh take over of their world.
I was coming over here to see if anyone pointed that out as well. Thanks!
Another profound difference between the two long-running productions is that the West End orchestration is played by 17, a reduction from the original. Broadway maintains the original Bill Brohn charts, served by 24!
An excellent point, thank you for mentioning!
I've seen many American casts for Wicked, and M. Morrible usually has a slightly British affectation, maybe more of a Mid-Atlantic accent like those used by Americans during the Golden Age of Hollywood. I think my favorite was Rue McClanahan ... she was a VIPER. She seethed hatred and was truly nasty. Very much fits how M. Morrible is portrayed in the novel.
Rue McClanahan played Morrible!?! Oh my gosh, what I wouldn't give to have seen that...
@@swansabijr Patty Duke played her too. In San Francisco
Yes, thanks for pointing this out. That's why when he mentioned it I was like I always pictured her with a british kind of accent lol Now that I think of it, even in the OBC soundtrack, it's that midatlantic style
@@swansabijrThere’s a video and a few audios floating around on RUclips of it
Tiny correction for 2:50 - the first non-replica Wickeds actually happened as early as the early 2010s... ;) I was traumatised (and became a life-long musical fan) as a child by the 2010 Helsinki, Finland production where the Wizard was literally Stalin XD
I did not know about this! MUST look it up!
I had the director of the Helsinki version as a guest teacher, I believe he said that was the first ever non replica version.
I never saw it, but apparently all the choreography was based on house music. And he said the constant notes he was getting from the rights holders were "We don't understand this..."
I LOVE this. I saw a 'Sandanista!' production of the opera Carmen that made it make so much more sense.
Another thing that was interesting was the matter of Dorothy. I saw the Aussie production of the show when it went to the Philippines in 2014. And as much as I loved that production, I felt like something was lacking. I then realized that the show didn't have Dorothy onstage for any other instance aside from her throwing the bucket of water on Elphaba. I felt a mixed feeling of disappointment and understanding: I wished she was onstage more, but I know that she's not the main character, Elphaba is. But then I saw slime footage and some hard-to-find/see footage of actress Saara Aalto dressed in a gingham frock, pigtails, ruby slippers, while holding a basket with a dog plushie. Yep, Dorothy does appear onstage in Helsinki. But I also saw she was also onstage in Prague and Hamburg!
There are some other line differences:
On Broadway Morrible continiously refers to the rooming as "room assignments" and in London its "room allocations". Something that is kind of the same, but when Glinda says "out paths did cross..." on Broadway she says "...at school", whereas in London she says "...as students". Another one from the top of my head is in de wizards chamber after Fiyero and Elphaba flee away together and the Wizard and Morrible try and find ways to 'smoke her out'. Morrible on Broadway says "Elphaba is too smart" with the Wizard repeating this line. In London she says "Elphaba is too clever" and the Wizard again repeats this.
My time has come! 😂 the extra characters listed in the playbills but not the UK programmes ARE listed on the cast boards at the Apollo Victoria entrances. I hadn't realised they were not in the programmes, but I take a picture of the cast board every time I go (18 and counting!) The Dillamond cover is also the witch's father, but the principal Dillamond does not play the witch's father. He IS in the ensemble at the start, though, he comes down the steps on the left. What is fun is that if necessary, because of certain people being off, Dillamond (who is also the Wizard cover) will play a split track as both Dillamond AND Wizard. And it's an ensemble member who comes on under the blanket as Dillamond when Elphaba gets the Wizard to release the monkeys in Act 2. I've never seen it when I go, but it does happen occasionally.
In the last UK tour they actually had one actor playing both Dillamond and the Wizard! Different than any other production of Wicked anywhere in the world (if I'm not mistaken)
Given that I saw the Broadway version when I was sixteen (was on a school trip to New York at the time) and didn't see the West End version until more than a decade later, I honestly wouldn't have been able to remember differences so thank you MickeyJo for this video
The two differences my friends and I always bring up is Glinda's 'uni' comment, and Nessa's cute little gesture she makes in Dancing Through Life when she sings 'this Munchkin boy'. I always found that a funny little moment I've never seen in the UK - though I haven't seen a US version of the show in years, no idea if the actors still make that movement
A lot of the set and effect differences that West End has from Broadway match up with the North American tour (the monkeys, the broom, the trapdoor, the bridge, Fiyero's cart, etc). I'm from California and have seen the tour a handful of times but just recently saw it for the first time at the Gershwin and GASPED when the monkeys flew over the audience. The tour is nothing short of magical, but it definitely felt a little extra special seeing it in its home. I love seeing the little ways shows evolve and adapt to each new space and audience. And with Wicked, it's so exciting to be surprised after seeing it so many times. This is such a fascinating subject. Excellent video!
