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| TR_Wolf |
UK Modifications?I still remember reading that the London production would be "tailored for a UK audience" , mainly the Shiz scenes. Does anyone know yet what is being modified and how?I hope the accents stay American, I mean it worked having Beauty and the Beast in English, but I dont think Wicked would work well at all. Can you imagine Galinda sounding like an Essex Girl or Cockney or something? 
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| MademoiselleMusicals |
Yes I was wondering that too! Galinda as a Cockney girl - wouldn't that be funny? I would assume it would as the Wizard of Oz is set in Kansas so as Wicked is developed from that then perhaps the accents would stay...  Not sure really
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| mozurkz |
Most professional actors don't have a real 'cockney' accent. If it's required for a show (for instance Sweeney Todd) then they learn to speak in it. I don't really care if it's in a brittish accent, it'll just sound normal to them, after all, it IS playing in london. | ||||
| flying_pigs |
The actors are speaking with english accents, Helen Dallimoore (sp?) is playing G(a)linda as an upper class twit! | ||||
| TR_Wolf |
Oh god, PLEASE tell me you're kidding! From a popular cheerleading type popular girl to an upper class twit? No!! And to whoever said that "Cockney accents will sound normal in London", yes, but not everyone in London has a Cockney accent, nor do the rest of the country. I dont think that would work AT ALL for Galinda, she'd come across too common. Maybe if she was more like Nikki from Big Brother... |
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| MademoiselleMusicals |
Well I certainly don't have an accent. Little Westcountry twang now and then but I regerd myself as RP although not as 'posh.' OK I'm getting confused...
 Agh I can't stand Nikki from BB - isn't she like an Essex wife though not a Cockney person? I;m not sure of the difference, but oh well. Her voice does my head in 'ooooh look at me, I'm so dumb and I'm pretending to be!' Sorry end of rant. 
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| Pounce |
It should still work if the cast is "British" because Oz is "somewhere else". Wicked really doesn't need American accents to work. But the show makes references to "The Wizard of Oz" so unless the British public is familiar with the film some of the jokes and plot will fall flat. |
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| TR_Wolf |
Well course the UK know the Wizard of Oz, I just dont think the thing would work particularly well in "English", especially if Galinda is an "upper class twit"... I really wouldnt like that. |
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| what_the_heck013 |
Yeah, but the character of Glinda really IS an uperclass twit. Her family is very rich and well-known. "Yes, you see, I am Galinda Upland of the Upperuplands... I've applied to your sorcery seminar, and indeed that is my sole purpose of attending Shiz; to study sorcery with you. Perhaps you recall my essay, 'Magic Wands, Need They Have A Point'". Note the words in bold. | ||||
| DramaRobin2002 |
I think the only character it would really make a difference in is the Wizard as he hails from Kansas. Oz is a different world, so it really shouldn't matter what their accents are as long as they fit the character. It could prove to be interesting though, making Elphaba even more different if she doesn't speak in an accent (unless Idina decides to do one). | ||||
| TR_Wolf |
Elphaba and Galinda I personally think should remain American. I mean yeah Galinda is kind of upper class, but an upper class ENGLISH twit is another thing, and in my opinion is a complete departure from the character of Galinda if you ask me. I guess we'll see how it goes or if we find out more news. If she DOES have to be English, I'd rather she be an Essex Girl than an Upper Class Twit. Elphaba might POSSIBLY work in English. Nigel Planer is the Wizard and Ive never heard him do an American accent, but he did play Amos in Chicago. Im seeing him as the narrator in Rocky Horror in a couple of weeks. But I wonder when we'll OFFICIALLY know the official changes being made to "tailor it to a UK audience". Like I say, I do hope its nothing too butchering. |
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| born to perform |
I think whatever accents they have will work fine. If you listen to all the Elphaba's that have been on Broadway, Chicago and the tour, they all speak differently, have different diction. No one sounds the same - and it works. So why would having a different sound not work? Oz is a far off place where there isn't a specific race and language.
And if these are Broadway-caliber actors and actresses, I don't think they'd have thick accents. And although I may live in the US, I have friends who live in England, and their accents aren't too noticable. So what's the big deal? |
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| TR_Wolf |
Im not saying that it shouldnt happen, Im just saying I wouldnt personally like it. Different American accents is one thing, a whole other accent is another, ie if Aunt Eller in Oklahoma! had a German accent, or if Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast had a Cockney accent or a Bolton accent... it just wouldnt feel "right" if that makes sense, it wouldnt gel properly. | ||||
| Pounce |
Well...it's just that in another thread a Brit asked from what film does "Over the Rainbow" appear. I would forgive anyone other than an American for asking a question like that. And another Brit stated that "The Wizard of Oz" is not commonly well-known in the UK. I'm not sure how a British "upper class twit" is characterized but the closest thing to Galinda in recent film I can think of is Reese Witherspoon's character, Elle, in "Legally Blonde". Bubbly, wanting to be liked, being in fashion is important, and pretty enough that she can get away with being annoyingly pretentious...but she's not stupid. |
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| TR_Wolf |
The Wizard of Oz is well known here, but not as universally loved as it is in the US, over here that'd be morelike something for Mary Poppins. English Upper Class Twit... if you've seen Blackadder... think Queenie from Blackadder II, or Veruca Salt from either Chocolate Factory film. |
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| CYTthespian |
well, i thought SJB sounded british, that's one reason i can't stand her as elphaba. | ||||
| Pounce |
I think most Americans are familiar with Mary Poppins the movie, which in some ways I think was made for Americans. Most Americans were probably not bothered by Dick Van Dyke's "cockney" but for those who've heard the real thing...Van Dyke's wasn't even close. But I don't know if the Travers books are as widely read in America.
