Wicked The Musical: A Review

Ever since my daughter danced to a song from Wicked in Year 3, she has been wanting to watch the musical. Last weekend her dream finally came through and it was SO worth the wait.

We were invited to attend an arts and craft session with Claireabellemakes.com at The Reubens at the Palace Hotel before going on to watch the show.

The children got on with making witches’ hats as well as some broomstick bags – filled with sweets!

And then the best part – we walked on to the Apollo for the show.

We were very excited. I think I was the most excited as I’d been waiting to watch this one too.

Jadyn is now older and is learning to appreciate shows more and gets the essence of the plot too so it’s great to be able to watch a show and then discuss it with her.

 

The story –

When Dorothy famously triumphed over the Wicked Witch, we only ever heard one side of the story. Gregory Maguire’s “outstanding novel” (The Independent), ‘Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West’, ingeniously re-imagines the Land of Oz, creating a parallel universe to the familiar story written by L. Frank Baum and first published as ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ in 1900. WICKED tells the incredible untold story of an unlikely but profound friendship between two young women who first meet as sorcery students at Shiz University: the blonde and very popular Glinda and a misunderstood green girl named Elphaba. Following an encounter with The Wizard, their friendship reaches a crossroads and their lives take very different paths. Glinda’s unflinching desire for popularity sees her seduced by power while Elphaba’s determination to remain true to herself, and to those around her, will have unexpected and shocking consequences for her future. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfil their destinies as Glinda The Good and the Wicked Witch of the West. Experience this unforgettable musical and discover that you’ve not been told the whole story about the Land of Oz…

What we thought –

In short, it was AMAZING!

From the backdrops to the costumes to the music – each was special and held us spellbound.

I love how it weaved in stories about characters from The Wizard of Oz so beautifully.

I think everybody in some way will come away with something from the show.

To me, I got the message that we so often misjudge people for the things they do or the way they seem. Often people are not what they seem to be and people just victims of circumstances. We came away wondering who was really ‘wicked’ in the show? I can’t expand on that without giving the story away. I don’t want to as I would hate to spoil the show for anyone.

Both the main characters are played beautifully by Laura Pick (Elphaba) and Sophie Evans (Glinda). They have truly awesome voices.

Each character in fact played his part to the hilt and we were caught up in the spectacular singing and dance sequences. Our favourite songs were ‘Defying Gravity’ – when Elphaba first starts use her spells, ‘One Short Day’ – when Elphaba and Glinda reach the Emerald City and ‘Popular’ – when Glinda decided to give Elphaba a makeover.

I marvel as how quickly the costumes are changed and the costumes are so gorgeous.

It is difficult to review this as I want to write so much but one really needs to see it to be able to understand what a great show it is.

Here’s a little more information about the show –

  • Recently acclaimed as “the must-see wonder of the West End” (Andrew Pierce, LBC Radio), the renowned musical will become the 15th longest running show in London theatre history on 19 October 2017, when it surpasses the run of We Will Rock You.
  • WICKED currently stars Alice Fearn (Elphaba), Sophie Evans (Glinda), Bradley Jaden (Fiyero), Melanie La Barrie (Madame Morrible), Andy Hockley (The Wizard), Martin Ball (Doctor Dillamond), Sarah McNicholas (Nessarose), Jack Lansbury (Boq), Laura Pick (Standby for Elphaba) and Carina Gillespie (Standby for Glinda)
  • WICKED has music and lyrics by multi Grammy and Academy Award-winner Stephen Schwartz and is based on the novel ‘Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West’ by Gregory Maguire and adapted for the stage by Winnie Holzman. Musical staging is by Tony Award-winner Wayne Cilento and the production is directed by two-time Tony Award-winner Joe Mantello.

FOR GOOD…

Through its FOR GOOD programme and other charitable endeavours, WICKED is proud to support the remarkable work of the following UK charities: Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA); the Cybersmile Foundation; the Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity; Stonewall’s ‘Education For All’ campaign; The Woodland Trust and the National Literacy Trust. Further information can be found at www.WickedForGood.co.uk

For more information about performances and tickets – www.WickedTheMusical.co.uk

There is an extra matinee show especially for the Half Term on 26 October at 2.30 pm.

I leave you with some more images from the day…

 

1 thought on “Wicked The Musical: A Review”

  1. I went to see it at the Milton Keynes theatre a year or so ago as a birthday present and I absolutely loved it! I’d recommend it to anyone and I’d love to go back again and see it! I think the cast has changed too since I last saw it! Glad you had a good time 🙂

    Reply

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