Why Wicked Still Casts a Spell!

I find it hard to believe that it’s been 20 years since I first saw Wicked on Broadway and 18 years since I first saw it in the West End! Why has the show thrived for nearly two decades, and how well is it holding up?

It opened to less-than-stellar reviews—much like Les Misérables—and lost out on the Best Musical Tony Award to a little show called Avenue Q! I’m sure Stephen Schwartz would quote Noël Coward who, when he received terrible reviews for Private Lives, said, “I shall have to console myself with a bitter palliative of commercial success!”

When we think of musicals, we tend to think of their songs as the key to their success, but I believe it’s the book (script) that is even more important. Chess, for example, has one of the best scores ever written by Benny and Bjorn from ABBA, with a number of top ten hit singles – but a book that, whilst intellectually sound, is complex, dense, and difficult to follow. Wicked has some great songs, but what really makes it work is the book. It’s brilliantly and expertly adapted by Winnie Holtzman from Gregory Maguire’s novel, which I tried to read and ultimately gave up on as it’s dense and dark, completely different in tone from the musical.

People think it is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, but whilst it does show Glinda and Elphaba when they first meet, it then runs parallel with The Wizard of Oz and, in a neat twist at the end, just slightly afterwards!

It also resonates with audiences as, at its core, there are two strong female leads and the subject of female friendship and otherness. Without being preachy, there are moments that have depth and a political resonance. Both Elphaba and Glinda go on such fantastic journeys, starting at opposite positions from where we know them from the MGM film, and we watch their journey to become the iconic characters.

You will never watch The Wizard of Oz the same way again! I was watching The Wizard of Oz on stage recently and couldn’t help but think, “Ah, that’s why the house lands there!” It’s all tied together so cleverly.

What of the performances? At the performance I saw, Elphaba was played by Alexia Khadime, who is a diminutive powerhouse and showed no signs of having been up early that day to belt out Defying Gravity on the roof of ITV’s This Morning!

Glinda was played by Christine Tucker, who is one of the covers for the role – and highlights the importance of alternates, standbys, and understudies in keeping shows going. She was just delightful with a fabulous singing voice, but above all a great sense of comic timing, which is vital for the role!

The Wizard is played by Michael Fenton Stevens, who brings such a lovely sense of detail and energy to the role, and there’s a nice nod to the original in his portrayal.

All in all, Wicked is still defying gravity as it flies into its 19th year and is in fantastic shape.
★★★★Wicked – The Musical

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