By the time the hit musical Wicked ended its run on 26th September 2010 at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney it had brought in over $50 million in ticket sales, being seen by over half a million people, before moving on to Brisbane. By the time it ended its tour in Perth, it had been playing for over three years (premiering originally at the Regent in Melbourne) and was seen by 1 in 20 Australians. Those are numbers that franchises dream of.
And now, less than three years later, the show is returning for an understandably briefer stint along the East Coast, having recently wrapped up at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne – where its Australian journey began in 2008 – (re)premiering this week at the Capitol Theatre for a run that will take us through to the end of the year. And though Lisa Leguillo has replaced Kris Stewart as this production’s Director, not much has changed. And why would it? This is the sort of show that has everything down to a fine, successful formula – no one’s going to try and recreate the wheel.
I won’t spend much time in this review talking you through the story – by now you should have a fair enough idea – but in short, Wicked (based on the novel by Gregory Maguire) brings us the story of what happened in the Universe of The Wizard of Oz “before Dorothy came to town”, taking us through a Mean Girls-esque school escapade, introducing us to the friendship between the Elphaba “The Wicked Witch” and Glinda “The Good”, playing with the notion that perhaps Elphaba wasn’t the “Wicked” witch she had been made out to be.
Much of the cast from the original Australian production returns – both leads in Lucy Durack (Glinda) and Jemma Rix (Elphaba), as does Maggie Kirkpatrick as Madame Morrible. Reg Livermore is taking over where Bert Newton left off as The Wizard, and Glen Hogstrom comes in as Dr Dillamond, having been a part of the Australian run Singapore and Seoul productions. Needless to say, even with some new faces, this is a cast who is comfortable and familiar with the production and by now could likely do it in their sleep.
But what has made this musical such a success – and the actors such staple commodity – is that its cast never let on. The show is so grand, so intricate and technically impressive that with each and every show the cast can’t seem to help themselves but enjoy the experience. And that’s infectious. There are scenes where Lucy is geniunely making Jemma laugh (something she revealed to us in this interview). And the beauty of the production is that she’s given the space to do that. There are dark moments, but all in all, it’s a fun and outright clever musical, engaging with a story we know well while delivering something new, original and exciting.
I first saw Wicked at a production in Los Angeles, shortly before it premiered in Melbourne. It’s one that sticks with you, though sure the intricacies had been lost making this experience something of a new one. I’m sure that between this production and what I saw in the US there were some minor changes – I remember the staging towards the end being a little different, and a couple of props here and there that were either omitted or I just remember it incorrectly… which after 6+ years is wholly possible. What sticks with you ultimately is the grandness of the show. The changeovers are impeccable. Love it or hate it, this is one of the most technically grand shows you’ll ever see on the stage. Each set change (there are 54 of them) brings with it new lighting, new props, new backdrops, new projections… and with each actor making up to eight costume changes from start to finish, no one is left standing by twiddling their thumbs. All of the 34 cast members are put through their paces, night after night.
Of the cast, however, the show belongs to Jemma as Elphaba – she’s in the title after all (and apparently the word “Wicked” is then mentioned some 42 times in dialogue and song throughout – surely a bit much from Stephen Schwartz, but I digress…) – and she has crafted her character beautifully. Lucy as Glinda is as engaging and over the top as the character needs to be (and it’s of little surprise she was cast in Legally Blonde not long after the run of Wicked came to an end, they’re essentially the same character!), and Maggie is enchanting in her role and Madame Morrible. Reg is perhaps under utilised but delivers a fine performance (fun fact: he was Australia’s original Frank’n’Furter! The man is a legend of the Australian stage for good reason…) and makes me regret having never seen him in The Producers. And the ensemble all give the show the razzle, the dazzle and the colour it needs.
So if you’ve seen it before, it is worth seeing again. And if you are one of the 19 out of 20 Australians who haven’t seen it before, it’s definitely worth the experience. After all, it returns for you (as long as the returning fans haven’t bought up all the tickets by now…) Sure, some of the songs are a bit daggy (42 times… really?), and a Broadway show will always bring with it an ounce of cheese – but its clever story – interweaving with the Wizard of Oz classic narrative that we all know so well – along with dazzling costumes, incredible set changes and over-the-top but arresting performances make it as magical a show now as it was the day it premiered on Broadway more than ten years ago.
And you’ve got to love that Dragon.
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Wicked continues at the Capitol Theatre until January 2015, before heading onto Brisbane for a limited season in February. Head to http://www.wickedthemusical.com.au/ for tickets and more details.
Photography by Jeff Busby. The reviewer attended the performance on 24th September.
