Apollo Victoria Theatre
17 Wilton Road, London, SW1 1LL
Bookings being taken until: 30 October 2010
This hit musical is based on the Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. The story is connected with the Wizard of Oz, but it's from the witches' point of view. It's about two very different girls who meet at the witchcraft school in the land of Oz and turn into witches.
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Dani
Wicked the musical shows us the untold stories of the witches of Oz. And trust me, once you see this musical you will never view the wizard of Oz in the same light again. The story follows Elphaba, the wicked witch and Galinda (the ‘Ah’ is silent) the good witch and how these two girls who from different backgrounds, with different aspirations, end up friends. The first half of the show follows how they came to meet and the story unfolds around there time at SHIZ university, While the second half seems to run parallel to the wizard of oz film. This musical not only makes you revaluate what you have seen in the Wizard of Oz film, but it also makes you sympatheic and even fall in love with the character of the wicked witch. You find out how she becomes ‘wicked’ and also shows us how Dorothy’s ‘friends’ Tinman, scarecrow and lion become how they are. With the stage being magnificently crafted to show us parts of Oz untold in the film, as well as scenes we all know (the poppy field, the yellow brick road, Emerald city,) inlayed within the Dragon clock. Some of the mechanics of the stage and effects are phenomenal with the addition of flying monkeys and even the hurricane that carried the house to Oz. The music, wrote by Stephen Schwartz just captures the feeling of magic, with lyrics to match the mood of every scene from the celebratory to the empowering. The soundtrack never seems to amaze me every time I hear it. Most recently one of the more popular songs from wicked featured in Glee (Defying gravity,) Glee also featured broadway star Idina Menzel who was the original casting as Elphaba and to some extent made the role. While you don’t have to know the story of the Wizard of Oz, personally it does help with references to the film throughout, but to me knowing the film, this is what adds to the magic of wicked and how it manages to fit in with another story, but change your perception. Out of every musical I’ve seen Wicked has to be my all-time favourite. The plot makes you think as well as being entertaining and comedic , it also manages to keep a darker side to it which adds depth to the story. The music is just so beautifully wrote and performed, it captures the magic you feel a story surrounding the magical world of Oz should have.