While searing for behind the scenes videos from Wicked, I stumbled across a series of
videos called Fly Girl: Behind the Scenes
at Wicked with Lindsay Mendez. I enjoyed the 11 installments of Fly Girl so much that I decided to do
this review.
Prior to watching this series, I was not familiar with
Lindsay as Elphaba. I was of course familiar with Idina Menzel, as well as
others such as Shoshana Bean and Kerry Ellis. After following Lindsay around
for 11 videos, she is now one of my favorite women to have been in this special
role.
This video series was very informative and provided a very
in-depth look at a typical routine for an Elphaba at Wicked. From costumes, to makeup, to outside of the show;
everything was addressed by Lindsay. I really love seeing how the actresses
actually go through the “greenifying” process to become the infamous witch. We
met her makeup artist, her dresser, and her hair stylist. From a distance, it
looks like the whole body is painted green, but this is not the case. Lindsay
shows how only her face, neck, and hands go through the greening process. Her
arms and chest are green due to a sheer bodysuit to cut down on application
time. I was not aware that Elphaba becomes greener and more glamorous by the
second act. Lindsay explains that this is due to her aging process and also her
internal changes. She also shows how she takes off the green after every show,
even after two show days.
She also let us get to know her co-stars. Derek Klena, her
Fiyero, often hung out in her dressing room. Lindsay explains that everyone
tends to gather in her dressing room before the show. She says this is because
they don’t have time to really interact with each other out-of-character during
the show due to lack of time off-stage. Seeing how close they are were with
each other was very fun. I especially loved the relationship between Lindsay
and Derek. Before Wicked, they had done
Dogfight with one another.
She also gave us her tips and tricks to maintaining a
healthy voice for the show. Lindsay went through Derek leaving the show for a
while to take a break, her dressing room being torn down during renovations for
the theater, 10th Anniversary performances and press, and running
around the stage along with many other things.
This was an incredibly entertaining series to watch. Watch
the first installment here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvfSMr70jH8
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