I have seen many West End shows, over 180 of them, some of those I have seen more than once - I have actually lost count of how many times I have seen Wicked The Musical (I think it must be between 28 and 30 times) as you may have guessed - I love theatre!
As I said in my last theatre post, I never pay attention to critics and I’m not ashamed or embarrassed to say that I like something, even if everyone seems to disagree. I can’t stand people that talk about “real theatre” what do they even mean by that? At the end of the day, theatre is for people to enjoy, to evoke something in them; to make us feel something, to make people laugh, cry, think…
When people find out that I have seen so many shows the first question they ask is “what’s your favourite?” in some ways this question is almost impossible to answer, theatre shows are all soooo individual, soooo varied! you couldn’t compare The Lion King to Comedy About A Bank Robbery or 42nd Street to The Woman in Black.
If I HAD to choose I would say Wicked, every part of this show, from the moment you step inside the theatre –a theatre that has been re-decorated to make you feel as though your stepping into the Emerald City – to the artwork masterpiece of staging, everything from the huge dragon that hangs above the stage and the costumes; intricate pieces of avant-garde verging on haute couture.
Where did it all start?
The show is based on the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, an alternative telling of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The musical initially opened in San Francisco at the Curran Theatre where it ran from 10th – 29th June 2003.
On 30th October 2003, after a few alterations the musical opened on Broadway. Three years later on 27th September 2006 Wicked the Musical opened on London’s West End at Apollo Victoria Theatre.
Whats it all about?
The story in its simplest form is a story of friendship and love. But its more than that, it tackles subjects such as bullying, racism, fascism, and freedom of speech.
The show tells a tale of embracing individuality and overcoming diversity and although some of the issues raised are tough, it is done with full west-end glitz and glamour. With a mix of heart-warming emotional songs such as “For Good” playful songs like “Popular” and, of course shows most well-known song - the powerful and inspiring “Deifying Gravity”
Sooo...
Recently Ben and I took my sister and her two 15 year old sons to see the show… it was the first time seeing it; they loved it!
And even though this was my (possibly) 30th time seeing the show I enjoyed it as much as I always to – it never gets old.
I’ve seen an array of actors/ actresses over the last 12 years, some not so good and some phenomenal, I feel compelled to say that my all-time favourites are Oliver Tompsett as Fiyero, Kerry Ellis as Elphaba and Dianne Pilkington as Glinda. Although I must say that Sophie Evans as Glinda is SPELLBOUNDINGLY AMAZING!
Even though "I don’t have a favourite show" out of the 190 shows I have seen - Wicked IS MY FAVOURITE!
Do you have a favourite show?
Leave a comment or send me your suggestions.
1. The Wicked Witch is not named in the original L. Frank Baum novel. Gregory Maguire invented the name for her using Baum’s initial — L.F.B. — Elphaba
2. The global phenomenon has been performed in more than 100 cities in 14 countries around the world four continents, national tours of America, Asia, Australia, UK. and has thus far been translated into five languages: Japanese, German, Dutch, Spanish and Korean.
3. If you listen closely, the first seven notes to the song “Unlimited/I’m Limited” are from “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Copyright laws dictate that eight notes can be considered theft of a song, but there still is an ode to the original movie.
4. Rather than foundation, the emerald makeup for Elphaba is MAC’s landscape Green eyeshadow. Wide makeup brushes are employed to cover her face, neck and hands and smaller brushes fill in any blank spots
5. I LOVE WICKED -THE MUSICAL