Wicked The Musical

The musical Wicked has been high on both our ‘need to see’ lists for some time now. So, when Christmas 2019 rolled around we decided that would be our present to each other. Tickets were booked for late January and the wait began. Going into this Claire had read the book by Gregory Maguire which the musical is loosely based on, which she didn’t think much of (read her thoughts here). We also knew a handful of songs which our firm favourites for both of us. The day started with a train journey into London, a slight detour to Waterstones then a quick bite to eat which was all within walking distance of both the station and theatre.

We had booked for the matinee showing and were in our seats raring to go minutes after the doors opened. The theatre soon filled up around us but we were surprised at the amount of empty seats there were when it eventually started. Sitting next to us was a family of four, two of which were children under the age of ten. This had an unexpected impact on our thoughts as their reactions highlighted potential flaws. 

And then the lights went down…

After a slightly slow start with the opening number, it soon got to the good bits and the bigger hits that we already knew. The first half felt like it relied on the punchy numbers whilst establishing the storyline. Close to the interval, there is a scene where the caged flying monkeys are revealed and the two kids next to us were both rather terrified making it seems slightly out of place with the rest of the more family-friendly story. However, a definite highlight was finally getting to see Defying Gravity performed live creating all the feels. By the time we reached the interval, it was clear to us just how little we knew about the plotline of the musical. 

So, here’s where our opinions start to differ. The ‘popular’ numbers of act one soon disappeared and the more emotional, unfamiliar songs were the focus. Claire thought that the story got left behind in regards to fleshing out the emotional connections. There seemed to be a lack of detail given about the happenings in Elphaba’s life leaving us to fill in the blanks with what we already knew from ‘The Wizard of Oz’. This was also highlighted by the young boys nearby and their constant questioning when the plot was harder to understand. 

In contrast, Millie wouldn’t say that the second half was better than the first but she felt that the darker moments, especially with Elphaba, had slightly more impact. It also felt a lot faster in pace and retained her attention far more. However, this could also be seen as a negative with much more information being packed into the shorter second half, making important moment almost trivial. The merge between the story being told and the more familiar ‘Wizard of Oz’ was highly anticipated but didn’t steal the spotlight. 

Something we both found incredibly impressive was the set and costume designs. Immediately commenting on the dragon at the top of the stage and the hope that it would blow smoke out of its nose. This hope was quickly fulfilled in the first few seconds. Both set and costume changes were effortless and eye-catching adding another layer to the visual story. 

In conclusion, we know we are being harsh critics but this is probably due to having seen many other musicals that have astounded us in other ways. We think that the hype surrounding this show elevated it to something more than it is. That’s not to say, we didn’t really enjoy ourselves and the musical with some songs remaining in our favourites. It just didn’t meet our extremely high expectations.

C 🌙 & M 🌸