I have only seen it on Broadway, but it is good to know about all of the differences. I could definitely see Madame Morrible as a full blown British character
The Playbill is required reading before the show starts and during intermission. I learned that when my sister and I went to see Fiddler on the Roof back in 1989 when a national touring company was in Chicago. We were both flipping through our Playbills at intermission, when my sister excitedly told me to turn to a certain page. One of our high school classmates was a featured dancer in the cast! Michael Berresse has since gone on to great success on Broadway, earning a Tony nomination for a revival of Kiss Me Kate and starring in The Light in the Piazza.
I always liked the slightly more serious Glinda in the West End- I think in the US they tend to laugh off some very important scenes for Glinda's character's development but maybe it's just me.
13:15 THE WOODEN SAWHORSE! It’s from the second Oz book, “The Marvelous Land of Oz”, where the Queen of Oz (Ozma) is rediscovered and the sawhorse is her pet.
I knew it.
Glindas have been getting more manic for a while now, I think Kristen Chenoweth's Glinda did have a more posh feel. It does feel sometimes like Glindas are trying to outdo each other's "Popular" slapstick with how bubbly it can be, and sometimes it works better than others! Kendra Kassebaum is the first one who really took it over the top, and seeing her live was absolutely hysterical. I've seen others that probably needed to rein it in a bit.
I saw Kendra and I was absolutely rolling. She pulled off the batty, hyperactive aspects so well. I don’t think anyone else has been able to make it work quite as well as she did, but admittedly I haven’t seen some of the more recent performers.
I honestly don’t think they’re trying to overdo each other. Each galinda is funny in their own way. I saw Kara Lindsey live and she was historical, but movement wise she wasn’t too over the top.
Megan Hilty though… 😍
I love all the book fans like myself screaming about the sawhorse :) It really seems like most of the West End changes are small cuts/direction changes that mimic what is seen on the tour version. Just a few set pieces here & there that don't make too much an impact but would be a mess to travel with/take extra room. As well as not having the trap door/extended stage to do a few extra tricks on.
The "animal" pulling the cart is the Saw Horse. An animated wooden horse from The Land of Oz book.
My theory about the “Thank Goodness” bridge:
During the San Francisco try-outs, after Dillamond was removed from his position, there was a lengthy scene where it’s explained that he is assumed to have died (Elphaba says that he would have “jumped from Suicide Bridge” and that all that was found of him was a pair of glasses). The citizens then hold a funeral for him, where Glinda announces her name change as part of her eulogy to him. Of course this was all cut and the glass gasket for Dillamond (now useless) was moved into the Gershwin lobby to host some theatre props from past productions. Perhaps the bridge needed to be a functioning one as part of the staging for all of that - but by the time the show was opening in London, they knew that it didn’t need to be functional for that production?
I was also an 11 year old who absolutely did not appreciate seeing Idina! All I remember is my mum being excited to see Adam Garcia haha. The Broadway has always intrigued me so thanks so much for this video!!
11:32 THAT explains why when I saw "Wicked" in the US, I distinctly remember the "Maybe the driver saw green and thought it meant Go" scene, but later, I watched slime tutorials of the OBC and noticed that they did not have that scene. Originally, in the Broadway production, the first time Fiyero sees Elphaba is when she shows up at the Ozdust ballroom wearing the hat.
Fun fact, the Broadway production has the most different blocking and theatre build. Broadway is the only production with Elphaba and Glinda entering the attic through a trapdoor in the orchestra pit. All the other productions have them entering from the left wing. Official replica productions all over the world follow a “one size fits all” when it comes to blocking due to the different theatres. Sit-down productions though try to implement elements from the Broadway production such as entering from below the stage. Touring productions though don’t have the option to enter from below the stage because rehearsal periods are not long enough to memorize the entire layout of the theatre to get the cues in time, and they are all built different so new set pieces take place of certain doors and trapdoors. Some props and set pieces are also omitted from touring productions to make it easier to load in and out constantly from theatre to theatre.
