Review | Wicked The Musical

My sister and I have been fans of musical theatre for a long time and going to see a West End show is one of my favourite things to do. As my sister's dream is to play the role of Elphaba from her favourite show 'Wicked', I decided to surprise her with tickets to go and see the show for her 16th Birthday, and so last Wednesday we hopped on the train to London for One Short Day in the Emerald City...

The story serves as a kind of prequel to The Wizard of Oz and tells the tale of the unlikely friendship between Elphaba, the green-skinned, magically misunderstood girl who goes on to become the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, the beautiful and popular Good Witch of the South, as they struggle through opposing personalities, fight over the same love interest, react to the corrupt government in Oz and face the consequences of Elphaba's public fall from grace.

One of the reasons why I, and so many others, love Wicked so much are the musical numbers and scores. I was extremely excited to hear and see so many musical theatre classics performed live and when the opening notes of Defying Gravity started my sister and I were on the edge of our seats, transfixed. Emma Hatton, the one bringing Elphaba to life, blew me away every time she belted out hits such as 'The Wizard and I' and 'No Good Deed' with such power and clarity, and her duet with love interest Fiyero, played by Oliver Savile, in 'As Long As You're Mine' was spine-tingling. Savannah Stevenson's (Glinda) soprano vocals provided a beautiful contrast to the power of Hatton and both voices together created a truly stunning performance, whilst larger ensemble numbers such as 'No One Mourns the Wicked' and 'Dancing Through Life' pretty much completed the perfect soundtrack to the action of the show.  

Aside from the songs, what also really made this show stand out was the attention to detail regarding set and costume design, as well as lighting and prop choices. I honestly felt like I was actually there in Oz as everything was so authentic, from the colourful costumes of the Ozians to the *slightly* terrifying Wizard head, as well as the huge dragon looming over the stage and the lighting that gave a little extra something and made the musical performances slightly more special. 

Overall, it is an extremely captivating show and with a storyline filled with perfect comedic timing, beautiful character development and numerous twists and turns, it completely sucks you in, making it very difficult to tear your eyes away. Since seeing it I have constantly been humming and (trying to) sing the songs and I can safely say it has definitely become my all time favourite musical.  

Have you seen Wicked? What did you think?

Megan