In 2011 Wicked was named London’s ‘Best Night Out‘ by the Evening Standard Theatre Awards, the year in which the 4 millionth member of the musical’s collective audience entered the doors of the Apollo Victoria Theatre. Initially opened as a state-of-the-art cinema in 1930, the Gaumont British News described the Apollo Victoria as a sort of ‘fairy cavern under the sea, or a mermaid’s dream of heaven’. The modern day theatre that it has become can certainly be seen as bringing this former description back to life through its hosting of the hit musical Wicked. With its frontage extensively greened up in bright emerald lighting, upon ascending the steps to the Apollo Victoria entrance there is again the sense of entering some sort of eerie ‘fairy cavern’ or perhaps a fantasy world reminiscent to that of the Land of Oz…
[pagebreak] Being a newbie to West End theatre production, I found myself sitting through Wicked utterly transfixed and instantly understanding exactly why it is that the musical has been so highly rated. Beginning with a blast of energetic song, elaborately costumed cast and clouds of special effect smoke blanketing the stage in a haze of mystery, the show immediately transports you to the magical world in which it exists. Glinda the Good (at present played by the beautiful Gina Beck) descends upon this smoky set up, suspended within her signature bubble, in a shimmering ball gown and sparkly tiara.
[pagebreak] As everyone in a Wicked audience will expect, perhaps owing to their annual Christmas viewing of the Wizard of Oz, this dazzling image of Glinda the Good must be the stark opposite and enemy of the green faced Wicked Witch of the West who they know to also exist within the proximity of the show. However, what is so gripping about this introductory scene is the knowledge, bestowed upon an audience by Glinda, that once upon a time the two witches were actually friends.
[pagebreak] It is from this point that the story begins and the audience is introduced to this apparent Wicked Witch in the form of feisty, witch-in-the-making, Elphaba (currently played by theatre performer Louise Dearman). As the show unfolds, the defining green hue of her face becomes not emblematic of her wickedness but instead of her strength as she battles against the evil schemes of the Wizard and stands up for what she believes in. She gradually becomes a figure to admire, a realization highlighted for the audience by her climactic singing performance of ‘Defying Gravity’, during which she is elevated high into the sky of the center stage.
So, if the cackle of the Wicked Witch of the West was the stuff of your childhood nightmares, Wicked is certainly the West End show to attend. Through a viewing of Elphaba’s untold story all preconceived images of the horrible Wicked Witch, perhaps on a broomstick chasing poor Dorothy, are abolished; instead you will leave the doors of the Apollo Victoria Theatre in possession of an entirely fresh view point of the traditional tale of the Wizard of Oz, and an array of unforgettable songs echoing across your mind.
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