I was lucky enough to find last minute tickets to see Wicked this week and it was so good that I just had to blog about it! I first heard about the tour AGES ago and was very keen to see it as tickets were very expensive when I was in London. I forgot about it and when posts on Facebook starting creeping up about people going, I decided to look in to it again and managed to snag some tickets!
Now in all honestly, I did not really know much about Wicked. I knew that it was the prequel to the Wizard of Oz based on the two witches etc and after some googling, I learned a little more. I enjoyed the show more I think as the story progression was unexpected. If like me you're not too familiar with Wicked, it's focussed on the Wicked Witch and the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz who meet at a sorcery school and become unlikely friends. It then follows the pair as Elphaba (The Wicked Witch of the West) discovers her powers and ultimately becomes 'wicked'. It's a lovely story of friendship and how we perceive people.
I got our tickets three weeks or so before the show so the seats themselves were not brilliant. They were balcony seats which were very high but soon as I sit down, I'm fine with heights. For the money, the tickets were great as they let me see the show I otherwise would have missed out on. We were not that far from the front but being slightly to the side, our view was very restricted when they went to the front corner of the stage. The dragon prop at the top of the stage also restricted the view and quoting the lady next to us 'I couldn't even see her Defy Gravity!'.
The show itself was absolutely fantastic. It was such a high quality production to be performed outside of London. I've been to the West End and I would say it was just as good if not better than what I saw there. The performances though were the absolute highlight for me, particularly the leads. Emily Tierney played Glinda who was so brilliantly annoying that she was very likeable. Jacqueline Hughes however, was absolutely phenomenal as Elphaba. I have never heard such a powerful vocal live and her renditions 'The Wizard and I' and 'Defying Gravity' really showcased her talent. I didn't realise that she was the standby Elphaba until after the show so I really don't know how the principal can be any better!
I expected to enjoy the show but I really loved it. I think the brilliant performances made such a difference for me as they really absorbed you into the story. I will need to get listening to the soundtrack now!
Have you been to see Wicked before? I would love to hear from you if you have as every production is a different experience!
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