I saw Wicked in October of last year (2013) and it is one of the single most amazing musicals I have ever seen and by the end when one of the final numbers, 'Defying Gravity', began I even shed a tear. And today in this blog post will be reviewing the West End show. Just to clarify if you haven't yet seen the show and you still wish to and don't want to have the plot line or anything else spoiled for you I would not recommend reading on.
Let's begin with the props and set design. I don't think I would have enjoyed this musical as much if it weren't for the amazing set and props, I still would have enjoyed it none the less. To start with, above the stage there was a gigantic mechanical dragon of sorts that before, after and during the show moved and flapped it's wings, at first I was shocked because I hadn't expected it but it really was awesome. Along with that, the whole stage was beautifully set out, down both sides of the stage were two sets of stairs decorated with cogs as if they were part of a factory and the back wall, behind all of the back drops, is a map of the whole of the land, which I can't think of the name of. Then when it comes to props one of the main ones in the production was a green bottle which in the end became the second biggest plot twist in the whole story line, the rest of the props included things like beds in the dorms, a wheelchair and several other things simply used to set the scene. The set design and prop design team did a fantastic job on this musical and I would recommend going to see it just to see these features.
The music in the production is simply flawless, composed beautifully and sung and played almost effortlessly by the cast members. It includes songs like "Popular", "The Wizard and I" and the showstopping "Defying Gravity". Each of these songs are accompanied by an orchestra and I'm sure at some point there were soundtracks but they were virtually undetectable. Each song was such a spectacular part of the show with choreography performed wonderfully and they all contributed largely to why I love the show so much.
When it comes to the cast of the show they couldn't have chosen better. Firstly there's Louise Dearman who plays Elphaba (or Elphie) also known as the wicked witch of the west in the original 'The wizard of oz'. She is the key singer in the song "Defying Gravity". The actress is throughout the show painted green and first appears wearing glasses with a school style uniform on and as the plot line progresses she is given a hat in the style of a stereotypical 'witches hat'. It isn't until the character of Elphaba grows up that she is shown in the black gown associated with a witch. Another of the characters, Glinda also known as the good witch of the north, is played by Gina Beck. The main song sung by the character Glinda is "Popular" which has to be one of my favourite numbers, the character is first depicted in clothing that is more of a pretty and slightly eccentric fashion and she
continues to have that same style throughout the show, her hair always in a state o perfect curls. The final of the character that I would consider to be the main characters is Fiyero played by Ben Freeman, who is a tall well built man playing a character that begins as the jock type and ends as a more affectionate type. His main song include "Dancing through life" partly sung with Glinda I think and "As long as your mine" sung with Elphaba I think. Some of the slightly less main characters but still not minor character are the Wizard, played by Keith Bartlett, Madame Morrible, played by Harriet Thorpe, Doctor Dillamond, played by Christopher Howell, Boq, played by Sam Lupton and Nessarose, played by Katie Rowley Jones.
Lastly here's a short outline of the plotline. The story begins with a couple who have a child, and when the child is born they are shocked to find that the child is green in colour, Elphaba. The child is later found out to have powers that she is taught not to use, but when she goes to school and the school finds out about them she is given special treatment and makes an enemy of a girl called Glinda. Glinda then gets a crush on Fiyero who doesn't seem to care about school and at one of the school dances Glinda, with a plan to humiliate Elphaba gives her the witches hat. At the dance Glinda and Elphaba somehow become friends and it turns out Fiyero is friends with Elphaba too as he helps her rescue a lion cub. Elphaba gets to meet the Wizard at one point and finds out that the Wizard has been turning talking animals back into their animal form and uses Elphaba's powers to turn a group of monkeys into flying monkeys. Strongly against this kind of cruelty she runs away with a magical spell book and Fiyero runs away with her. Long story short the wicked story joins onto the wizard of oz story as in the end the bucket of water is thrown onto the witch and she "melts" when actually all that happens is that she sinks into the ground. That is all I will say as the plotline is quite thick and complicated but still amazing.
To conclude, I would rate this show 5 stars as it is one of my favourite shows ever.
Since this is my first blog post I'm going to take this small paragraph to talk about me, I'm Brodie, I'm 14 and I like Musicals, Books, TV shows, Youtubers and movies along with art and writing too. On Sunday (and every sunday for that matter) I will be posting my outfit of the week, which will be my favourite outfit from that week and on Tuesday I will be posting anything I like (this tuesday's will probably be an all about me) and then every Friday I will be posting a review.
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When it comes to the cast of the show they couldn't have chosen better. Firstly there's Louise Dearman who plays Elphaba (or Elphie) also known as the wicked witch of the west in the original 'The wizard of oz'. She is the key singer in the song "Defying Gravity". The actress is throughout the show painted green and first appears wearing glasses with a school style uniform on and as the plot line progresses she is given a hat in the style of a stereotypical 'witches hat'. It isn't until the character of Elphaba grows up that she is shown in the black gown associated with a witch. Another of the characters, Glinda also known as the good witch of the north, is played by Gina Beck. The main song sung by the character Glinda is "Popular" which has to be one of my favourite numbers, the character is first depicted in clothing that is more of a pretty and slightly eccentric fashion and she continues to have that same style throughout the show, her hair always in a state o perfect curls. The final of the character that I would consider to be the main characters is Fiyero played by Ben Freeman, who is a tall well built man playing a character that begins as the jock type and ends as a more affectionate type. His main song include "Dancing through life" partly sung with Glinda I think and "As long as your mine" sung with Elphaba I think. Some of the slightly less main characters but still not minor character are the Wizard, played by Keith Bartlett, Madame Morrible, played by Harriet Thorpe, Doctor Dillamond, played by Christopher Howell, Boq, played by Sam Lupton and Nessarose, played by Katie Rowley Jones.Lastly here's a short outline of the plotline. The story begins with a couple who have a child, and when the child is born they are shocked to find that the child is green in colour, Elphaba. The child is later found out to have powers that she is taught not to use, but when she goes to school and the school finds out about them she is given special treatment and makes an enemy of a girl called Glinda. Glinda then gets a crush on Fiyero who doesn't seem to care about school and at one of the school dances Glinda, with a plan to humiliate Elphaba gives her the witches hat. At the dance Glinda and Elphaba somehow become friends and it turns out Fiyero is friends with Elphaba too as he helps her rescue a lion cub. Elphaba gets to meet the Wizard at one point and finds out that the Wizard has been turning talking animals back into their animal form and uses Elphaba's powers to turn a group of monkeys into flying monkeys. Strongly against this kind of cruelty she runs away with a magical spell book and Fiyero runs away with her. Long story short the wicked story joins onto the wizard of oz story as in the end the bucket of water is thrown onto the witch and she "melts" when actually all that happens is that she sinks into the ground. That is all I will say as the plotline is quite thick and complicated but still amazing.
To conclude, I would rate this show 5 stars as it is one of my favourite shows ever.
Since this is my first blog post I'm going to take this small paragraph to talk about me, I'm Brodie, I'm 14 and I like Musicals, Books, TV shows, Youtubers and movies along with art and writing too. On Sunday (and every sunday for that matter) I will be posting my outfit of the week, which will be my favourite outfit from that week and on Tuesday I will be posting anything I like (this tuesday's will probably be an all about me) and then every Friday I will be posting a review.
twitter.com/oopsikickedpj
oopsikickedpj.tumblr.com
instagram.com/oopsikickedpj
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