WICKED in Helsinki

[Stephen - Yar Matey]

i just heard about this production for the first time!

A - Wicked is one of my top 5 favourite shows ever. I'm a bit confused as to why it's not an exact replica of the Broadway show - there's another production opening in Denmark, and it too isn't a Broadway replica.

B - Has there been any news about a cast recording for this Helsinki production? If so - can someone tell me

C - I watched the video viz broadwayworld.com and it looked kind of exciting - the choreo looked like fun and new, but you can't really get better choreo for a broadway show than wicked...for the most part, imho!!!

And, Elphaba and Glinda sounded great! haha

[Valancy]

Why should it be a complete replica? It's normal that not all musical productions are replicas of the original production. I'm guessing Schwartz may just be getting interesting in trying out different versions, too, now that the original has been a success.

Finnish musical productions hardly ever produce cast recordings. I'll be very surprised if this one does. It just doesn't happen here, except sometimes for shows that are based on music from popular Finnish artists. Though sometimes there have been short few-track CDs, but those aren't usually widely available, and normally when I've seen them they've been from originally Finnish shows where the rights aren't so expensive.

[Cia]

The Finnish theatre system is quite different from for example Broadway, and there's no way they would have enough money and resources to produce a replica of a Broadway show. In that case it's better to design something completely new than to make a very cheap-looking replica, and I'm glad they have at least understood that, even if their sense of style in creating new designs isn't IMO the best one out there... The theatre is performing several different plays on the same time, and these big musicals are often understood as the shows that bring in most of the money, which then allows the smaller plays to be performed, too. I don't know if the theatre even makes profit, but at least it gets state allowance. And this is the biggest theatre in Finland.

I also don't think that productions should always be replicas. Some ideas may work better than the originals, some not, but the changes keep theatre more interesting.