Anybody who knows me will know that I am a fan of Wicked. I saw it for the first time just over a year ago, on May the 9th, 2009. This date is significant because it was the last show for a few members of the cast (most notably Kerry Ellis). As such, I didn’t feel that I got an accurate depiction of the show, and so I was very pleased when the opportunity arose for me to see it again.
For convenience’s sake, my friends and I went to the Wednesday matinée showing on June the 9th, 2010. I was a little apprehensive at first, thinking that the cast would probably save themselves for the busier evening performance.
Oh, how I was wrong.
Rachel Tucker, the new Elphaba since March, was simply astounding. Her voice was incredibly powerful, and it had a slightly husky quality for the show-stopping songs that fit the character perfectly. Defying Gravity was so spine-tingling, and I was nearly in tears it was so powerful. But I feel that she really shined during No Good Deed. She put in so much emotion, and the quality and skill in her singing blew me away. No Good Deed is my favourite song in the show, so I may be biased, but Rachel Tucker took it to another level.
Louise Dearman was also a fantastic singer. Her soprano voice was incredible. However, I felt she didn’t quite have the comedic timing that Dianne Pilkington mastered during her runs. The two actresses had a brilliant chemistry, making the growth of their friendship and its tear-jerking end feel very honest.
Lewis Bradley also played a great Fiyero. The love between Fiyero and Elphaba felt very real. In all, the cast’s chemistry seemed to work perfectly. His voice slipped on one note during Dancing Through Life, but for most of his performance he was spectacular.
Since it had been over a year since I’d seen Wicked, I had forgotten how amazing the set, lighting, and costumes were. I particularly loved the Emerald City, where the entire stage was lit up with green lights. The set and costumes really worked to draw me in and forget I was sitting high enough for our ears to actually pop.
One downside I did notice about Wicked is the pacing. The middle of the first act drags a little, especially during the Dancing Through Life and the school scenes. It does provide some important development of the relationships between characters, but it’s far too slow. It picks up again when Elphaba and Glinda go to the Emerald City, and comes to a brilliant climax at Defying Gravity, leaving most of the audience speechless for the interval. The second act, on the other hand, feels far too fast. Before I knew it, Elphaba and Glinda were singing their goodbyes in For Good, and I wondered where the time had gone.
Wicked is a fantastic show, and it’s a shame it’s so hyped up. My two friends I went to see it with on Wednesday hadn’t seen it before, and both heard about its popularity. One told me she thought it was “epic”, the other thought it was good, but not worth the hype. It’s perhaps an example of Wicked being a victim of its own popularity.
Both said something that I hadn’t realised before; if we were to take the plot away from the music, Wicked would not be anywhere near as popular as it is. Not a lot happens, and it essentially boils down to Elphaba being an animal (sorry, Animal) activist. However, it’s the music, especially the powerful songs like “The Wizard and I”, “No Good Deed”, and of course “Defying Gravity”, that holds the entire production together. It’s the music that blows me away every time.