While in L Frank Baum’s books, all animals can talk in Oz if they choose to. (Even Toto can talk, he just doesn’t feel like it). I am pretty sure in the Wicked books, Gregory Maguire makes a distinction between “animals” and capital A “Animals”. It’s the “Animals” that can talk and stuff. The “animals” are normal animals.
Yes, this is true!
Came here to say this.
As someone who had only seen the North American tours, the thing that shook me the most when I saw the West End production was the poppies coming out of the stage.
Like how every time you say monkey you point out the plush monkey
I've been hoping someone would make a video like this! Thank you so much Mickey-Jo!
Your wealth of knowledge and observation is amazing. Wow!!
Thank you! Definitely don't know it all but doing my best 😁
The comprehensive video about this that I've been looking for for over 10 years! Thank you
I sat next to an American family at the Apollo once (Alice Fearn staring at that time) and the lovely mother who was American said she had seen every American Elphaba since the production opened on Broadway. She said Fearn was the best Elphaba she had ever seen perform the role. She also said the British accents made the story and songs more believable regarding being able to escape into the fantasy of it all. We exchanged emails and stayed in touch. She used to go to see the Broadway production once a month there but she says the American accents now annoy her and wishes Americans could see the British production.
I will say one thing I love about the west end “attic” is the way they light one side of the stage when the “door” to the attic opens, as if there’s light on the other side of the door flooding into this dark room. It’s really effective
So much fun hearing your observations about this! I've seen Wicked 4 times on Broadway but they were so spread apart that I'm not sure I would have noticed some of the more subtle differences you mention but they are so interesting to hear about! For Madame Morrible, I always think of her with a British accent also because Carole Shelley on the cast recording seems to have a British intonation. I think no matter how many different casts I see, my brain will always default to the recording I've listened to on repeat. We used to be able to purchase souvenir programs for Broadway productions in addition to the free Playbills that had full-color production photos and behind-the-scenes details, I think that some shows still produce these and sell them but it seems to have mostly fallen out of fashion for Broadway.
The monkey text appearing after every monkey mention killed me!
Seeing the West End show on my London trip this October. A timely video!
First of all, thank you for making this comparison video. I'm saving it so I can watch it again later. I've seen Wicked 18 times (so far): Once on Broadway, 17 times on tour in CA. It's the only show that I'm weirdly obsessed with. Elphaba is my favorite character of all time.
Lastly, you saw Idina as Elphaba in London! Wow!!
Saw Wicked in the West End for the second time a few weeks ago. Would love to see it live in Broadway some day too!
Currently the only productions currently running in both NY and London are Wicked, Lion King, Book of Mormon, Hamilton, Moulin Rouge, Six and HP & the CC, only the first four have been in both cities longer than 5 years so I suppose would be considered "long-running".
I am dying to see Wicked again! Thank you for this video.
I have seen Wicked 12 times ( with tickets for 2024 to make it a lucky 13). I’ve seen it with Idina on Broadway as well as road shows and last summer in London. One of the differences I felt between the Broadway and London show was the size of the stage. It seemed that Elphaba did not fly as high in London due to stage constrictions, and for some reason felt a little less dramatic. When I mentioned it to the staff, they laughed and said I was lucky to see her fly. They said they’ve had many technical issues and some nights she doesn’t fly. Oh my - I would not want to be in the theater the night she did not fly. Thanks for this video.
EXCELLENT video! I JUST saw the West End production last month for the first time, and I had VERY similar observations about Glinda, especially during Popular. On Broadway, Glindas have always played up that overly hyper toddler vibe and on the West End, I was surprised that Popular wasn’t getting laughs in the parts of the number I’m used to hearing laughter in.
One difference that stood out to me was the Lion Cub rescue - in the West End production, we watch Elphaba and Fiyero’s journey to the poppy field because they run across that bridge, whereas on Broadway Elphaba and Fiyero exit, and then re-enter using the stage right staircase built into the proscenium.
Thank you for making this video. It was really insightful. There's an old interview with someone saying there was no differences between Broadway and the West End.
I mean as far as productions go, they're pretty close, but there's always something to spot!
-On broadway glinda goes “We did know each other at School” and on the west end Glinda says “We did know each other… as pupils”.
