Last week I went on a little theater trip to see
Wicked, the musical that's been a huge hit on Broadway and on the West End. Here's what I thought...
First things first, I'm not usually into musicals. I think that stems from watching Grease too many times at school, but I'd heard really good things about Wicked and I was curious to see it. After all, any musical that's multi record-breaking, has won over 100 international awards and has been seen by over 6.5 million people since the London premiere surely must be good, right?
Speaking of awards, Wicked has been shortlisted for ITV's This Morning Audience Award in the 2015 Olivier Awards. It's the only Olivier award that the public can vote for, so if you've seen it and wanna praise it along with me, click here. Voting closes on 10th April though, so be quick!
press imageWicked isn't exactly a prequel to The Wizard Of Oz, it starts before, runs alongside it then continues afterwards - so it's accurate to describe it as another dialog that takes place at the same time as Oz. The musical is based on the novel, ‘Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West’ by acclaimed American author Gregory Maguire. Gregory was inspired by the characters created by L. Frank Baum in ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ and describes Wicked as “a re-imagining of the same world”.
We arrived on the green carpet and headed to the hospitality suite to enjoy a glass of wine before the show started at 7:30pm. The hospitality suite we were in was very green themed, with mood lighting and some green cupcakes. Through the green light we could spot a few familiar faces, also invited along to experience Wicked; Chris Ramsey, Jason Cook and the Moffatt's from Gogglebox to name a few. It was strange to think I was on par with them, also attending as press for the evening, surprising where my little blog gets me sometimes! My Mam and Sister really enjoyed the evening and it was great to be able to take them both along since neither had seen Wicked before.
I really enjoyed it. As the curtain closed for the interval, I honestly didn't think the second half could compare with what we'd just seen. Somehow though, they topped it and I walked out possibly considering Wicked to be the best musical I've ever seen and one I'd actually go to see again.
press imageThe cast were amazing. Obviously Ashleigh Gray (Elphaba) and Emily Tierney (Glinda) stood out as they're the two witches and the main characters. The whole cast seemed to really enjoy performing which made the whole experience even better. You couldn't tell it was only the second night they'd performed for the Sunderland crowd and every note was pitch perfect. Just wait until you see Samuel Edwards who plays Fiyero. He's quite easy on the eyes, let's put it that way...
I didn't expect it to be so funny but there were a lot of actual laugh out loud moments and not all of them were provided by the Mayor who was sat beside my sister. He did have a few funny comments though, particularly about the chain necklace one of the cast was wearing, which obviously wasn't as good as his!
The set design was really impressive too. Obviously I don't want to give anything away if you've not seen it, but expect flying, lots of sounds and lots of emerald!
Wicked opened on 31st March in Sunderland and is running until 25th April so be quick if you're going to get tickets to see it. Midweek matinees look to be the best option if you've not yet bought your tickets. I'd highly encourage you to go. It's the best musical I've seen!
I was very kindly given press tickets to review Wicked. Press images were provided and have been referenced where used. All text and any other images are my own and I have been completely honest throughout. I'd seriously love to see Wicked again!
