Wicked – Still Wicked After 21 Years!

Fake news, propaganda, scheming manipulators, a great story line and some knock ‘em dead tunes: the musical Wicked has it all including its very own Yorkshire lass, Wakefield’s home-grown superstar, Laura Pick as Elphaba.

It’s been doing the rounds since 2003 and, with every viewing, this Stephen Schwartz / Winnie Holzman show reveals a little bit more of itself.

At surface level it is a wonderful, colourful, beautifully designed musical with a handful of torch songs that will keep you humming all the way home, but, dig a bit deeper, and it has so many layers.

This imagined fantasy centres on Oz, that wonderful place of witches, ruby slippers and talking lions, first created by novelist L. Frank Baum but, perhaps, truly popularised by Judy Garland in the blockbuster movie, The Wizard of Oz.

Often described as a prequel to Louis B Mayer’s original MGM film, the story actually takes place before, simultaneously and after the familiar Oz tale. As Gregory Maguire, the novelist who inspired the musical with his book, ‘Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West’ says, this is a ‘re-imagining of the same world.’

Defying Gravity, The Wizard and I and Wonderful are just three of the songs that have become standards and, seemingly, can be heard on the Elaine Paige radio show most weeks of the year!

But, without a superb Elphaba – the green faced witch who largely anchors the show - they simply wouldn’t work however, in Laura Pick, the touring production has just that. She has a magnificent voice and delivers every song with goose pimples, commitment and blemish free tones. Absolutely brilliant.

And in Sarah O’Connor, as ‘white witch’ Glinda, there is the total opposite: beauty, perfect features, and a loveable ditzy blonde played, again, to perfection by soprano Sarah O’Connor.

But, this time, I listened to Winnie Holzman’s script closely. Wow, it is so clever: think fake news, manipulation of the masses and its exploration of the concept of ‘evil’: are you born evil or is evil thrust upon you by those manipulators in the shadows.

Why does everyone end up loving the ‘Wicked Witch of the West’ (Elphaba)…..because they realise, SHE isn’t evil, its those on the fringes that are: which is why Simeon Truby as the Wizard and Donna Berlin as Madame Morrible are so beautifully scheming: they are the explainers of the piece.

Wicked has everything a great musical should have – deep themes, an extremely clever storyline, tunes that stay with you consistently and a great cast!

Taken together you will hum your way home and drive everyone crazy with loop style repetition of ‘Popular’ or ‘Defying Gravity’, and most likely queue for a second dose of this magical musical.

It opened on Broadway in 2003 and London’s West End three years later, celebrating its decade in the Big Smoke in September 2016. And, as one of only three Broadway shows in history to have grossed more than $1 billion, it’s fair to say that this Schwartz Holzman collaboration is already a billion-dollar babe.

Spellbinding.

Wicked
Alhambra, Bradford
Until 19th May 2024