The Ongoing Wicked Discussion Thread

I just wanted to add my more detailed thoughts from yesterday...
It is the first time I have seen Wicked in just over 2 years when I saw Kerry Ellis. Admittedly, I felt I needed some time away from the show as it felt pretty tired and Kerry was very disappointing. Now that Rachel is back in London for a short stint, I couldn't miss out.

I was sat towards the back of the Circle which was fine as that's all I could afford for my ticket - I paid £30. I've sat in the circle many times for Wicked and I actually really like it from up there.

Suzie Mathers as Glinda - She was a fantastic Glinda, potentially even my favourite I've seen in London. She was fun, refreshing and just seemed to have a 'glow' about her whenever she was on stage (and it wasn't just the spotlight!). Her vocals were absolutely beautiful from the moment she came down in the bubble and I particularly liked her 'Thank Goodness'.

Oliver Savile as Fiyero - I wasn't expecting Oliver to be on as he had been off on Friday night with food poisoning so it was a nice surprise. My favourite Fiyero I've seen (and somewhat of an unpopular opinion) is Matt Willis because I loved the rock edge that he brought to the role. Oliver however was great and possibly my new favourite. He was very easy on the eye as well which certainly helps matters, especially THAT costume in the first act.

Idriss Kargbo as Boq - I enjoyed his take on Boq after hearing mixed reviews about him. He was the best Boq I've seen in terms of vocals - great voice.

Helen Woolf as Nessa - A brilliant, feisty Nessa. Her WWOTE was brilliant. Actually, Helen, Rachel and Idriss were all great in this scene together.

Kerry Enright as Morrible - Really great performance. I really felt her 'turn' in the second half and her confrontation of Glinda on the stairs during March of the Witch Hunters was brilliant.

Mark Curry - A good performance, I'd prefer a stronger vocal, I thought he was a little quiet in places.

And finally, Rachel Tucker as Elphaba - I have made no secret that Rachel is my ultimate Elphaba, she was my first back in 2010 and for me personally is absolutely unbeatable. She was just fantastic yesterday afternoon from the moment she ran onto the stage. I was a little annoyed at myself for wishing the first couple of scenes away because I was dying to hear her sing TWAI. I had truly forgotten how incredible powerful her voice is, it's insane. She just switches it on all of sudden, it comes from nowhere. Her voice completely filled the theatre during DG and she gave us her signature high F riff plus a great second 'bring me down' riff. My favourite Elphaba song is NGD and I just have no words... riff free but incredible. Her belt is just a forced to be reckoned with. I could hear audience members around me singing her praises after her 3 big songs. Her chemistry with Suzie was really great as well, they make a good partnership.

I just wanted to mention the orchestra - they sounded the best they have for ages yesterday or maybe it's because I haven't seen the show for a while. Also, the sound was slightly quiet to begin with in the circle but I felt they cranked up the volume during TWAI and it remained like that for the rest of the show.

I need to go back again, maybe twice, while Rachel is still here...

One frustration was the amount of audience members who arrived late to the show - I know it can't be helped sometimes, London throws all sorts of unexpected challenges at you when getting around the city but it was really distracting. Some were up to 15-20 minutes late, Rachel was singing TWAI when the final few people were taking their seats. Also, there was 3 children with their uncle in front of me. The boy was very well behaved but the girls must have been about 7 or 8. They played with their hair a lot in the first act which was slightly irritating but in the second act they would not stop whispering to each other and fidgeting in their seats, they didn't seem to fully understand the story line. I didn't want to say anything though as they were quite young and seemed to enjoy the show for the most part and their uncle was rather good looking!

This rule was certainly not in place yesterday. Although if they had been bringing them in all at once during WITF then it would have been worse. It wasn't big groups of people, mainly couples but all the same irritating.

The ushers were very hot on phones and cameras. I saw them asking quite a few people to stop or delete pictures/videos. 

I believe most shows have a "if you're late you have to wait for 20 minutes" policy, and with Wicked that falls in the middle of What Is This Feeling?

I'm not actually sure why that rule exists, but I've seen it implemented at several shows across London. Also, What Is This Feeling? is a very busy number, meaning the hustle and bustle (quote intended) of the show masks some of the chaos of sneaking in groups of twats latecomers.

It's not a standard 20-minute rule, but each show has their own latecomers policy - sometimes this is just "at discretion" so ushers can just take people in when they arrive (but should wait for the end of a song). The longest one that I've worked with was Cats, and this was the Gumby cat scene, about 25 minutes in.

I don't know why Wicked chose that specific moment, but they obviously felt that that was the earliest point that caused the least disruption (I'm not sure I agree but there we go!)

If I were running a theatre, I'd only let latecomers in during the interval.

Hahaha... the saddest part, it sounds like an exaggeration... but genuinely was about 150 people!

Please buy all West End theatres then, because that would be great.

On the topic of shady comments from ushers, when at Charlie the other day, Ross Dawes was on as Willy Wonka and in the interval someone asked an usher if he was the Full Time or Understudy and the usher said he was the Understudy. To which point the audience member looked slightly disappointed and the Usher turned to her and said "but don't worry, he is a much better Willy Wonka than the Full Time one... and this guy can actually sing!".

But I wouldn't have to let my theatre to all productions, right?

(I know, reality is quite different, but in an ideal world...)

Do we know which performances Rachel will be doing W/C 26th December? And if not, when is it likely we will find out?

Thanks. I think I'll just book for a date in January instead.

I forgot to mention in my review post that I love that in the second chorus of Defying Gravity (after "if that's love it come at much too higher cost") she goes up on the "Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity". I've always thought it works so well and Rachel only used to do it rarely on her last London run. It sounds like Elphaba is starting to gain more confidence and have a little more self belief. Love little things like that.