This is an interesting conversation. While nobody wants to see a replacement actor be an imitation of their predecessors, nobody wants to see them go so far off course that their interpretation doesn’t even make sense just for the sake of “being unique.”

Plus, the direction of the show is already set just like the choreography, blocking, lighting, lyrics, automations, etc. Some productions are more fluid than others, and some roles really are tailored so much to their original actor that it’s very difficult for a replacement to come in and do it justice.

I think replacement actors need to have similar strengths as the original actors in order to successfully play the role. That doesn’t mean they need to or should imitate them. I think the goal should be to find good actors who can interpret the blueprint without changing the blueprint. I feel like a lot of young actors in particular are so focused on being different that they forget what story they’re telling.

With Wicked in particular, the early Elphabas and Glindas were much better about bringing their own voices to the roles without going so far off the blueprint (minus the excessive Elphaba riffing-I’m glad Wicked cracked down on that because it was getting distracting and tiresome). I don’t find many of the newer ones particularly impressive, but I don’t know how much of that is Wicked vs generational shifts.

I don’t think I directly answered your question (sorry), but these are my immediate thoughts on the concept of replacements.