it just gets more Wicked...

I’ve seen it three times now. THREE! Some might say that’s slightly obsessive, but not since I wore my Joseph soundtrack cassette tape out when I was ten has a show got me so excited.  I remember dancing my way round the house singing ‘I close my eyes, draw back the cuuuuuurtaaaaaain’ over and over again. In fact, I wound my dad up so much that he booked us tickets to the show and drove two hundred miles to see Jason Donovan don that coat of many colours. Naturally I spent much of the performance with the binoculars stuck to my face, trying to peek beneath his loincloth.

I listened to the Wicked soundtrack before I saw the show too – someone here gave me it.  I stared at the green and black case with a dubious eye. “It’s amazing,” he said. “But it’ll never be Joseph,” I replied.  Joseph’s songs form the soundtrack of my childhood.  I’ll listen to them every now and then for a flashback to a time when the theatre was something I worshipped from afar but never really had much to do with.  Surely no show would ever reach out and grab me like that one did.  Surely nothing else would ever take the lead.

I think I was somewhere between St James’ Park and Embankment when Idina Menzel’s vocals burst into my eardrums on the tube, and I knew I’d been changed. For good.  Defying Gravity had so much power, and dare I say it, a message that just grabbed me, right there on my grubby chair. Was Joseph being knocked off the top spot???

Anyway, like all devout musical worshippers, after the three-hundredth playing I got quite attached to Idina’s voice. By the time it came for me to see the show for the first time, I felt like a fan, sitting in front of a true celebrity. And I wasn’t alone.  Wicked has got a massive following – over a quarter of a million ticket sales so far tells us something.  People have flown in from all over the world to hear those witchy warblings, and travelled many brick roads for an update on the world that lies over the rainbow.  Of course, I knew most of the words by the time I saw it, and although slightly drunk on both wine and anticipation I can honestly say it was the best show I’d seen all year. And I’ve seen a lot of shows!  Sorry Jason Donovan, not even the teeniest tiny loincloth can save you now. I’ve crossed over to Oz.

Unfortunately however, we couldn’t have Idina Menzel forever.  It was weird to think that having captured the hearts of so many in her award-winning role, she would soon be leaving and the show would no longer match the soundtrack now firmly at the top of my iPod’s playlist.  It would never be the same again.  I mean, could anyone else play the part of Elphaba with quite so much style? Could anyone else have that voice, that chemistry with Fiyero? Could anyone else pull off that note at the end of Defying Gravity – the one that gives you goosebumps in a theatrical moment that has the entire audience on the edge of their seats?  Well, quite simply, the answer is yes. Thank Goodness for Kerry Ellis, who stepped into the role on January 1st and is now firmly at home in that pointed hat.

Kerry’s voice is just as good at Idina’s, and while she had exceptionally big shoes to fill, she delivers a performance to make us fans proud.  We were all rooting for her when she rose to the roof in Defying Gravity and went for that high note, but it turns out we had nothing to fear. Having played lead roles in Les Miserables, We Will Rock You and Miss Saigon, there was no one more qualified than Kerry to take over.  Our beloved Elphaba was in good hands.  It was always a little odd that our heroine was American anyway.  We overlooked it because Idina was amazing and hey, anything can happen in Oz. But having a British lead take over somehow makes it all fit into place - brings it home, if you will.  We can do it just as good as Broadway. 

The chemistry with Fiyero is just as strong and Helen Dallimore gets funnier every time I see this show.  Madame Morrible is just as horrible and as always, Dr Dillamond is anything but ‘baaaaad’.

When you see theatre of this calibre, showcasing this much talent, and actors putting as much passion into the show as the fans obviously do night after night, it really makes you appreciate live art in a world where manufactured pop and talentless idiots reign supreme. Why stay in with Celebrity Big Brother when you can experience such awesome entertainment elsewhere, that doesn’t involve people arguing over breakfast cereal and falling out over a fat man snoring? 

Thinking about it, my brand new fave will never really beat Joseph.  After all that was the show that made me fall in love with the theatre all those years ago. But I can tell you something honestly.  Wicked is the one that will keep me going back.

Becky Wicks

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Comments

[katie watson]

Saw it on the royal variety performance!! and really want to see it!!!

[pete and carly]

Any one who has seen the wizard of oz must see this show .it is absoultly WICKED !!!
We are going to see it again without doubt .

[Louise]

I've seen it, and im going again in May! I wanted to go as close as i can to Helen's last performance!! That woman rocks!! I was soo annoyed at myself for missing Idina's performance!! I'm a huge fan! Hopefully she'll come back!

[Darrin & Geoff]

We saw it just before Christmas - so pretty close to Idina's last performance.

This is definitely the best show in town. Get the sound track. Get a copy of the Grimmerie. Go see it again. Its "Unlimited" entertainment, and I promise the audience will be mourning the wicked.

[Jo]

We have seen a few west end and broadway shows and I have to say that WICKED is fantastic- I can' wait to see it again - we didn't get to see Idina the night we went but we saw Kerry and she was amazing!!!!!