Review: WICKED, UK Tour
Matt Crockett
Last night we followed the rainbow painted road to the Birmingham Hippodrome to see the latest tour of the green king and queen of mega musicals Wicked.
It’s always interesting when reviewing a huge show like Wicked, because we all know its brilliant, there's a reason its been running for decades, so the focus of this review will be on the cast.
For those of you, because you do exist, who have never seen Wicked, let us give the quaintest of debriefs. The story is very much an origin story of a certain wicked witch from cult classic ‘The Wizard of Oz’. Our protagonist's name is Elphaba, a girl who was born with green skin who joins Shiz university where she meets Galinda (The a is silent) a pristine, and at the beginning rather spiteful girl who dreams of studying magic under the schools headmistress Madame Morrible. Their friendship blossoms as the story progresses and eventually they both take off on an adventure to meet the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, where they both hope their dreams will come true, but everything in the great land of Oz is not as it seems... With constant nods to the original famous tale, Wicked is a show for the whole family, from dazzling costumes (Susan Hilferty) staggering sets (Eugene Lee) to songs that will knock your stripey socks off (Stephen Schwartz) no matter who you are, if you love Musical Theatre, there is something for you.
Any show is only as good as its cast and this tour has a real solid and secure cast all around. Laura Pick was an ebullient Elphaba with vocals for days, you never doubted for a second that those soaring notes would be filling the Hippodrome, in particular her ‘No Good deed’ was breathtaking. Sarah O’Connnor was a gorgeous Glinda, with a surprisingly naturalistic approach to the character and in the finale minutes of ‘Thank Gooodness’ she showcased her stunning vocals to the point where the song became a full ‘Dont Cry for Me Argentina’ moment. Carl Mann as the dashing Fiyero was an absolute delight, bringing all the charm you'd want from the role with agonisingly good vocals to boot, and very maybe, for us at least, felt like the definitive Fiyero. We also LOVED Daniel Hope’s Welsh interpretation of Boq, with a voice like that we were screaming for a big Boq solo!
This was a thoroughly enjoyable production with everything you’d hope to see from flying witches to red eyed fire breathing dragons. The show was very polished, like something you would see in a shop window, maybe verging on safe and clinical, but that doesn't stop a wicked time being had by all.
If you’ve never seen Wicked, seeing this cast would be a wonderful way to introduce you to the land of Oz, if you’ve seen Wicked ten times? I’d say this cast are more than worthy of tempting you to don something green and come back for another viewing
A musical joy that still manages to defy the test of time. Get on your brooms and book tickets now!
**** Four Stars
Reviewed by James Edge