-The beds in popular come in differently in the uk vs broadway. The Browaday ones come in facing the audience then they twist to be diagonal. The UK ones come in horizontal then twist.
-There are 4 Towers that give the stage depth on Broadway, there are only two on the UK
-The Cogs around the whole set on Broadway move in and out and the once on the UK are still
-The intro of the UK Wicked made Glinda’s One Short Day dress fully yellow (before the UK opened the one short day dress was white with yellow swirls) and Glinda Popular dress was two ruffles longer, then became shorter with the UK
-In Thank Goodness on Broadway there’s a trumpet that plays when everyone says “congratulations” that doesn’t happen here
-Beleive it or not there was a discussion when the UK version came, that they were going to remove Glindas Thank Goodness & Ballgown Wig and just use the Bubble dress wig
-Glindas mirror in the US (in popular) is ducktaped to stop reflection but here in the UK, it’s clingfimed (so elphie can still see herself and show extra emotion)
These are some differences i’ve noticed :)
Thanks!
Your last point is interesting, I was just there in Wickes London this month, seated at row D, and the mirror seemed either ducktaped or like it had a cardboard instead of an actual mirror on it. Nothing to see in it.
@@if3359 Ohhhh perhaps it’s changed, after all that piece of information was from a facebook live back in Suzie Mathers / Rachel Tucker days so about 2016ish :)
@@wizardofoz93 First national tour it’s on, i’m not sure if it’s on “Broadway” (Gershwin) so my apologies. I will try and find a video of it
@@wizardofoz93 ruclips.net/video/Ew1pl_lLQS4/видео.html
Amazing I’ve always wanted this video!!
The monkey with the arrow pointing to it in the background every time you say Monkey made me laugh out loud. Thanks Mikey Jo!
It was always a little weird to me that Elphaba blamed Fiyero for what Averic did with the cart.
Also, a Fiyero actor once commented that he liked that Fiyero is the one character that never makes fun of Elphba skin color, and I was like “what do you mean? His first like in the show is commenting on it??”
YESS JONAH PLATT he said it in one of his fiyero time vlogs and it’s bugged me every single day like sir do you not know your literal first two lines??
Fiyero tells elphaba “Maybe the driver saw green and thought it meant go”.
@@billygonzales4446 Yaaas! It was Jonah!
I’ve seen this show on Broadway, the West End, and US Tour, and it is so interesting to see all the differences!
The television screen at the Apollo Victoria theatre actually lists all those you've mentioned, like the midwife and Elphaba's parents.
6:10 when you said you were sat in the orchestra, I had a vision of you looking annoyed in between the string section getting hit by bows often 😊
Haha - outstanding! It's the Broadway word for stalls!
Another excellent collection of insights. I love the use of the bridge on B'way. It is used to good effect such as when Elphaba & Fiyero run away with the lion cub they cross over it and then hide under it. Those searching for them come out and are standing over them on the bridge looking out in all directions as they dialogue. It may not be as dramatic as the monkeys coming out over the audience but it does make for a useful dramatic element.
Great video!
The wooden horse on Fiyero's cart is a character from the original Oz books.
Thank you for this! I only know about the staging differences on Broadway because of *cough*legs, but I need to see it for myself sooner rather than later. Many of the differences you describe in the West End sound very similar to the US tour versions I've seen. To your point about Glinda being more hyper/manic in the US, that's definitely true, but every Glinda I've seen (starting with Kendra Kassebaum in the first US tour) seems to have performed Popular with the understanding that Glinda got drunk on the lemon/melon/pear/+ punch at the Ozdust ballroom. Maybe that's just my own headcanon, but it's the only textual way I can explain the heightened silliness in that number.
"We all went to Uni together" has so many cultural references from like - the serious side of cronyism and dodgy politicians, to the absolutely ridiculous stories of drunken nights out that practically everyone who went to uni has. Also, "School" is ambiguous and confusing to British ears - School finishes at age 18 max! Shiz already has some confusion of Boarding school vs university tropes, the whole accomodation business doesn't match most people's understanding of University halls. There's a lot of small script tweaks around Shiz. Maybe it's personal experience, but Galinda's posh, silly, self-importance works so well for me with a "Pony Club" accent! I love Scottish Boq as it's clearly "other", they need to spell out why Munchkins are different, why Nessa can get away with suppressing them... wow it's such a political show as soon as you stop and think about it!