I've only seen some episodes of Blackadder. A lot of people in the US like it but I don't particularly care for its type of humor. So I don't know the character Queenie. Veruca Salt from the film was a spoiled brat and bitchy. No...that wouldn't be Galinda in my opinion. |
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| actor |
I don't see why Idina would put on a british accent when she is American and played and originated Elphaba as American. | ||||
| DramaRobin2002 |
Agreed, that would be weird. |
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| TR_Wolf |
My exact point, hence Im wondering what these "tailoring to a UK audience" things are.
I dont want Galinda as a British upper class twit, it will be stupid!! |
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| WillowFae |
You can't make those comparrisions at all. Oklahoma is set in somewhere where a person wouldn't have a German accent. Lumiere has to have a French accent as it is set in France. However, where is Wicked set? Certainly isn't America! We don't know what an Ozian accent is. Heck a Vinkus accent could differ wildly from a Munchkin one. |
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| broadwayboy09 |
I Agree with the comment about SJB singing with sort of an English
Example: "If you kair to find me look toward the west-ARND sky-i" That kind of how she sings it. Past Roles "Guys and Dolls" - Ensemble, Crapshooter "HMS Pinafore" - Bill Bobstay |
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| swmustang878 |
Glinda DEFINITELY should NOT be changed for the British cast. That would suck for any English viewer. She should be kept bubbly and "fake dumb blonde", not bitchy and "snobby stuck up." Could you imagine the latter type Galinda singing "Popular"?!?! Wow, that would MAJORLY suck. | ||||
| qpidsangel |
*gasp* god forbid actors will actually have different takes artistically on roles. No matter what, roles are going to be changed. Actors/actresses approach characters differently and pull out what they feel is the most important aspects of that character. look at the difference between all the Elphabas on Bway/Tour/Chicago they're all different. Same with the Glindas.
You guys need to get over yourselves if you think everyone is going to play each character the same way for eternity. As for the accents as long as they're uniform for different races in Oz, I don't care what kind of accent they have. |
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| TR_Wolf |
Yeah but by going from bubbly airhead blonde sort of "Valley Girl" feeling, to upper class British toff/twit, its just a different personality all together, and as someone said further up, I dont think that personality would work well for the song "popular", as the upper class twits dont tend to be the popular ones like the airhead blondes. Although, if need be, and a British-Style-Galinda had to be picked, I'd either choose: A) Nikki from Big Brother 7 (Current UK Big Brother series), she has the voice and the look and the bizzare personality to fit very well. B) Shirley Henderson, she truly has the English version of Kristin Chenoweth's voice, I swear! And I think she'd play the part very well, or perhaps as Nessarose. |
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| WillowFae |
Oh no. Glinda has to be likeable. Nikki is anything but! | ||||
| Timmy_Wishes he was Quast |
HERE HERE! We can all have our definitive verisons of a character BUT if it were continually played the same way then added extras wouldn't appear in the show. The different interpritaions of chracter add depth to the show preventing it from becomeing a cliche of itself, as well as allowing it to cater for a wide audience and become an ever developing creature to appeal to audinces. A show that can allow for this bears all the hallmarks of having a long a sucessful run. BUT i guess you guys would prefer a failure...*shrug*...your choices![/quote] |
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| qpidsangel |
I think I like you Timmy |
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| Timmy_Wishes he was Quast |
Why thank you!
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| The Very Angry Woman |
No, Lumiere has a French accent because it's a character choice going back to the film. There are plenthy of other French characters in B & B (say, I dunno, ALL of them?) who don't deviate from the standard accent of wherever the show is playing. |
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| Pounce |
If I may do an "Angry", the correct expression is HEAR HEAR! Some background for those interested. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hear_hear |
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| Timmy_Wishes he was Quast |
Well i never...you learn something new everyday. I am genuinly thankful for your correction supported by fact based information! (God bless wikipedia). | ||||
| WillowFae |
Fair point, my bad. But my original point still stands. Ozians don't necessarily speak with American accents. The only character who has to have one is the Wizard. |
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| Amy_Vocalist |
I agree with the Fact that the only person who MUST have an american accent is The Wizard, as he hails from Omaha.
By the by, BATB is set in France, so technically, ALL the characters should have french accents but as Disney does so often, all the characters except lumerie have american accents. Same as Mulan, set in china, but do they have chinese accents.... It's all about fantasy. |
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| TR_Wolf |
Monsieur D'arque and Cogsworth have English accents, and Babette also has a French accent. And the only reason I would've thought the characters in Wicked should be American are because of their connection to the Wizard of Oz movie, where the characters are American as they had counterparts in Kansas. I mean all the characters might easily work in English accents, but I think Galinda and Fiyero would work best in American, maybe even Elphaba too. They thought the same of the characters in the UK Tours of Beauty and the Beast, where Gaston retains his American accent. |
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| Baker |
Mrs. Potts also has an English accent. In the Phantom movie, the characters were all French but the only character with a French accent was Giry. In Tarzan on Broadway, Clayton is English but has a decidedly distasteful Southern American accent. In the movie Ever After, they're all French and they all have English accents. |
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| MademoiselleMusicals |
Good examples Baker! 
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