Most of my theatre-going is done in the provinces so I was looking forward to being able to soak up the full West End experience of seeing Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. Even before the green-ness arrived in the UK in September 2006 the hype from across the Atlantic promised a very special show of epic proportions.
We were able to get last minute tickets remarkably easy and at a not-unreasonable price. OK it was a Monday evening but I was surprised we had no problems.
Arriving at the theatre the outside was decorated in an appropriate green hue; crowds were wandering in. The theatre is immense and almost completely restored to its 1930's glorious heyday as befits a Grade 2 listed building.
The stage is extensively furnished with baroque side features and a map of Oz forming the fire curtain. So far very good. Huge sets moved around during the production making a variety of rooms, houses and castles; a multitude of chorus actors populated the many areas with a variety of characters; the main characters wandered on and off after performing their pieces. This was the main problem for me. Apart for Elphaba (Kerry Ellis) and Madam Morrible (Miriam Margolys) that is just what the main cast did. Walk through the their parts. This was not entirely their fault; they had very little to get their acting teeth into. Glinda, the good witch (Helen Dallimore) was obviously cast because she could do comedy a la Marilyn Monroe rather than sing; Fiyero was played by Adam Garcia, an actor more suited to playing leads in 50's musicals; Boq (James Gillan), the unrequited lover of Elphaba, made the best of the slight role he was given. All in all a combination of unremarkable writing and average acting dragged this production way down from the hype.
For a musical the production also has a dearth of hummable numbers. Even Andrew Lloyd Webber strives to provide one memorable tune that the audience can sing as they leave. My other gripe with this production is that it seemed to place too much reliance on the clever scenery at the expense of the acting and writing. I hope this show goes out on tour and benefits from the paring down and acting up of a provincial troupe.
© Paul Towers 21/3/2009
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