Starlight in London had the tracks built around the auditorium - massive, massive alterations, it's like a completely different place now. In the Gershwin they didn't come out anywhere near as much, instead they went vertical, so yeah I guess the strengths of the different theatre designs. I just LOVE the moment the whole Apollo Vic lights up green in the Emerald City! The theatre itself joining in the performance :D
Definitely full of political subtext once you analyse it! The Emerald City moment is so great, and that's such a lovely way of putting it!
It never occurred to me that Shiz was supposed to be a university, I always assumed it was a boarding school - at least partly because of Elpheba and Glinda sharing a room. So the uni line has always confused me 😂
10:52 I am sure I remember this scene being in the Broadway show when I saw it in 2005, before London opened... perhaps my memory's just inserted it because it makes so much sense. I definitely remember muttering "It'll be a lot _shorter_ in London" to the person sitting next to me, after what felt like several minutes of disruptive whooping and screeching from the audience at Elphaba for having performed the stunning feat of running onto the stage for the first time.
There are a couple more localisations - "sorcery seminar" became "sorcery tutorial", "semester" became "term"(unnecessarily, since universities also use semesters in the UK, but never mind).
yay new vid!
I just needed to comment when you mentioned the non replica productions it all started from Finland in 2010 where they made the first non replica version of Wicked and then in Denmark in 2011
There’s lyric differences too. In the West End, in “The Wizard And I” the lyrics change from “when we are hand in hand” to “as we work hand in hand”.
Thank you for this video!!!!
I have seen Wicked several times in Australia, London, and New Zealand and have always maintained that Glinda is less funny with the British accent. My reasoning is that it her humour is very American, and UK audiences have a different sensibility. I feel her lines could have been tweaked for that audience so she remains funny in London, but alas that is not the world we live in.
The whole thing with the broom and the trap door blew my mind. It just makes so much sense to me. That scene always felt janky to me - especially the sideways broom effect. I could never understand how we were supposed to be wowed by it and always found Defying Gravity underwhelming as a result (the song slaps...but the staging didn't live up to its promise). Now I get how the original staging must have hit so much harder.
Very interesting to hear the differences! I've only seen Wicked in the West End (3 times so far) but I'd love to see it on Broadway if I had the chance one day, it's my favourite show. I hadn't listened to the cast recording before I went to see it the first time, I knew a couple of the songs (Popular and Defying Gravity, and maybe For Good?) but I'd not heard the original cast sing them, it had largely been cover versions like on Glee, so it was a bit of a shock to me listening to the cast recording and hearing the American accents even though I logically knew they would have them (it was kind of like hearing Christian as American in Moulin Rouge the first time I heard the cast recording, very jarring because I was so used to Ewan McGregor from seeing the film so many times). I don't really agree on the dance pronunciation but then that's the way I pronounce it, so it's not displeasing or jarring to me (and the first time I heard Dancing Through Life was in the show, so if anything it's more jarring on the cast recording!). I kind of wish we had a British cast recording because as fab as Idina and Kristin's voices are, I do prefer the accents on the West End than I do on the cast recording. They definitely have the actors who play the midwife/witch's father/witch's mother in the London programme because I went earlier this year and they're in the cast list at the start of the programme. Also I'm massively jealous you got to see Idina Menzel play Elphaba, how awesome!
I feel like "uni" is funny because of how lighthearted and "everyday" it is, in the midst of all the very serious, dramatic events in that scene
Very this
I think the applause when characters is a Wicked on Broadway only thing. The only other time I have seen something like you described is at Hadestown especially if it is the last performance for a main cast member.
When Imelda Staunton played Madam Rose in _Gypsy,_ she bulldozed any applause that happened when she made her first entrance down the aisle. She said her lines, and if you wanted to hear them, you'd better shut up and listen! Mostly this was fine, as it was mostly a West End audience, but you did get some confused Broadway tourists now and then who expected entrance applause to be the norm...
I saw the original production of Wicked on Broadway with the very British Carole Shelley playing Madame Morrible with an English accent, of course. So it has been done.
I saw the touring version in the United States within the last year. In that version Glinda had very fast moving hands and was excitable. She very much read as a neurodivergent (adhd etc.) femme who was good at fitting in. It also made her more black-and-white viewpoint on things make sense.
