{"id":2696,"date":"2014-01-04T19:20:47","date_gmt":"2014-01-05T02:20:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wickedthemusicalticketsonline.com\/blog\/?p=2696"},"modified":"2014-01-04T19:23:12","modified_gmt":"2014-01-05T02:23:12","slug":"wicked-musical-elphaba-jennifer-dinoia-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.wickedthemusicalticketsonline.com\/blog\/wicked-musical-elphaba-jennifer-dinoia-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Wicked Musical ‘Elphaba’ Jennifer DiNoia Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jennifer DiNoia plays one of the leading role Elphaba. Jennifer DiNoia talks about the role she brings to Sheas Performing Arts Center<\/a>\u2019s stage this month in Wicked musical.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Wicked<\/a>

Wicked Musical 'Elphaba' Jennifer DiNoia<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

This will be Jennifer DiNoia\u2019s first trip to Buffalo, but her fifth company of Wicked. She has played Elphaba on Broadway, and has appeared in the Chicago, Australia, and Seoul companies of the show.<\/p>\n

Jennifer DiNoia interviewed by Anthony Chase Via ArtVoice.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI was originally cast as a \u2018swing\u2019 back in 2006,\u201d says DiNoia, speaking by telephone. Rather than play a part of her own, or understudy a single role, a \u201cswing\u201d must be ready to go on for any of several different characters at a moment\u2019s notice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did nine different female roles,\u201d she explains. \u201cOne night I go on for the midwife. Another night I might be Elphaba\u2019s mother. Then after I\u2019d been on the job, doing bit parts for six months, an understudy was injured.\u201d<\/p>\n

DiNoia moved up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI became an emergency \u2018cover.\u2019 There are two covers for every role, just in case of an emergency. Well, when the injured actress came back, they kept me on.\u201d<\/p>\n

A standby covers a single role, and when she is not performing, she sits and waits, just in case. In this capacity, DiNoia did go on as Elphaba, a number of times\u2014sometimes in mid-show.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does happen,\u201d she reveals, \u201cthat the lead finds that she just can\u2019t make it through a performance, and then the standby goes on. Sometimes the audience would not even notice until the announcement was made. I\u2019d go on, and I\u2019d notice the people in the front rows begin to look around and talk to each other: \u2018Is that the same girl?\u2019 It is such a spectacular show\u2014music, costumes lighting.\u201d<\/p>\n

And of course, Elphaba\u2019s face is painted green!<\/p>\n

In time, DiNoia would earn the right to call the role of Elphaba her own.<\/p>\n

\u201cEver since I first saw the show, I wanted to play this role,\u201d she reveals. \u201cBut it has taken me a long time to be able to do the part eight times a week.\u201d<\/p>\n

DiNoia is not referring to working her way up through the Wicked ranks. It turns out that the actress who will belt out \u201cDefying Gravity\u201d eight times a week in Buffalo did not begin her career as a singer at all. She was originally a dancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt pains me to say that I haven\u2019t attended a dance class for five years!\u201d admits DiNoia, \u201cbut yes, I am a dancer by training. Before this show, I had never had a voice lesson. But when I realized that I might actually get a chance to get this role, I started to study voice. The way you breathe as a dancer is entirely different from the way you breathe as a singer.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this point, DiNoia is truly living her dream.<\/p>\n

The role of Elphaba has a reputation for being a voice-killer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen some girls really struggle,\u201d agrees DiNoia. \u201cI\u2019ve been very lucky. I haven\u2019t had any major problems. I\u2019ve learned how to pace myself. Tuesday is the hardest, because we\u2019ve come off an intense weekend and I\u2019ve had a day off. It can take some effort to get the voice flowing again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve learned by watching other girls play the part,\u201d continues DiNoia, \u201cand all of the Elphabas know each other. There is an extended Wicked family, and as Elphabas, we understand each other. Until you\u2019ve played Elphaba eight times a week, you can\u2019t really know what we\u2019re up against. The role is vocally, physically, and emotionally exhausting. Of course, when I leave the theater, I feel terrific. I\u2019ve screamed, I\u2019ve gotten to purge every emotion I\u2019ve got. When it\u2019s over, I feel really good!\u201d<\/p>\n

DiNoia adds the another benefit of such a taxing show is that she gets to indulge her healthy appetite without worry. \u201cI think I burn 20 pounds just playing this role. I can eat all I want. And I do enjoy trying new restaurants when I\u2019m on tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to her supportive extended Wicked family and a Glinda who is \u201creally terrific,\u201d DiNoia enjoys being known as one of the elite members of the Elphaba club by fans of Wicked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is really nice,\u201d she says, \u201cthat I am actually known by my fans. The show caters to everyone, but young girls in particular gravitate towards the female leads. We all have elements of both Glinda and of Elphaba to us. Other people relate in different ways. We all struggle with love and feelings about our place in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

DiNoia found this to be especially pronounced in South Korea.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was fascinating to do the show in a place where people did not really know The Wizard of Oz story,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd yet they did relate to our show. They didn\u2019t get any of the movie references, so those jokes were lost entirely, but they did relate to the characters. Also, musical theater is huge in Korea right now. They are more reserved people than we are in the United States, but in the theater they enjoy that release of emotion. It was wonderful to hear the audiences burst out with laughter and applause.\u201d<\/p>\n

DiNoia will finish this tour of Wicked in March and then get married in April. Her plans for the future?<\/p>\n

\u201cWell there are many roles I\u2019d love to play. I\u2019d love to do Thoroughly Modern Millie\u2014a role that would let me both sing and dance. But you know, I\u2019d really like to come back to do Wicked again!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Source: The complete interview {Via ArtVoice.com<\/a>}<\/p>\n

Weekend Tickets are Selling Fast for Wicked at Sheas Performing Arts Center<\/a>. Don\u2019t miss it! Click here to Buy Wicked Buffalo NY Tickets<\/a> NOW before they go on sale completely.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jennifer DiNoia plays one of the leading role Elphaba. Jennifer DiNoia talks about the role she brings to Sheas Performing Arts Center\u2019s stage this month in Wicked musical. This will be Jennifer DiNoia\u2019s first trip to Buffalo, but her fifth company of Wicked. She has played Elphaba on Broadway, and has appeared in the Chicago, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1237,695,1235,1236,1238],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wickedthemusicalticketsonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2696"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wickedthemusicalticketsonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wickedthemusicalticketsonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wickedthemusicalticketsonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wickedthemusicalticketsonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2696"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.wickedthemusicalticketsonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2702,"href":"http:\/\/www.wickedthemusicalticketsonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2696\/revisions\/2702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wickedthemusicalticketsonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wickedthemusicalticketsonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wickedthemusicalticketsonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}