Wicked good
(cross-posting my FB notes here, for easier access)
"No Good Deed" may just be my favorite song in the cast album. Everything about it works to make it evocative and empowering. I love the refrain played by the strings. It has a crazy energy to it reflective of Elphaba's transformation. And, of course, Idina Menzel's performance, which can be uncannily perfect even at times when it is not flawless...
It struck me the other day that there are many similarities between Sweeney and Wicked, both in the story and the score. Both are elements that seem to (sorry) strike a visceral chord for me...
Like Sweeney deciding that waiting for the target of his rage is just not worth it, this is Elphaba's "Epiphany" moment. Stephen Sondheim spoke of "Epiphany" as being a "Dies Irae" in disguise. The comparison also applies to "Wicked". "No Good Deed" is Elphaba's "Day of Wrath"... and the inception of the Wicked Witch.
Cast album version (audio)
Idina Menzel
Shoshana Bean - Very nice... and she hits her marks like nobody's business. :)
Eden Espinosa
(and another one, just because...)
Julia Murney - eek... :p
Kerry Ellis - I'm not crazy about her voice, but what works here is that the voices of the two leads are similar enough that the two cries of "Fiyero!" (at the beginning) almost sound like one.
Jackie Burns - Don't really like this one either; only including it for comparison (nice effects on the Grimmerie, though)
Willemijn Verkaik - Seriously girl-crushing on this one... *goosebumps*
The only actress to sing the role in three languages (in German from 2007 to 2011, and in Dutch from 2011 to 2013, before joining the Broadway and West End casts in 2013).
Donna Vivino - also not my favorite, but this video has a clearer view.
Rachel Tucker - excellent enunciation on this one (Northern Irish). The word "chanting" tends to give them away... :)
Sweeney Todd's "Epiphany"
(Not linking the 2005 revival, because the only clip I've found has it immediately followed by "A Little Priest", which kinda breaks the mood of the moment a little bit...)
George Hearn and Angela Lansbury
Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton
Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter
Clip from a 1980 BBC documentary
(I love how Hal Prince can't sit still...)
This one is interesting... you get an idea of why the right brain reacts the way it does to this...
Here's how the idea for this post came about:
Listen to the piano riff in Something Bad, and compare with The Ballad of Sweeney Todd.
Edit - 7/22/2015: Don't know why it took me so long to notice this, but Edges of the World has a similar riff on the piano (starting about 0:23 in the linked video)... I realize it's designed to make you uncomfortable; it signals that feeling of oppression that Bruce must have felt... the walls closing in...
"No Good Deed" may just be my favorite song in the cast album. Everything about it works to make it evocative and empowering. I love the refrain played by the strings. It has a crazy energy to it reflective of Elphaba's transformation. And, of course, Idina Menzel's performance, which can be uncannily perfect even at times when it is not flawless...
It struck me the other day that there are many similarities between Sweeney and Wicked, both in the story and the score. Both are elements that seem to (sorry) strike a visceral chord for me...
Like Sweeney deciding that waiting for the target of his rage is just not worth it, this is Elphaba's "Epiphany" moment. Stephen Sondheim spoke of "Epiphany" as being a "Dies Irae" in disguise. The comparison also applies to "Wicked". "No Good Deed" is Elphaba's "Day of Wrath"... and the inception of the Wicked Witch.
Cast album version (audio)
Idina Menzel
Shoshana Bean - Very nice... and she hits her marks like nobody's business. :)
Eden Espinosa
(and another one, just because...)
Julia Murney - eek... :p
Kerry Ellis - I'm not crazy about her voice, but what works here is that the voices of the two leads are similar enough that the two cries of "Fiyero!" (at the beginning) almost sound like one.
Jackie Burns - Don't really like this one either; only including it for comparison (nice effects on the Grimmerie, though)
Willemijn Verkaik - Seriously girl-crushing on this one... *goosebumps*
The only actress to sing the role in three languages (in German from 2007 to 2011, and in Dutch from 2011 to 2013, before joining the Broadway and West End casts in 2013).
Donna Vivino - also not my favorite, but this video has a clearer view.
Rachel Tucker - excellent enunciation on this one (Northern Irish). The word "chanting" tends to give them away... :)
Sweeney Todd's "Epiphany"
(Not linking the 2005 revival, because the only clip I've found has it immediately followed by "A Little Priest", which kinda breaks the mood of the moment a little bit...)
George Hearn and Angela Lansbury
Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton
Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter
Clip from a 1980 BBC documentary
(I love how Hal Prince can't sit still...)
This one is interesting... you get an idea of why the right brain reacts the way it does to this...
Here's how the idea for this post came about:
Listen to the piano riff in Something Bad, and compare with The Ballad of Sweeney Todd.
Edit - 7/22/2015: Don't know why it took me so long to notice this, but Edges of the World has a similar riff on the piano (starting about 0:23 in the linked video)... I realize it's designed to make you uncomfortable; it signals that feeling of oppression that Bruce must have felt... the walls closing in...