Great video! I'm American, and have seen Wicked a lot on both sides of the pond, but the London production still has my heart for being where I saw it first. And Boq is forever Scottish to me, because of James Gillan! It's funny how you feel about the "dance" pronunciation, because with that and other differences, I lean towards the British for being how I heard it first! ("HALF of Oz's favorite team" is another than comes to mind.)
"We all went to school together" actually got a laugh when I saw it recently with McKenzie on Broadway, which surprised me! Somehow her delivery found the humor in it, while most American Glindas tend to rush past the line.
I saw wicked on the west end and everything you pointed out was true. I only laughed at the "we went to uni together" line because everyone else laughed and I remembered this video. I have no idea what makes that line so funny to brits but it did get a huge laugh like you said. Glinda with a british accent is very different. She came across less ditzy and more snobbish.
In the book, there's a difference between animals and Animals, with the capitalization determining which is meant. In the book, there are a few points where it's clear that "animal" and "Animal" are pronounced similarly but not identically, so that people can use them in speech and the other characters understand which was meant, but there was really no way to do that with actual people speaking, so they kind of abandoned it for the show. Within the book, animals are what we normally think of as animals, and Animals are the ones who act more like humans.
Oh interesting! I've never read the books but I get how that would be basically impossible to convey onstage.
@@MickeyJoTheatre I'd read the book before the show opened, and my first thought when I heard about the show was to wonder how they were going to handle that, since it seemed like such an integral part of the story. Their solution -- basically not mentioning it, and having Animals be the only ones seen or talked about -- works up until you notice little details like that horse. (Or until you try to think too much about things like whether everyone in musical-Oz is vegan, or things like that.)
The book is well worth a read but it’s much darker and more complex than the stage adaptation - and a lot sexier (Philosophy Club!) I have a huge fondness for the show but I do sometimes wonder what could have been if it hewed a little more closely to the book.
The Hat. The Hat. The Hat. - If you were lucky enough to see the show when it first opened on Bway, the show started with a huge Hat that disappeared into the floor. That was cut in London, and the change was added to the Bway production.
I saw a picture of it once, convinced myself I'd seen it in the show although I hadn't and was then hugely confused when it wasn't there in 2010.
i actually got to see wicked in nyc for a theatre school trip and i loved it sooooo much :D
Really enjoyed your analysis and I'm glad that your video was in my recommendation! You really know your stuff and you definitely make it fun to discuss, as well. I found this topic fascinating and would love to see musical theater in London eventually.
I've seen Wicked 3x on Broadway, most recently in February 2023. Regarding your specific notes:
A) The accents are definitely things that distinguish each production. I've only ever heard it live with American accents, plus the original soundtrack with American accents. But I agree that Glinda is probably funnier as American (much less serious) while any villain is probably far more threatening with a British accent.
B) the stage differences are interesting. I believe that the Gershwin is the largest Broadway theater and it's absolutely enormous. It was about 4-5 floors and it feels absolutely massive. I'm not surprised that they have different set-up re: the broomstick and the trapdoor and the the flying monkeys.
C) I'm glad for the Elphaba and Fiyero introduction scene ("the driver saw green and thought go"). It's definitely a nice touch to highlight the early tension and chemistry between them. I also love your analysis re: Nessa understanding the depth of her sister's "relationship" while failing to see the realities within her own messy relationship. Great insight!
D) regarding the horse cart, if I remember correctly in the book, animals with a lowercase a couldn't talk, while Animals with a capital A can talk. Perhaps this horse cart was one of those who couldn't talk? But maybe Elphaba doesn't react because she doesn't understand the full situation yet, although she cares far more about this situation upon learning from her professor (and after saving the lion cub from the cage).
E) I prefer Glinda saying that they went to school together, because Shiz felt like a high school, not a college or university. It would feel odd if she said they went to university/college together when they technically didn't: they only attended a high school together, and very briefly, to be honest. It feels like Elphaba spent only about 1 full year at the high school before leaving.
F) interesting notes about the cast sizes and the bridge.
G) Wow, I never would have guessed that you don't get free Playbill types in London. I had always thought those souvenir programs were extra (you can buy that on Broadway too). I didn't realize that London doesn't have a default smaller Playbill to read.
Love your London skyline/Wicked shirt!
Great video!!!!!!!!
