Wicked - 2023/2025 UK and Ireland Tour

James Gower-Smith is making his debut as The Wizard/Dr Dillamond tonight (3rd February, 2024).

Megan Gardiner was on as Glinda last night. Stephanie Lindo was on as Nessarose (8th February, 2024).

If you can get tickets for a show when Megan is on for Glinda then I'd recommend it. She was brilliant, has a beautiful tone to her voice, and is funny too.

Casey Al-Shaqsy is on as Elphaba tonight (13th February, 2024).

Megan Gardiner is on as Glinda for the matinee today today, Stephanie Lindo is on as Nessarose (15th February, 2024).

okay .. maybe I revoke my comments from earlier 🫣
The cast was on TOP FORM tonight. This is possibly the best sounding UK cast I’ve heard yet. Laura is just STELLAR! Riffs in all the right places and her tone is phenomenal. SO clear. A long audience cheer after TWAI which was well deserved. Sarah seemed much bubblier too which I’m quite happy about! They’ve all settled in very well for the Bristol run and I’m looking forward to being back soon. Donna as MM as well is brilliant casting, I loved her very menacing portrayal.!!

Wicked isnt selling very well in the West End lately is it? Or has it been like this for a while? Ofcourse it’s a barn of a theatre, but some nights it’s almost half empty.

Saw the tour last week and this was definitely my best time at Wicked in a long while! Sarah really surprised me!! I liked her way more than I thought I would. Her voice is still quite weak for Glinda standards however it's very pretty, and her Popular, though not very much played for laughs, is very enjoyable and flows well. Laura is amazing, giving a very clean vocal performance with some nice riffs that she wasn't allowed to do in London, but not over the top! Carl is just the best Fiyero Wicked UK has seen in YEARS!! So charismatic..

The rest of the cast is very strong as well, with Donna Berlin as Madame Morrible as a standout. A few awkward spots during Shiz where she was a little late with lines but loved her acting! Daniel Hope (temporarily covering for the injured Jed Berry) made for a very cute Boq, and it was fun to see him return to the show after 8 years.

The orchestra is VERY powerful (and the drummer is absolutely smashing it), and they seem to have fixed the tempo as they're not rushing through Defying Gravity anymore. ALAYM and For Good definitely felt very slow though, and the whole of Act 2 generally felt just a tiny bit more messy/less rehearsed compared to Act 1, not just in the orchestra but also in the performances on stage.

Some other things I noted was how the set piece with the roman numerals are fixed and don't leave the stage, and that the walls in the back fly in instead of enter from the wings (they're also a different design). Also the curtain rises early in the Act 2 Opener. An awkward change I found was in the Engagement Ball scene between WWOTE and Wonderful where instead of Fiyero and Glinda dancing alongside fellow attendees, they were being escorted by the guards doing some awkward choreo, with the orchestra having added marching drums to the transition music. Weird. It was funny to see Chistery holding up the Grimmerie for Elphaba in NGD though. Definitely the most different production compared to the original Broadway production it's based on..

Overall I'd give this production a 4/5. It's VERY solid with strong, fresh performances (Something London needs to allow again by loosening up on their cast). If they can fix the issues in Act 2 I'd actually give this a 5/5.

I’ve not seen this for a few years after seeing you tube clips of the Hamburg production and Brazil I think it looks and feels dated compared to them wish it would have a refresh

😭 missed it by a show. Was there last night at media night and the cast were on fire. I’m assuming these are scheduled performances.

I hope Maddison smashed it! I’m quite sure she would have done. A really great and versatile MT actress imho.