Earlier this year I found myself drawn to the Liverpool Empire to see The Lion King, and it was truly a magical experience to see my all time favourite Disney film brought to life in the way it was with larger than life animal costumes and puppets, and all the familiar scenes, settings and songs taken straight from the animated classic. It also whet my appetite for musicals – and when I saw that Wicked would be soaring into town this September I knew it would be simply unmissable.
I’ve been a fan of The Wizard of Oz since childhood, and have seemingly always known about Dorothy and her wacky little entourage as they skipped along the yellow brick road beneath the watchful eye of the dastardly Wicked Witch of the West and her evil winged monkey minions. Wicked, however, opts to retell the story from the perspective of The Wicked Witch – Elphaba – instead, and offers up a completely new outlook on the 1939 classic, as well as an intriguing insight into the events both leading up to and following it.
We meet Elphaba (Ashleigh Gray) as she and her younger sister Nessarose are starting university, and where she is immediately ridiculed by her fellow students for her unnaturally green skin. It is here that we also meet Glinda (Emily Tierney) – aka Glinda the Good Witch – who is by contrast pretty, blonde and immediately worshipped and loved by all she meets. Being at such polar opposite ends of the popularity scale the pair are destined never to get along, but find themselves forced into sharing a room together nonetheless, discovering that there is much more to one other than they had first thought.
Making her entrance in typical giant floating bubble style – and from her opening greeting of “It’s good to see me, isn’t it?” – Emily Tierney’s performance and comic delivery throughout the show is easily one of the highlights of Wicked, successfully making her character Glinda both irritating and endearing at the same time. Her performance of “Popular” – as she attempts to impart some of her social wisdom upon Elphaba – is particularly hilarious, whereas songs like “I’m Not That Girl” are extremely moving and showcase a more heartfelt and genuine side to the character.
Ashleigh Gray’s performance as Elphaba meanwhile is equally impressive if not even more so, and her absolutely belting performances of “Defying Gravity”, “No Good Deed” and “The Wizard and I” are so spellbinding and powerful that it is impossible not to be completely and utterly swept up in her character’s unfortunate plight. Her own performance of “I’m Not That Girl” is both touching and tragic, and “For Good” with Tierney is poignant and a real emotional high point at the finale.
There are fine performances right across the rest of the cast as well for Fiyero (Samuel Edwards), Nessarose (Carina Gillespie), Boq (Richard Vincent), Madame Morrible (Marilyn Cutts) and the “Wonderful” Wizard of Oz himself (Steven Pinder). The costumes – and particularly those worn by the Ozians of the Emerald City – are spectacular, and the sets always did a fantastic job of helping to bring the great many memorable scenes of Wicked to life.
It definitely helps to know the story of The Wizard of Oz before going to see Wicked – as it makes the experience all the more enjoyable when the two stories begin to intertwine – although it is by no means a necessity. For longtime fans there are plenty of surprises, nods to the movie, and a few familiar faces to be encountered along the way. For everyone else it is simply a wonderful story that is brilliantly told, beautifully sung, and a joy from start to finish. Be sure to catch it before Dorothy clicks her heels together for the last time in Liverpool on 11 October.
Sean Ferguson
Originally published on Liverpool Noise 1/10/2014
For You Blue 