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Wicked


Last night I revisited the wonderful world of Oz to watch the Wizard of Oz prequel, Wicked at the Birmingham Hippodrome. I adore this musical, this is the third time I’ve seen it but it’s been a good few years since I last saw it and every time I see it I feel a lot happier and inspired and I forget how good it is and how great the music is. 

Based off the very popular story of the Wizard of Oz, Wicked tells the story of Elphaba and Glenda who meets at University and how they go from enemies to friends and how life takes them on different paths, with Elphaba becoming the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda becoming Glinda the Good.

Amy Ross as Elphaba was incredible, she had the mannerisms and little quirks that make Elphaba Elphaba down to a T. Her voice was phenomenon especially during Wizard and I, Defying Gravity and possibly the best rendition of No Good Deed I have seen it was insane. I admit I welled up during I’m Not That Girl it was beautiful, I cannot fault her vocals or her acting she really encapsulated Elphaba and her emotions.

Helen Wolff as Glinda was interesting she definitely had the humour and silliness that is Glinda and I thoroughly enjoyed the humour she bought. I feel her vocals took a bit to get going but once she did she was really good with her high pitch singing and she nailed the funny Popular and she really complimented Amy Ross’s Elphaba. All their duets were funny and amazing really showcasing each song especially What is this Feeling? And For Good. 

My surprise package of the musical was Aaron Sidwell as Fiyero, when he was first cast I had no idea what to expect from him coming straight from Eastenders as Steven Beale. As soon as he came on he was engaging and I feel he added an extra edge to Fiyero with his mannerisms and attitude and really made Fiyero his own but was true to the character of Fiyero. He had a lot of charisma and demanded the attention when he was on stage and it honestly made me fall in love with character he was amazing. What surprised me was how strong his singing was, I loved his rendition of Dancing Through Life which is one of my favourites and also his duet with Amy Ross from As Long As Your Mine their chemistry was electric. He really portrayed Fiyero’s emotions and how he’s torn between his feelings and what’s right and wrong.

Steven Pinder was great as the Wizard and bought him to life he grabbed attention when he was on stage and has such a great voice. Helen Walsh was great as Madam Morrible and again demanded the attention when she was on stage and she really embraced the personality of Madam Morrible. Iddon Jones was adorable as the love struck Boq, he was great. Finally, Emily Shaw was also great as Elphaba’s sister Nessarose who is unfortunate to say the least. A huge mention to the ensemble in this show who really put on a show and transport you to Oz and the glitz and glamour of it all.

There wasn’t a bad song either I enjoyed them all, however I do have my favourites such as Wizard and I, Dancing Through Life, Defying Gravity, As Long As Your Mine and No Good Deed, to name a few. Another factor was the costumes they are incredible everyone’s costume was amazing. I loved Glinda’s sparkly dress, Elphaba’s black witch dress which has a lot of hidden colours that only shows up in pictures. I love all of Fiyero’s costumes as well. The Shiz uniforms are lovely wish my school uniform was that nice. I noticed a lot of quirks like little changes in songs to suit the characters and it all worked I’m glad they were able to take something original and twist it to suit them but stick to the origins. I loved it so much and as I said this show makes me so happy, I wish I could see it again. 

Also as always the Hippodrome is an amazing venue I was sat in Stalls, Row O and the view was brilliant, I saw everything that was going on. Unfortunately I didn’t get to emerge myself in anything Wicked themed they were such as cocktails but I’m sure the venue put the best effort into theming as they always do.

Wicked is on at the Birmingham Hippodrome until 29th of April and is completely sold out, so if you have tickets I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, I would watch this over and over again.

Until next time 


Stacey x
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