Mickey I just gotta say your smile is positively infectious 😁
As someone who went to see wicked in the west end, and when broadway across Canada does it, I had no idea that there were so many changes! Now I know what I need to see if I’m ever so fortunate to see a broadway show!
Favorite musical! Love it SO much! Elphaba flying in Defying Gravity, Julia Murney 06’ tour fell in love with the show.
That animal at the front of the carriage is a reference to the wooden horse in L Frank Baum’s The marvelous Land of Oz. Also did you notice the projection mapping in the audience during the flying monkeys and the tornado? Does west end have these as well?
I just saw the West End production for the first time a few weeks ago (having only seen the American Productions). this is right on the mark, with just a few additions: there are a few extra dialectal differences (the one that I can think of off the top of my head is that in the US, Madame Morrible teaches a sorcery seminar, in the UK it’s a tutorial.) Also, the Gershwin is just such a *massive* stage. The Broadway set feels ginormous (and is staged accordingly with the extra ensemble members to boot). The Apollo Victoria seems like a much smaller deck, and everything is scaled accordingly.
Now, this part I can’t confirm this directly, so forgive me if I’m misremembering- but it seemed to me that there were a handful very minor blink-and-you-miss-it blocking/formation changes to accommodate the smaller stage size in the UK. This jumped out at me because although the US tour deck is smaller, the shape of the show is generally in alignment with its Broadway counterpart. On Broadway, Glinda also exits immediately after Morrible’s “you listen to me” monologue, whereas in the UK, I noticed that she stays on stage with Morrible (forcing her to smile and wave) well after Morrible exclaims “good fortune witch hunters”.
Very interesting vid. I loved hearing about the small nuances between the shows.
I enjoy entrance applause. It’s a communal bonding that kind of unifies the audience for the rest of the show.
I especially enjoy the far more rare exit applause in a play (as opposed to a musical) when a character makes their final exit after delivering a great line.
I’m no fan of the mandatory standing ovation on Broadway. That was not common 20 years ago. If a show got a standing ovation it was because it deserved it. It was not automatic like it is now.
Really interesting video! :)
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed!
I've noticed many of those moments as well having seen the show on both the West End (2019) and on Broadway (2023).
I thought I was either crazy or remembering London wrong (It has been 4 years after all) but now hearing from you, I'm glad to know those were indeed Broadway exclusives.
Thank you for saving my sanity!!
BTW there's another little line change between London and New York: before "Dear Old Shiz", when Glinda is asked if it's true that Elphaba was her friend:
In the US: "Our paths did cross, at school"
In the UK: " Our paths did cross, as students" (And I still remember how Lisa-Anne Wood pronounced it as ""Styu-dents").
As for entrance applause, I remember the first time I saw Hamilton at the Victoria Palace (And in general) and I knew that Lin (as well as every Ham after him) would get entrance applause after his first "Alexander Hamilton".
So here I am, an excited 19 year old fan, waiting to give a massive Standing O to Jamael Westman only to hear absolute silence 😅😅😅
I have only seen Wicked on tour in Manchester but I suspect that there are probably some differences between touring show and the West End but I can’t be sure 💚
Totally agree re:Boq/Let’s Dance - I’m Northern so the Southern English pronunciation really threw me the first time I saw it. I love Scottish Boq!
One other thing they added from the West end later adopted to Broadway was glindas bit about needing to lie down in the wizard and I scene.
Thanks!
I just saw the North American tour in St. Louis (I went twice, for reasons), and on both nights Glinda's "We went to school together" got good laughs. Maybe it was her delivery, but I think the line is actually quite funny to people Stateside, especially when she's already been this manic comedy figure for most of the show. Can also confirm that Avaric does not have a horse on the tour. Also, tour Madame Morrible used a British accent, and I absolutely agree that it hits different that way, with the excessively-rolled 'r's and such, and should totally be performed that way all the time. (My personal take is that Morrible should also be performed in drag, and I've decided that is now my dream role from this show.)
Me holding my souvenir "American" program for Wicked, Cats, Phantom, and Cinderella (Rogers and Hammerstein) when you say that only playbills exist for American Productions.
Interesting! Seems like the large hat prop is back for the movie!
