Genre: Memoir
Published: 2011
Pages: 254
Felicia Ricci never expected to become a star of the stage. But when she auditions for the Elphaba understudy role, that's exactly what she gets. For forty-something performances, she will encounter rehearsals, famous fellow Elphabas, and so much more. Broadway fans will delight in this memoir that informs readers what life in the theater is really like. For example, what is the difference between an understudy and standby? How much time does one get to rehearse? What are the hardest parts of learning the Wicked music? What goes on backstage? And what happens after the show if Broadway isn't your career? Time to pull back the curtain in Oz to find out what theater is really like.
I love the Wicked "Fly Girl" blog series by Lindsay Mendez, courtesy of Broadway.com. That business publishes many a vlog series, but "Fly Girl" is far and away the best series in regards to telling you what it's really like to work there. Would this book do the same?
So it does. This book takes you through the audition process, from initial dance combinations and song excerpts to the orientation period to actually performing. I liked hearing the insider secrets. For example, each time I hear "The Wizard and I," I can't help but think of how, for the last line, actresses actually sing "ah-NAAA" instead of "and IIIIII!" (Singing trick courtesy of Felicia. In fact, I believe she puts out her own YouTube video lessons consisting of various singing tips.) She even gets to meet Eden Espinosa and they party together. The cast of characters make things interesting also, from her boyfriend to her castmates to some other familiar names. Meanwhile, she hangs out backstage with fellow understudies and does workout tapes, among other things with castmate Libby. Chapters are interspersed with Felicia's blog entries, though I don't know if those are authentic.
Admittedly, it's not the best writing, nor the worst. Felicia interrupts her narrative a lot with parenthetical statements. I also would have liked to know a little more about what performing was like in itself. Felicia's story mostly focuses on rehearsals and backstage antics. And...*gnashes teeth, for this is one of my biggest pet peeves in books*....useless romance. Felicia dedicates a whole chapter to her dating history. We obviously need to know this in a book about the theater. She calls it her "dating history museum" and it has no relevance to Wicked whatsoever. In the meantime, though, I like how chill she is. Many Broadway stars are, so the authenticity here is fresh.
I haven't the slightest idea of why authors are so dang desperate to put romance bits in every single book. Especially when, in this case, it would have been better spent talking about what it was like to perform onstage. Still, it doesn't last terribly long or dumb down the entire book (unlike a certain other book I recently read, Jodi Picoult...) Anyhoo.
A fun adventure with a bittersweet ending, Unnecessarily Green is a fun book that any Wicked or theatre fanatic should pick up.
4.5 stars
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