Amazon.com Customer Reviews
So good, but so hard! - Review written on May 04, 2007
Rating: 5 out of 5
4 customers found this review helpful.
Five stars to this book because the songs are beautifully adapted and true to the musical. However, I bought this book so I could tinker with it on my piano, and it is way too hard for me to get anywhere! I played piano for 8 years as a kid, and am now just a rusty beginner/intermediate player. I thought I could eventually get these songs down by playing them over and over, but after flipping through everything I think the only near-manageable song is "For Good." My favorite, "No Good Deed," is completely impossible and I'll just have to listen to my CD. I would suggest this book for the highly advanced pianist. As for me, I'm going to go check out that easy piano version.
Note: The songs are edited to make more sense when sung by just one or two people. This significantly changes some parts though - I was disappointed to find that the entire "we deserve each other" and "I hope you're happy" segments were deleted from "Dancing Through Life" and "Defying Gravity," respectively.
Wicked Piano/Vocal Selections - Review written on April 24, 2006
Rating: 5 out of 5
6 customers found this review helpful.
I bought this book because a friend gave me the Wicked CD and I fell in love with the show. This book is a selection of the most popular songs from the show, in a format where a singer could perform them with only piano accompaniment. Most of the songs are pretty close to the versions that you hear on the CD, but some have been altered to make them easier to perform as solos or audition pieces. Most of the speaking and chorus parts (like in "Popular" and "One Short Day") have been removed and some of the songs have new endings. In "Dancing Through Life", the second half of the song has been cut so the entire song can be sung by only one person. Also, the part in "The Wizard and I" where Elphaba has a vision also appears in "Defying Gravity". Lastly, "For Good" is written so it can be sung as a duet or a solo.
This book is good for anyone looking to sing these songs as a solo, duet or for an audition. The piano part is a simplified version of the orchestral score with the melody line usually occurring in the right hand and it is easy enough for almost any accompanist to play. However, if you are looking for an exact translation of the songs from the show, you will be disappointed. Otherwise, this is a good buy for any Wicked fan who wants to perform their favorite songs from this fantastic show!