I TOTALLY agree about the point about Glinda and Morrible's accents
I've yet to see Wicked on Broadway or in the West End, but have seen it twice off-Broadway in two different theaters. The giant wizard head (super scary and loud in one and so not in the other) and the way the monkeys "flew" were a huge difference. (In one they swung around on ropes and the others they just climbed the set pieces and yelled and screamed like monkeys are wont to do.)
Then there were minor differences between how the characters danced in various numbers or even little lines.
You'll find in many of the tour productions the Monkeys don't fly. Many theatres just don't have the safety wires or the fly space above the stage to allow them to fly. It could also be an insurance thing.
A tiny detail I noticed when I saw it on Broadway compared to the Australian production (which sounds very similar to the UK production)... Did you notice the wheels on the set turning during certain points of the show? That didn't happen on the Australian set but happened on Broadway.
The animal pulling Fieryo's cart is a reference to the sawhouse from the second Oz book, The Marvelous Land of Oz.
The sawhouse in the books pulls Queen Ozma and Dorothy's red carriage around and is made of wood.
In the US tours they do the offstage thing for the broomstick as well. Never knew about the broadway staging!
The stairs they come up at the start of DG in NYC is known as the ‘death stair dash’. There is video online of the actresses running below stage, having sips of water from a stagehand & up the stairs onto the stage.
My first viewing was the German version in Oberhausen. When I saw a performance later in the West End, it felt like a completely different show (though I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why)
The wooden horse is a callback to the animated sawhorse from the Oz books. A great detail I love about the Broadway version.
I have seen the show twice in London, and both times there was a cover for Boq. Always found that an interesting coincidence
18:38 concerning the dillamond/father doubling: the way I always understood it, is that there are 3 tracks you can fuse with no complications: dillamond, father (already combined in one track with the ozian official) and wizard. I’ve seen footage of dillamond and wizard in one track (another ensemble member in dillamonds mask for dillamonds last scene with the wizard providing both voices) as well as dillamond and father/official in one track. I guess you’d have to play the official as one separate track when you’re doing father/wizard though
Loved this vlog. I dont think i'll ever be lucky enough to see the NY version so was great to hear all about it.
The flying monkey's are also diiferences in the UK tour version to the London version. In London they don't fly as much across the stage as they do on tour, and i think this is because on tour they don't have as big a bridge as London, and so have more space on stage.
Haha I did this in the summer of 2022. Couldn’t notice as much as you!
I preferred the west end version
The first tour production i saw in 2010 i believe the broom was in a door that they had on stage and flew off of it but the 2nd and 3rd i saw it on tour they used the west end blocking
It’s so interesting to me that Morrible didn’t come across as British in America. I started seeing Wicked in America in 2006, and she always stood out as British to me - perhaps not actually British but was terribly “heightened” if you will. Carole Shelley’s Morrible is my absolute favorite. And she’s British, and so I think she put a British stamp on it. I wonder if most of the Morribles following her loosened up on it a bit. Rue McClanahan certainly did. I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore. 😂
I agree with you. Morrible should be British. And I’m surprised she didn’t come across that way to you in America. Love your channel, and this vid, especially! (Rondi Reed-I’m sure you know of her. American Morrible-frightfully British in her interpretation. Loved it.)
Edit:: sorry to belabor the point. Okay. I just looked up a recording of the current Morrible on Broadway, and she’s the most American interpretation I have ever heard. I’m shocked. I hate to admit this publicly, but I’ve seen Wicked in the US over 100 times-yep. And Morrible has ALWAYS been heightened with an RP … I’m sad you didn’t experience that on Broadway. I’m visiting London soon. Hope to see Wicked UK.
K. Now I’m done. 🤦🏾♂️🙈
The big difference between the big programs you have in the west end and the big ones we have in the US this that ours are just books of full color expensive images from cover to cover no adds and no cast bios there sometimes is an insert in the front with the cast bios but that’s always it’s own piece of paper. And Bette milder Hello Dolly one was like 5 souvenir programs thick! But it was Bette so they were going all out but normally it’s like anywhere between a 17 and 25 page book of full color images. Also I do know there’s a bunch of little words that are different from each others productions. Like our Morriable says Room assignments and on the west end she says Room Allocations. Little things like that. And I agree 100% Morriable is absolutely better in a British accent it does elevate her to snobby and above them all!
i watched this video despite knowing the differences already but i did NOT know about the tshirts and now i’m upset i didn’t get a London one 😭