Idina Menzel’s last ever Defying Gravity (London):
This has got to be one of Idina’s best performances of this song. The emotion, power and urgency is all there. All I can really criticize is that not all the notes are there - she’s quite flat on the high F’s. Her “everyone deserves a chance to fly” is absolutely brilliant though. I love how she takes a good rubato on that line, then resuming back to the original tempo right away.
And I am obsessed with the final “Ah!” because she belts it straight tone! I love straight tone belting because I think it’s so impressive when a singer is confident enough to try singing through the center of a pitch. With vibrato the pitch is obscured, so you can’t tell if it’s the right note or not. She gravels the riff, then belts the final D flat straight tone! She holds it FOREVER, then adds a little bit of vibrato at the end to conclude.
And I’m sorry, I’ve just got to say, Helen Dallimore is an awful Glinda.
Shoshana Bean’s last ever Defying Gravity (tour):
For those not in the know, Shoshana Bean was Idina’s understudy in the Broadway production. She took over the role when Idina left in 2005, then was later cast in the national tour.
Love it or hate it, Shosh is the rifftastic Elphaba. I got chills the first time I heard the “Look to the western sky” line in this recording. She takes artistic liberties with the melody to belt high A flats! And in this recording, I am completely obsessed with the first “Bring me down” at 0:57 where she holds the high F straight tone and powerhouses the hell out of the E flat on “down”. And just for fun, she knocks out a 9-note riff on the final “Ah!” This performance is a tad too rifftastic for me, but you have to hand it to her for honing such an amazingly flexible voice!
Winner: Shoshana Bean. I love Idina Menzel to bits, but I think Shoshana really holds her own!
What do you think? Idina or Shoshana?
Tags: Helen Dallimore, Idina Menzel, Shoshana Bean, Wicked
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