The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureTheatre

Wicked at the Apollo Theatre

Wicked at the Apollo Theatre | Theatre review
9 July 2013
Niki Shakallis
Avatar
Niki Shakallis
9 July 2013

As the wonderful Wizard of Oz in the musical Wicked so aptly explains: “The truth is not a thing of fact or reason, the truth is a thing everyone agrees on”, and in view of a sold-out theatre on a scorching Monday night, filled with new visitors and scores of die-hard fans who keep returning, the truth is that the show is fast becoming as timeless as the original story upon which it draws its inspiration.

A prequel to L. Frank Baum’s classic book The Wizard of Oz, the narrative is based upon a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire, offering a surprising backstory for two of fiction’s most recognisable characters: the witches of Oz.

At the heart of the tale is an unlikely friendship between two young sorcery students who experience familiar growing pains during their time at university: insecurity, self-doubt, broken hearts and misplaced trust. Set within a dictatorial regime in a vivid, yet very different version of the Oz we have come to know, their journey is an epic, poignant adventure driven by an incredible soundtrack, particularly the soaring Defying Gravity, which is flawlessly performed by Louise Dearman as Elphaba, the green-skinned Wicked Witch of the West.

Matching Dearman chord for chord is Gina Beck, who stars as Glinda, the Good Witch. The self-absorbed character provides a comical edge to the narrative’s sombre themes, ensuring an uplifting experience for the audience. However, if it were merely left to humour and vocal acrobatics to carry the show, Wicked, like many other musicals before it, could quickly grow stale. It’s the clever interweaving of established players, including the Wicked Witch of the East (Katie Rowley Jones) and the Wizard (Keith Bartlett), with fresh faces such as Fiyero (Ben Freeman), Madame Morrible (Harriet Thorpe) and the beleaguered Munchkin Boq (Sam Lupton), that reinvents Oz as a fascinating new place for exploration all over again. Therein lies the real allure of Wicked, turning the familiar on its head to create something new, yet relatable.

With breathtaking sets and extraordinary costumes added to a mesmerising cast, beautiful songs and endearing new characters, the magic that weaves together this spellbinding tale is exceedingly rare and unlikely to wane anytime soon. Wicked, it seems, is simply too good.

★★★★★

Niki Shakallis 

Wicked is at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. For further information or to book visit the show’s website here.

Watch a trailer for Wicked here:

Related Itemsreview

More in Theatre

Evelyn at Southwark Playhouse

★★★★★
Jim Compton-Hall
Read More

Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World at Theatre Royal Stratford East

★★★★★
Natallia Pearmain
Read More

King Lear at Shakespeare’s Globe

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More

This Is Not Who I Am/Rapture at the Royal Court Theatre

★★★★★
Jessica Wall
Read More

“Flamenco is a race where there is no end – you never stop learning”: An interview with Manuel Liñán on ¡Viva! at the Sadler’s Wells Flamenco Festival 2022

Jessica Wall
Read More

Jitney at the Old Vic

★★★★★
Jonathan Marshall
Read More

“The fact a play as relevant as Jitney is not known outside of the US is criminal”: An interview with Sule Rimi on starring in August Wilson’s Jitney at the Old Vic

Jonathan Marshall
Read More

The Car Man at the Royal Albert Hall

★★★★★
Jim Compton-Hall
Read More

Ben Delacreme Is… Ready to Be Committed at Leicester Square Theatre

★★★★★
Jonathan Marshall
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Theatre review

Niki Shakallis

Wicked

★★★★★
BUY TICKETS

Links & directions

FacebookWebsiteMap

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Ed Sheeran at Wembley Stadium
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Eagles bring a nostalgia-laden evening to the BST Festival in Hyde Park
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • 50 Next: London chef Santiago Lastra recognised in Bilbao as one of the 50 young people shaping the future of gastronomy
    Food & Drinks
  • Only Murders in the Building: Season Two
    ★★★★★
    disney
  • Tigers
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Chelsea Flower Show 2022: Greenery and wellbeing
    Fashion & Lifestyle
  • Minions: The Rise of Gru
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • The Baby
    ★★★★★
    sky
  • Nitram
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • The Rollings Stones give Glasto a run for its money at BST Festival in Hyde Park
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Minions: The Rise of Gru
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • The Rollings Stones give Glasto a run for its money at BST Festival in Hyde Park
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • “He used to spit at the audience, roll on the ground, he did, in fact, hump that plastic dog – he was the original punk rocker”: Baz Luhrman, Tom Hanks, Austin Butler, Olivia DeJonge and Alton Mason on Elvis
    Cinema & Tv
  • Eagles bring a nostalgia-laden evening to the BST Festival in Hyde Park
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Ed Sheeran at Wembley Stadium
    ★★★★★
    Live music
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Luke Jermay: Sixth Sense at Leicester Square | Theatre review
The World’s End | Movie review