WICKED Playhouse Theatre Edinburgh 12th December 2023 Review
Wicked is at the Playhouse Theatre Edinburgh until 14 January 2024 and if you are looking for a big stage show that all the family can go to, then this one will probably tick all the boxes as it has something for everyone of all ages.
This show is based on the 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” and its imaginative use and reworking of favourite characters from L. Frank Baum's classic 1900 story “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”.
Here in this stage musical Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman have found that elusive magical ingredient that makes any show a success, and by any standards, Wicked, the recipient of more than 100 global awards that include three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, and a Grammy, is a hit show. The reasons for this are that this show starts with the basics – story, characterisation, songs, choreography, costumes, stage sets, lighting, sound and old fashioned performance skills and it gets every one of them right.
Like all good stories, Wicked is working on many different levels. On the surface level it is a story of magic and good versus evil, but cleverly questions where that evil lies, and what makes someone do what they do. The way events are manipulated in their reporting around us in our everyday lives is mirrored here and that big question of where the truth really lies comes into sharp focus,
Wicked is also about being accepted for who you are on the inside and not on the outside, it is about finding friendship in the most unlikely of people and, to make this work on stage, Elphaba (Laura Pick) and Glinda (Sarah O’ Connor) have to make us believe that this unlikely friendship of two opposites is forming on stage. This is achieved so well here that if you were to strip Wicked of all of its Oz related characters, all of its big stage sets and glittering costumes, then you would still have a story and a stage show in this friendship alone. This show is really carried by whoever performs the roles of Elphaba and Glinda, and Laura Pick and Sarah O’ Connor are simply perfectly cast in their respective roles.
Oz is a fantasy land that is blindingly bright emerald green but it has some very dark corners and the way that free speech and the silencing of voices that some people do not want to hear is skilfully handled here and again raises comparisons in historical and contemporary events in real life and as always there are surprises as to who the oppressors really are.
As a musical, Wicked has some outstanding stage show songs, but as always with this show, if you listen closely to some of the lyrics there are often many layers of story and emotion to them. The story line does allow too for some big song and dance numbers and it is here that the sheer amount of different lavish costumes and the production budget that it takes to produce a show like this really shows. Sharp choreography is also another obvious part of this show and there must be a small army of dressers waiting behind the stage to turn some of these costume changes around in a very small amount of time. All of this is set to a background of imaginative stage sets that move seamlessly from one scene to another.
Wicked also allows for some very strong supporting characters, and Carl Man (Fiyero), Donna Berlin (Madame Morrible), Simeon Truby (Wizard of Oz/Dr Dillamond) and Daniel Hope (Boq) make the most of their characters and are obviously having a lot of fun with them on stage. Oddly though, despite a very good performance by Megan Gardiner as Nessarose (Elphaba’s sister) this character never seems to get the acceptance for who she is as a person that is so central to the underlying ethos of Wicked and too often portrays her as a victim of circumstances.
Wicked the stage musical has captured the imaginations of audiences worldwide just as much as the original book and the original Oz stories and Laura Pick and Sarah O’Connor deserved all of the audience applause that greeted all of their big production songs.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
This show is based on the 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” and its imaginative use and reworking of favourite characters from L. Frank Baum's classic 1900 story “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”.
Here in this stage musical Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman have found that elusive magical ingredient that makes any show a success, and by any standards, Wicked, the recipient of more than 100 global awards that include three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, and a Grammy, is a hit show. The reasons for this are that this show starts with the basics – story, characterisation, songs, choreography, costumes, stage sets, lighting, sound and old fashioned performance skills and it gets every one of them right.
Like all good stories, Wicked is working on many different levels. On the surface level it is a story of magic and good versus evil, but cleverly questions where that evil lies, and what makes someone do what they do. The way events are manipulated in their reporting around us in our everyday lives is mirrored here and that big question of where the truth really lies comes into sharp focus,
Wicked is also about being accepted for who you are on the inside and not on the outside, it is about finding friendship in the most unlikely of people and, to make this work on stage, Elphaba (Laura Pick) and Glinda (Sarah O’ Connor) have to make us believe that this unlikely friendship of two opposites is forming on stage. This is achieved so well here that if you were to strip Wicked of all of its Oz related characters, all of its big stage sets and glittering costumes, then you would still have a story and a stage show in this friendship alone. This show is really carried by whoever performs the roles of Elphaba and Glinda, and Laura Pick and Sarah O’ Connor are simply perfectly cast in their respective roles.
Oz is a fantasy land that is blindingly bright emerald green but it has some very dark corners and the way that free speech and the silencing of voices that some people do not want to hear is skilfully handled here and again raises comparisons in historical and contemporary events in real life and as always there are surprises as to who the oppressors really are.
As a musical, Wicked has some outstanding stage show songs, but as always with this show, if you listen closely to some of the lyrics there are often many layers of story and emotion to them. The story line does allow too for some big song and dance numbers and it is here that the sheer amount of different lavish costumes and the production budget that it takes to produce a show like this really shows. Sharp choreography is also another obvious part of this show and there must be a small army of dressers waiting behind the stage to turn some of these costume changes around in a very small amount of time. All of this is set to a background of imaginative stage sets that move seamlessly from one scene to another.
Wicked also allows for some very strong supporting characters, and Carl Man (Fiyero), Donna Berlin (Madame Morrible), Simeon Truby (Wizard of Oz/Dr Dillamond) and Daniel Hope (Boq) make the most of their characters and are obviously having a lot of fun with them on stage. Oddly though, despite a very good performance by Megan Gardiner as Nessarose (Elphaba’s sister) this character never seems to get the acceptance for who she is as a person that is so central to the underlying ethos of Wicked and too often portrays her as a victim of circumstances.
Wicked the stage musical has captured the imaginations of audiences worldwide just as much as the original book and the original Oz stories and Laura Pick and Sarah O’Connor deserved all of the audience applause that greeted all of their big production songs.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com