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I can't remember the last time I saw a new musical.
By new, I mean new to me. Wicked has been around for a few years now on Broadway and in the West End, and like Avenue Q, I've been wanting to see it for ages. But musicals are something I seem to forever aspire to see, without actually making the time.
That changed last night at the Apollo Victoria theatre, ostentatious green neon-bathed home to the production, opposite Victoria station.
And what a production Wicked is. I say this as probably the least clued-up punter in the building, mind you. Not only do I see roughly one musical a decade, I've never seen the film of the Wizard of Oz, read the books or anything - all I know is that witches, a girl, a dog and a tornado were involved, and the Wicked Witch of the West wasn't very nice.
Wicked, of course, turns that whole concept on its head, giving us her side of the story. The original book, published in the mid-90s, differs somewhat from the musical version (I've not read the book either, I'm working off plot summaries here), but the simplified tale of the musical is captivating, funny, clever and concise. You won't need to start drawing vast family trees to follow the action, and you won't be straining to hear barely intelligible lyrics to work out what's going on.
In fact the voices are superb, particularly Elphaba. If I could afford to squander half my monthly salary on a programme I'd tell you who played her, but as it is I'll just have to remain ignorant for now. I will try to find out though, because both her stage and singing voice were spectacular. And from the dress circle she looked pretty dazzling for a green woman. (I've always been a fan of the pointy-hat black look. It's a wonder I'm not a goth.)
My one gripe would be the Wizard himself, who was played by a genial enough gent who had the ideal look for the part - but a bizarre voice which strayed from plummy Brit to chummy American and back, even throwing in a Steve McClaren Dutch accent once or twice. Elphaba (as the Wicked Witch is known to family and friend) knocked spots off him, not only magically but dramatically too.
The production we saw even managed to overcome a 10-minute stoppage for technical difficulties midway through the first half. A bookcase steadfastly refused to be automatically wheeled off the stage (presumably done using magnets or something under the floor?), and so the curtain unceremoniously plunged down over the action, even as the performers gamely tried to press on with an outdoor scene despite the incongruity of a bookcase in a market square.
Standing ovations all round at the finale, which added a new twist not found in the book and certainly not anticipated by yours truly - though if I were better-schooled in Disney-esque musical endings I'd probably have seen it coming.
It's all a nice little allegory for the 21st century in its own way. The central thrust of the musical (and book) is that the Wicked Witch of the West is only wicked because she is portrayed as such by others with vested interests. In reality, she was a perfectly decent person struggling to cope with the rejection, betrayal and ignorance of others. And she only got arsey with Dorothy because she nicked her sister's shoes, while the lion, tin man and scarecrow were a series of tragic errors.
In other words, this is the kind of production the famed Iraqi Information Minister, Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf, might have knocked together. (Others might suggest, by way of balance, that it's the kind of production Tony Blair could easily have penned too.) It is also nice to see Wikipedia listing Wicked as "revisionist". Oh to have written a book so good that, 90 years later, the terminology of historians begins to apply to its plot!
I think Wicked's West End run has been extended to September this year and will surely go on past that. Just as anything with a pulse appears to have been to Avenue Q and come back raving about it, I'd say this one is a must-see. And now I get the pleasure of watching The Wizard Of Oz as a never-before-seen sequel...
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