We’re back with another week of Unnaturally Green by Felicia Ricci. I don’t even have to ask if you all are enjoying it, I know you are! You’ve been so incredibly active on this book, it leads me to believe it might be your favorite yet. Fear not, it’s been one of my favorites, too! It’s just so candid and she really does feel like something we’d all want to be friends with.
This week we read through Chapter 18. Which means in this post you can discuss anything from the beginning of the book all the way to the end of chapter 18. But no further! We don’t want to give anything away and since we’re reading this all together do try not to read ahead. I know, I know, it’s VERY hard when a book is this good, but that’s the challenge, right?
Now, no more babbling, onto discussion questions!
1. So we’re back at the start now, right? We saw the beginning of this at the start of the book and now we’re getting to see exactly how Felicia got to the point where she went on as Elphaba for the first time, mid show! What are your thoughts on the way she separated this moment? Did it add excitement for you? Were you waiting for this moment or had you forgotten about it?
2. Did any of you read Felicia’s blog before she wrote the book? Tell us about that! 
3. Do you love any performers the way Felicia loves Douglas Sills?
4. Felicia makes an interesting point about getting one of your dreams and finding out how difficult it is. Discuss this.
5. I’m too excited about what is on the next page to come up with more questions. Go look!
Question for Felicia! How do you feel about boot legs?
Now, before I announce the chapters we will read this week, head on to the next page for a special treat!!
Pages: 1 2
I was too excited to see what was on the second page to properly read your questions the first time around. Then I watched all three videos and used up my “writing time” for the current moment – so that will have to come later ha! I really loved the videos though, fantastic. I’ll be back later to actually comment about the chapters. Hope everyone is having a lovely day
I was so glad to finally come back to the part where she gets to go on as Elphaba. When she started talking about YouTube, I of course immediately started searching for her on YouTube. Felicia, you are damn talented. You’re No Good Deed, which is my personal favorite of Wicked, was amazing. Loved watching you perform it. Also, I then watched all of your video’s with Libby. You guys were cracking me up while I was sitting at my desk at work pretending to be productive. I think my semi-silent giggles gave me away. You guys seem like very good friends, and it’s nice to know that you guys still keep in touch (you said that on the last post, I swear I’m not being creepy)
I know I was all panicky about Felicia and Marshall moving in together so quickly, but it’s very clear he is one of the good guys and that them moving in together was definitely the right choice for them.
The Douglas Sills thing was cracking me up because I just recently did something similar when I was trying to see Once with Steve Kazee in it. He had taken a few days off, come back to the show and then got sick. I had planned a day to go see it and I needed to will him to be in the show that night. Seriously, all day I was praying to Steve Kazee to be in the show. Lucky for me he was in the show that night and I stage doored and got to meet him. Since then, I’ve definitely become a little more than obsessed with him because I think he can make my wishes happen.
You got to see Once?! I’m officially jealous and simultaneously I could kick myself. On Wednesday while in NY this summer, I headed to TKTS (This was about 3 weeks prior to the Tony Awards) and I wanted to see Once. All they had was blocked seating, and I hadn’t prepared for this option, to know how blocked we were talking, and for how long. So I got tickets for something else. Afterwards, I come home to find it was only 3 minutes that would have been blocked. I’ve been kicking myself for four months!! ha
If it makes you feel better, I went to the TKTS line 4 other times before finally getting tickets to see it. And I also work in the city so I’m here way more often so it’s easier for me so don’t feel too badly! That’s why I had to pray to Steve Kazee all week haha. The people at the box office know me as the crazy girl who keeps coming into the theater to make sure Steve is in the performance that night. I’ve since tried to rush it before work once but I didn’t get there early enough.
I think if I lived in the city I would spend all my free time standing in rush lines and at TKTS. At least in the beginning, anyway! It’s good to know that praying to SK works. I like that he’s from Kentucky, because I’m from Kentucky and I can pretend that I know him
Haha, pray to SK next time you are in town and hopefully it will work for you! Especially since you are from Kentucky!
