BREAKING NEWS: The UK & Ireland Tour production of the smash hit musical WICKED The Musical is coming back. It’s set to re-launch February 2018. The Wicked UK and Ireland tour originally launched in 2013 and ended in 2015. Who is excited?
GOOD NEWS! The SPECTACULAR touring production of #WickedOnTour will fly back to TEN UK & Ireland cities from February 2018! Discover more at WickedtheMusical.co.uk
DID YOU KNOW: Before she wowed Broadway as Elphaba in WICKED The Musical, the title role in Brooklyn: The Musical, and the closing Maureen in Rent, Eden Espinosa got her start out performing in the LA Theme Parks (both Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood).
One of the shows Espinosa performed in was a mini musical version of Marvel’s Spider-Man (long before the controversial Spider-Man On Broadway) called SPIDER-MAN ROCKS. This show was as 30 minute version of the classic story of the famous superhero. It featured only a 6 person cast. To tell the story, they used 90’s / early 2000’s pop music throughout the show….these are songs you would not expect to hear in a Spider-Man show. It came out in 2002 (right after the Tobey Maguire film version came out) and ran till 2004. The reviews of the show were mixed. Critics were pleased with the special effects and the voices, However, they were not pleased with having using decent pop songs (like Ricky Martin’s She Bangs and J LO’s Let’s Get Loud) in the show.
When Espinosa was doing SPIDER-MAN ROCKS, she got discovered and was invited to audition for the workshop of BROOKLYN THE MUSICAL which she ended up getting and stayed with BROOKLYN till it’s Broadway closing back in the Summer 2005.
Here is a video of Espinosa in one of the performances of SPIDER-MAN ROCKS. She plays multiple roles including the Spider Lab tour guide. And wait till you see her dance moves back in the day.
Broadway’s bewitching smash hit WICKED The Musical will reach another THRILLIFYING milestone this week at the Gershwin Theatre. This Sunday afternoon, the Award winning Stephen Schwartz musical will play it’s 5,462nd performance surpassing another magical show on the Great White way, the original production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast as the 9th longest running show in Broadway history. Congrats to the Broadway company of WICKED and here’s to another 5,462 & many more performances.
The Award winning smash hit WICKED The Musical continues to play to packed houses on Broadway, on tour, in London’s West End, and around the world.
In 2006, Universal Studios put together an abridged 30 minute version of the hit musical for their theme park in Japan. It was part of the (no longer running) LAND OF OZ attraction (a full themed park of all things The Wizard of Oz). This version closed in 2011 to make way for the Osaka production of the entire musical.
WICKED’s 30 minute version was performed in the Emerald City Theatre featuring a replica of the set (as seen in most of the companies we know) and the cast rotating languages (singing in both English and Japanese). The show mainly focused on the preliminary storyline of Act 1 (the beginning of Glinda and Elphaba’s friendship). With that, the roles of Madame Morrible, Fiyero, Boq, Nessarose, and Dr. Dillamond were cut.
The songs were not in the exact order as we know from most productions. It was…
ONE SHORT DAY
DEAR OLD SHIZ
WHAT IS THIS FEELING
THE WIZARD AND I
POPULAR
A SENTIMENTAL MAN
DEFYING GRAVITY
FOR GOOD
DEFYING GRAVITY (Reprise) – The moment she flies!!!
In addition, the role of Elphaba was rotated by American and Australian actresses for this production. In this video, Elphaba is performed by New Jersey actress Jill Giacchi. Another Elphaba that appeared in this version was Jemma Rix (who later went on to play the Green Girl in the musical’s acclaimed Australian and Asia Tour Productions).
How THRILLIFYING is this 30 minute abridge version?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5M0m48POEACast: Jillian Giacchi (Elphaba), Ogasa Maki (Glinda), Atom Kobayashi (The Wizard). Notes: Opening night. This version is condensed into 35 minutes
New York Broadway Tours CEO/Tour Guide, Amada Anderson, interviews Mary Testa on the inspiration for her new album, “Have Faith” and her career working as an actress in different fields.
