WICKED

LOCATION: Capitol Theatre, Sydney

DATE: Saturday, 10 September, 2009

WITH: Keryl, Mary

This was the reason for our "Wicked" girls weekend away, besides shopping, food, drinkies and gossip...really!!

We unfortunately missed the beginning as we arrived at the theatre a few minutes before starting and that apparently was not enough time to get us (and many, many others) seated so we had to wait until a 'suitable' time to do so. It must have been a good 3 minutes prior and when we were seated it took less than a minute - we were pissed.

However, it was easy to get into and was very enjoyable. I have heard some of the songs before and whilst sung extremely well by the entire cast (especially the lady who played, Elphaba, the green witch) they are not the kind of songs that stick in your head as you leave the theatre or indeed days after (Springtime for Hitler, anyone???). But that did not matter. For me the very clever script and the stunning set and costumes were what stuck in my mind.

The script, based on the very dark (loosely based as the book was far darker than this) novel of the same name by Geoffery Maguire, was outstanding and clever. For those that do not know this is the story of how the wicked witch of the west from The Wizard of Oz became...wicked! See, she used to be really good friends with Glinda, the good witch, and wasn't really wicked at all, just different! If you are a fan of The Wizard of Oz you will enjoy how some of that story is woven in to this, you will get to see how the Cowardly Lion, Tin Man and Scarecrow come to be. Each are subtle but touching, and there are many other Oz references including the Wizard himself. Bert Newton plays the Wizard and as always he is Bert, but he was great. It would have been fantastic to see Rob Guest play this part prior to his untimely death.

The set was simply magical, lots of fairy lighting, lots of large stunning clocklike sets, flying monkeys (these actors were exceptional and nimble), giant dragon, the Oz set and LOTS of green!!! Adding to this were the costumes, lots AND lots of costumes, oh my! They were something else, we were upstairs towards the back and they still 'popped' right out at you, the shoes too, superb. The best scene was a combination of exceptional costuming, special effects and stage design - when Elphaba, at the height of her powers, is whisked up into the air - something to be seen for sure!

The acting was good, I loved the teacher/goat a lot, very sweet and the monkeys and the boy/munchkin. Even Rob Mills (ex-Idol and Paris paramour) was pretty good as the man torn between Glinda and Elphaba, he surprised me with his singing, dancing and dialogue - albeit as a vacuous character...I want to say more about his storyline, but shall not as you may just want to see this and you deserve the surprise that I had watching him. Maggie Kirkpatrick as Madame Morrible was grand, evil/good and larger than life. But it was the witches that were stunning. Elphaba, more subtle and certainly the star of the show, fabulous voice and great on stage. But, for me, it was Glinda, who stole the show. She was remarkable, and I am sure channelling Kristin Chenoweth, the original Broadway Glinda, and cute and funny. Her high pitched, blonde, vacuous, giggly girl (whilst normally an unappealing character to me) shone, at times literally, in every scene.

This comes recommended, but not for littlies, there were some scenes that made me jump!