Wicked: The Grimmerie, a Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Hit Broadway Musical

Wicked

The Grimmerie, a Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Hit Broadway Musical

by David Cote
(based on 126 customer reviews)

Wicked: The Grimmerie, a Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Hit Broadway Musical (Hardcover)
Author: David Cote
Publisher: Hyperion


List Price: $40.00
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Most useful review as voted by customers:
133 out of 142 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 10/26/05


Wicked: The Grimmerie

Finally, after months of waiting (and a whole week early!). Wicked: The Grimmerie is here. Some may be wondering if they should buy this book, and I'm here to tell you.

The Good News: The cover and design of the book is amazing. The cover looks old and worn and is even padded. The intricate designs are textured and the book is nice and heavy and thick. The inside design is incredible. Each page (printed on very heavy paper) is made to look old, worn and stained and it's wonderful to look at. As for the actual contents... wow. The production photos are brilliantly printed and include photos from the following casts: Original Broadway Cast, 2nd Broadway Cast (Jennifer Laura Thompson and Joey McIntyre), Original Tour Cast (Stephanie J. Block and Kendra Kassebaum), and the 3rd Broadway Cast (Shoshana Bean and David Ayers). There are very few new photos but there are some. Most of them are from the tour cast (most of Kendra and some of Stephanie and one small one of Carole Kane). There are many interviews with every cast member and many from Gregory Maguire (writer of Wicked the novel) and Stephen Shwartz and Winnie Holtzman (writer of script). There is a step-by-step page of how Stephanie gets green before each show. They have a page dedicated to the dance Elphaba does in "Dancing Through Life" and they teach it to us step-by-step. They have many photos of props and sets and wigs, as well as original costume and set sketches. There is a handwritten page from the book and an early version of Defying Gravity. There is commentary on each song by Mr. Shwartz and this isn't even all of it. So much information to soak up!

The Wicked News: Unlike what some people are saying, the book DOES NOT INCLUDE THE FULL SCRIPT. There are bits of dialogue and a lot of it is summed up in a few sentences. (The Cornfield Scene is completely gone) They cut whole scenes (which is dumb, they are all spoiler free about it, even though they talk about the same parts in interviews). I was so hoping they would make a huge deal about the script and splash the libretto with tons of photos from each scene... It's very, very disappointing, yes. Very. But... ah, well. They also didn't include Elphaba's spells like they said they would. There is also a sad lack of production photos. There are so many wonderful photos and they don't use NEARLY as much as they should have... You should also know they don't include the 4th Broadway cast (Megan Hilty, Ben Vereen) or ANY of the Chicago cast (Ana Gastyer and Kate Reinders)... that really bites. The Chicago sit-down cast is only mentioned and that is a shame. If you are an Original Cast fan you may be slightly disappointed. Instead of using only the original cast photos (like the RENT "bible") they mix and match all the different casts. This would be fine except that if you are a big fan or the Chicago cast or the current Broadway cast (as of Fall 2005) you will be disappointed.

But over all, an AMAZING book. Buy it! It's a must for every Wicked fan. A MUST. This is also a wonderful gift.

20 out of 23 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 1/1/06


The Grimmerie

I got this for Christmas this year and I have never seen Wicked, so this book introduced me to the show. I was a bit disappointed that the FULL libretto was not in this book as was advertised, so if you have the CD and are just buying this book to get the full libretto, then don't bother. What is in the CD booklet is reprinted in the book. That was a major disappointment to me.

I thought that the design of the book was beautifully done- it is certainly good eye candy! The edition is a very tick, old-fashioned and worn looking cover that looks like a spellbook (thus the Grimmerie title!). The pages are well sewn together and the pages are very sturdy and thick. I think that is good so that the book will last longer. There are beautiful photographs as well.

The book contains information about the author and the team behind the show. You find out about the author's inspiration, how Schwarz decided to make it into the musical, how the book and lyrics and score were made, how much effort was put into the show, the costumes, the staging, the lighting, the changes made from the book, et cetera. I found it to be a very interesting read!

Although I would have liked the book to be longer and for the full libretto to be included, this book helped me understand the musical and get into it. I recommend it to those who are wondering about why Wicked is so big or for those who are Wicked fans. I think it's a bit overpriced, but so are all books today.

19 out of 23 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 10/25/05


The good and the bad

I am a HUGE fan of Wicked the musical and couldn't wait for this book to come out. When I finally got it, I was blown away by how cool the cover looked and at all the behind-the-scenes info (including the interviews with all the women who've played Elphaba). If you're getting the book for information on the genesis and success of the musical you can't do much better than this book. Unfortunately, there were hardly any new pictures, backstage or during the show, here to see. You could pretty much find any of them with ten minutes on Google, and with such a visually beautiful show as Wicked that was a major letdown for me. Also, the reviewer below is right- there is not a complete libretto here. Still, the design and production of The Grimmerie is very well done, but it just could have used a lot more rare pictures.

12 out of 14 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 11/2/05


The 2nd Bible (I give it really 4.5)

If you are a WICKED fan, this is your bible. Here are the goods:
Pros:
1. REALLY cool pictures, graphics and the cover
2. How to do the 'Elphaba' from the Oz Dust ballroom
3. How they make Elphaba green

Cons:
1. Not a full libertto (just because the book doesn't have that doesn't mean it should only get 1 star)
2. The fan letters are stupid
3. Spoilers (for when fans wh show their friends who haven't seen the show.)

Otherwise, it is my second bible. :)


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