Musical Review - WICKED

About the show:

Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz is a Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, an alternative telling of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The musical is told from the perspective of the witches of the Land of Oz; its plot begins before and continues after Dorothy's arrival in Oz from Kansas, and it includes several references to the 1939 film and Baum's novel. Wicked tells the story of two unlikely friends, Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Galinda (whose name later changes to Glinda the Good Witch), who struggle through opposing personalities and viewpoints, rivalry over the same love-interest, reactions to the Wizard's corrupt government and, ultimately, Elphaba's public fall from grace.

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_(musical)

My opinion:

Last weekend I saw Wicked fort he second time in Zurich. My first time was 9 years ago in London. It’s my favourite musical together with Les Misérables, so when I heard that the touring company was coming to Switzerland, I booked the tickets immediately.

We had great seats, right in row 6 in the middle. Row 6 is the best one in the “Theater 11” in Zurich, because it’s a bit higher up than the rows in front.

The music of this show is brilliant! I get goose bumps every single time, when hearing the opening and seeing it on stage makes it even more special. The costumes are absolutely stunning and so is the set. Of course they have many great effects to, which makes it more exciting.

I really like the story of the musical. I think it’s very gripping and full of ups and downs. I had to cry several times and I just didn’t want it to end. Defying Gravity is a fabulous and powerful song and Amy Ross sang it beautifully. Her voice is absolutely incredible! I also really liked all the ensemble numbers, not inly because of the costumes, but also because of the staging and the choreography. The sound of the ensemble was wonderful too. The harmonies and the melodies are magnificent.

I have never been a big fan of Glinda’s character. She is obviously part of the story and needs to be like that, but I never warmed up to her. Helen Woolfe is a good actress (but I don’t think the role is challenging when it comes to acting), but I didn’t like her singing. Her voice is squeaky and just doesn’t have a pleasant sound for me.

Fiyero (Aaron Sidwell) and Elphaba had great chemistry on stage. He is a brilliant actor, but yet again the singing didn’t convince me. I lost my heart to the first Fiyero I saw (Oliver Tompsett) anyway ;).

This musical is marvellous on so many levels. It’s great for families as well and I love the little references to The Wizard of Oz (still have to see that musical).

It was absolutely WICKED!!!!!!