For a friend’s birthday last year, we took a trip to London for a couple of days. Since I’d never been to London before, my friend’s took me on a sort of tour around all the major attractions. But the best thing we decided to do was go to Apollo Victoria Theatre to see a performance of Wicked!
Honestly one of the best decisions ever. I’m a huge fan of the play but never seen it live for myself. So obviously I was going to sing along to every word of every song!
We weren’t allowed to take photo’s during the performance (obviously) but this is the stage before the start.
The Stage; as we were being seated.
As you can see, we were greeted by a HUGE dragon above the stage and the backdrop (if you can tell) is of a Map of OZ.
As for the staging;
the large dragon above the stage was shown as we were being seated but disappeared as the show began but was later brought it during performance (I won’t spoil it for you). The large metal circle as Glinda’s Bubble was a fantastic idea. A safe and secure device that was still able to represent the magic within the play. I lost count of the amount of trap doors, secret passages and hidden corners on stage. It seemed like they were just appearing out of no where, which again only added to the show’s illusions. I won’t say any more as I would HATE to ruin or put any spoilers in for anyone who hasn’t seen it.
My favourite part: the songs;
I could barely contain my excitement. Each song dragged me in more than the last and as soon as ‘Defying Gravity’ came on, I was away with the fairies in my own little world. I do feel sorry for the random man sat next to me but it was just incredible.
With a cast like this, how could it not have been amazing;
Rachel Tucker – Elphaba
Gina Beck – Glinda
Ben Freeman – Fiyero
Louise Plowright – Madame Morrible
Keith Bartlett – The Wizard
Katie Rowley Jones – Nessarose
Sam Lupton – Boq
Christopher Howell – Doctor Dillamond
All amazingly talented accompanied by an outstanding ensemble.
This is the website for the production we went to see, it’s still circuiting and I would advise anyone who enjoys the theatre to see it;
http://www.wickedthemusical.co.uk/default.asp
In my honest opinion;
Acting – 8/10
Singing – 10/10
Costume – 9/10
Staging – 9/10
Experience – 10/10
Overall – 46/50 – definitely recommend anyone to see it. Lively atmosphere and a wonderful performance.
Performance Intermisssion 