The Ongoing Wicked Discussion Thread

What does the pre show announcement sound like now?

Ok ok interesting. Thank you :-) wonder why it was changed?

There's also a new announcement pre act 2 saying that the show will continue shortly and advising everyone who used their phone in the interval to turn it off again.

I went in November and they'd replaced about a third of the Stalls seats, hadn't yet touched the circle. There was a display at the back of the stalls talking about how the theatre is being restored to its former glory!

Hey, What did you think of the show after a few months away?!

Carina Gillespie is on as Glinda for both shows today alongside Natalie Andreou as Elphaba.

Steph Parry took over as Madame Morrible mid way through Act 1 of the matinee today, we can assume she will be on as Morrible for the evening show also (30th April, 2016)

Interesting... It's probably easier to get Steph on as Morrible mid-show than pull Kerry out of the ensemble to switch. But as 1st u/s doesn't Kerry get 1st dibs on the part if it needs covering? So therefore would be Morrible this evening?

Yeah Kerry is Shen-Shen (my favourite ensemble member!) and I would have thought it easier to get Steph ready as midwife, as Kerry is in pretty much all of act one ensemble scenes whereas not sure Steph's track is as busy in the first half!

Looking forward to your Elphie/Glinda review.....

I'd imagine that in terms of a 1st cover having "dibs" on a part, that mainly only applies to scheduled holiday/few hours notice. Someone said they switched at the train station scene- so Liza must have been quite ill to not just get through to the interval. In that case, it would have been very rushed and I guess whoever is easiest to get ready goes on, "dibs" go out of the window! Steph tweeted that she was in the middle of an online shop so can't have been very busy with her track (if on at all) while Kerry was probably in full costume in the ensemble and then they would need another swing to replace Kerry and blah too much faff!

Here we go, posting this from the X26 bus to Heathrow.

I wasn't away from Wicked that long. Last time I saw the show in London was cast change (September IIRC, so that's seven months), but I did see Wicked three times on Broadway in-between.

Still, entering the AV on Friday felt somehow like coming home, given how often I've been to that theatre, so I hope you can imagine how surprised I was when I entered the auditorium expecting to see the red seats, and instead saw a completely refurbished theatre. But the old seats were somewhat uncomfy, so that's a real improvement. However, the leg room in row A got somewhat smaller. So you can't stretch your legs anymore before the show and during the interval, as people will step on them.

Steph Parry: I felt she rushed a bit too quickly through her lines and played Morrible too caricatual. Maybe it gets better over time, weren't yesterday her first two Morrible shows?

Boq and Dillamond: what shall I say? Neither particularly good nor bad.

Katie Rowley-Jones: not bad, but way too old for Nessa. Elphaba's line "that's my younger sister Nessarose" made me cringe.

Mark Curry: Really liked his Wizard. Audible American accent (at last for my non native speaking ears) and a good singing voice.

Oliver Savile: made it to the top 3 of my Fiyeros, great take on the role.

Savannah Stevenson: just OK as Glinda, and nothing that justified the extension of her contract. However, after seeing the show on Broadway, I'm now spoilt by the American maniac (in a good way) Glindas, Carrie St. Louis and even more so Kara Lindsay. I think gho's lacklustre is a good description. What do we have to do to get such a Glinda over here?

Carina Gillespie: I've already seen her on tour where I loved her Glinda. I never thought I might see her again, as not even she would make me sit through another Emma Hatton show, so you can imagine how happy I was after reading aidoon123's post yesterday. Her Glinda reminds me very much of a young Ivy Lynn (who you might know from Heaven on Earth, Liaisons and Bombshell). Better, fresher and funnier than Savannah. Still not Broadway level, but very good for our West End standard.

Natalie Andreou: she never fails to amaze me. What a powerful voice, gave me goosebumps. She adds so many details to her portrayal that it's a joy to watch her. If you can somehow manage to see one of her shows, you should definitely go. You'll be in for a treat. In fact, I'll be back in London at the end of June when Emma is on vacation to see Natalie A 2 or 3 more times.

Overall, a very strong cast - if it weren't for the three witches. The producers should immediately bump up the two standbys to lead. Both Natalie A and Carina are so much better and stronger than the actual leads.

Do they announce a switch to the audience or just hope people wouldn't notice.

Thank you for the shout out Michael, I was glad I could improve upon your day with the good news! Now that you've brought the matter up, may I ask what it was like to see the witch-switch between Willemijn and Ashleigh, and what you thought of Ashleigh's Elphaba?

I saw her six times on tour, and unfortunately for four of those she was quite ill so I feel like I have a more negative bias, what are your opinions on her both in vocals and acting, I would love to hear the thoughts from someone who's seen such a wide variety of Elphaba's!