WICKED HAS LOST NONE OF ITS MAGIC
Four years on and WICKED has lost none of its magic. This glittering revisionist story set in the Land of Oz has all the right ingredients: great songs, eye-popping costumes, brilliant dancing and engaging performances. But what makes it work beyond mere entertainment is its central message, which shows how good people can be made into bad ones by doing no more than what they believe to be right. At the heart of the show are two engaging performances from Dianne Pilkington as 'Galinda Upland' and Alexia Khadime as 'Elphaba Thropp' AKA Glinda The Good and the Wicked Witch of the West. This witch is no two-dimensional Hollywood baddie but a thoughtful woman who rebels against what she sees as the unconscionable actions of the government, led by the apparently good Wizard of Oz, whose kindly looks and manner conceal a politician with a misguided sense of how to unite his people.
This story is mounted in a dazzling set, with cogs and sprockets representing a giant clock, topped off by a mechanical dragon that makes its presence felt when Elphaba enters "wicked" mode. But at the heart of all the glitz are Stephen Schwartz's terrific songs, including 'Defying Gravity' and 'No Good Deed'. You'll want to hear them again.
Mark Ogier, 2010
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