If I didn’t have to be at work at 8:30 every day I would be in a rush line at least once a week. But by the time you get tickets it’s after 10 and I can’t justify being late that often, but whenever I have time to do it, I give it a try. And I’ve spent many a late lunch break at the TKTS line.
1. I love how Felicia describes Defying Gravity…could anything else have gone wrong?!? (That was sarcastic…the lift could’ve failed!)
2. I had never read Felicia’s blog because I hadn’t seen Wicked at that point.
3. I’ve loved every single lead actor I’ve seen in Wicked. Jackie Burns was my first Elphaba and I would love to meet her one day – we didn’t Stage Door at the time because it was freakin’ cold outside. I am also a huge fan of Trista Moldovan who plays Christine in Phantom on Broadway – she’s really nice too
4. I can’t imagine how hard it is to do Wicked day in and day out, even though it is your dream.
5. I’ve committed so much of Wicked to my memory (through seeing it and watching highly illegal youtube videos) that when Felicia described going through The Wizard and I, I could just imagine all of it. I also love how Felicia described what was going through her mind the first time she performed with Libby – I had always wondered if sometimes the actors go on auto-pilot…I kinda thought that once you’ve done the show a million times that you don’t really have to think about what you’re doing, you just kinda do it…thoughts Felicia?
6. I know it’s illegal to record, but I’m so glad people do…that way I can relive it over and over again
Oh, and Felicia, you should totally read the rest of the book to us
Quite a treat that Felicia read us park of UG! Broadway Storytime, children!! I wish Felicia could record UG as an audiobook because the way she says all the dialogue and words are hilarious! And was it just me, or did she sort of imitate Libby when she said her “Libby lines?” Haha. I was so sad reading how all the cast members left and Felicia really had to say bye bye to San Francisco, Wicked, and all the great things that came with it. About Alli Mauzey: She really NEVER does miss a performance. She missed only 2.5 performances on Broadway, and now she’s replacing Chandra Lee Schwartz as Glinda in the fall! Nothing against Alli, but I seriously pity her understudies.
I felt bad for Libby as well! In a way I thought Alli should have taken some days off just so that Libby would have something to do lol. But then, I remember that in How to Succeed, Daniel Radcliffe did something like two or three hundred shows without missing a single performance. I wonder if his standby had something else to do?
I mean, the standbys still get paid if the principal character never misses a show, but it IS kind of unfair that Libby didn’t get to be Glinda for the entirety of Alli’s run. I think that there should be Elphaba and Glinda alternates instead of standbys – they do two or three performances a week out of the eight, the principal does the rest, and if the principal calls out the alternate is first in line. That way the wealth is spread around a bit more, and Elphabas won’t have to call out as much since the role is s strenuous.
Okay, I’m back and ready to write about these chapters!
First of all, the broom broke. The. Broom. Broke.
The first time I read this book, I was panicking out loud along with Felicia as I read. I think I went between saying “No, no, no, no” out loud to just a bit of groaning as she worked her way along. I read this book for the first time almost a year ago, and over the last year I’ve actually used her experience with the broom as help to get past something I might have messed up on. When I mess up on something now, I just recall this story and tell myself to pull it together and keep going, even if the broom (or whatever it may be, in my case) is broken!!
This contraption to help you read in bed? Yes, please. When I was a child I always wanted a way to read the book and turn pages without taking my hands out from under the covers – and also a way to turn out the light when I was done reading without getting out of bed. (I could have invented the clapper!)
Felicia, when you talk about receiving notes about your performance, (Don’t take off the glasses, it tells a different story) How did you get to the place of being able to take it without being embarrassed, and just taking it matter of factly? Whenever I’ve been called into the office at work lol I immediately am embarrassed and I fumble over my words and it’s just not a good thing. How do you learn to take constructive criticism? Or did you just eventually learn it from having it given?
When I saw Wicked again after reading this book – when Christine Dwyer (the Elphaba that time) got to the end of Wizard and I, I applauded her loudly and might have even yelled a bit for her – because I remembered the part of this book “Applaud me!!” The people next to me were quiet theatre goers, I just couldn’t be.
(I hadn’t read the last two chapters this week, so I’m doing it now and will just type my notes directly here!)
Alyssa is now the understudy and is about to be informed that she must go on for that night’s performance. I wonder if her reactions would read the same as Felicia’s did? Speaking of Alyssa, she’s now Standby in the 2nd National Tour and I sort of hope she’s on when I see it in December…I digress, though.
“I don’t know what I want sometimes” “That’s okay, Fel” — Very important life lesson, I think. The earlier one learns this, the better things are. It’s a misconception that there are people who have life figured out all the time. In reality, it’s a metronome – sometimes keeping a nice steady doable beat, and sometimes it seems like somebody kicks up the speed and we could never keep up. Or that somebody turns it off, and there is no beat to follow at all.
Grandma Yola – I had actual tears when I read this for the first time, and it’s still an emotional read, even after the many times I’ve read it.
Okay, now I’m done reading – I’ll answer the questions!
1. The first time I read the book, I’d kind of forgotten that we never went back to that moment, but I liked how it was laid out, it was a nice surprise when we came back to it.
2. I did not read Felicia’s blog as it was happening. I knew nothing of Felicia (sorry!) until a day or two before this book was released last year. I had started following Libby on Twitter, and she sent out a tweet with a link and that everyone should definitely check out the book – so I did!
3. I’m not sure that I do love any performers the way Felicia loved Douglas Sills, ha! At least I’ve never made a calendar for any of them
I do enjoy meeting people though, that’s always the best.
4. Pursu
2.
My computer is currently spazzing and my post may end up appearing again lol if so, please delete it (them) and I will pick back up in a moment lol it messed up mid-word (as you can tell!)
Okay, I’m back! I’m just happy I was able to salvage what I’d written – I knew I’d never be able to rewrite it the same.
4. Discuss pursuing a goal that turns out to be very difficult…probably my biggest fear right now, actually. I work full-time and go to school full-time. I’ve been in banking my entire adult career and it was something I sort of fell into, and ended up staying. Now though, I want to do something different. I’m quite terrified that I’ll finish my Bachelor’s and find out that I’m only good at banking. So, although it’s certainly not on a scale of Wicked, I definitely understand the process of spending a lot of time preparing for something, only to be uncertain if you’ll even be able to pull it off. Or if the very first time you attempt it, the broom breaks. Or you’ll get sick when you think you should be up for the challenge.
5. I couldn’t even wait to read the questions, I had to check out the second page ha! Such a cool thing for you to do, Felicia! I’m sure you’re busy, but thank you for taking the time to read a chapter for us
Hmm…I’d written an answer to this yesterday but I came back to see if there were any new comments and it’s gone?!
Here goes a second try, I have more to write about now anyway (sorry if this is a double post):
First off, I think it’s so cool of Felicia to read part of the book to us. I’ve been watching some of her youtube videos and she is very charming. Reading this part of the book definitely made it seem like being and understudy would be more fun than being standby. I’d just get so bored and wouldn’t like the feeling of having a wall between the other performers. Although, it seems like she built a very strong relationship with Libby.
The idea of realizing your dream and finding it so hard is one of my biggest fears. To be honest, I always wondered how Felicia got into acting? I know she had a passion for it and did it on the side. Her talent is undeniable. But it was surprising to me that she chose it as a career after having studied English. I know it’s not a huge stretch, I’m just curious as to how it happened. If Felicia is reading this: how did you decide you wanted to follow it as a career instead of a “hobby”? I’m sort of in a similar position the moment while trying to choose a career path.
I think the only performer, I love as much as Felicia loves Douglas Stills is Raul Esparza. I really hope I get to see him perform live at some point. We don’t get much theatre here in French Canada.
Also, I’ve been looking up the other actors mentioned in the book. It really helps putting a face to the names. I hadn’t heard of these performers before reading this book.
[...] So, today we’re discussing chapters 20-22, although you can talk about chapter 19 during this if you would like since Felicia was awesome and read it to us two weeks ago. Did any of you miss that?? If so, check it out HERE! [...]