Review - The Age

WICKEDLY WONDERFUL VISIT TO OZ
July 14, 2008

YOU know you're not in Kansas any more when normally sane people arrive at the theatre smothered in sequins, or sporting capes and pointed hats with their faces painted green. So it was at the Melbourne gala opening of the massively successful Broadway musical Wicked.

The Australian production is well worth Ozifying yourself for. This dazzling entertainment more than justifies the hype and, thanks in large part to an outstanding cast, will doubtless compare favourably with its international counterparts.

Based on the best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked takes L. Frank Baum's much-loved land of Oz and adds a subversive backstory. Its protagonists are the Witches of Oz: Elphaba (Amanda Harrison), a socially awkward and exceptionally green girl who grows up to be the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda (Lucy Durack), a shallow princess who turns into the Good Witch of the North.

The two girls meet at school and form an unlikely friendship. They become rivals in love, vying for the affections of the dashing but feckless Fiyero (Rob Mills), and there's a romantic subplot involving the munchkin Boq (Anthony Callea) and Elphaba's disabled sister, Nessarose (Penny McNamee).But all is not well in Oz. The citizens have been incited to fear and hatred of the talking animals, and Elphaba is determined to stand up to those responsible. When she discovers that the propaganda is coming from the Wizard of Oz (Rob Guest) and his sinister agent Madame Morrible (Maggie Kirkpatrick), she sets herself against their despotic regime at grave personal cost.

Wicked is a strange reinvention of a classic fantasy that involves a clever merging of two incongruous genres: teen chick flick and disturbing political satire. Oz aficionados will find almost every loose end tied: we discover why the Wicked Witch is green, where the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion come from, and even why Dorothy's house fell from the sky.

Critical reception of the musical has been mixed, though. Stephen Schwartz's music has everything from soaring power ballads to catchy comic songs, but it overuses motifs. Riffs from previous numbers are reprised in different emotional contexts — a device that becomes too predictable. And for all its talk about moral complexity and the need to live an examined life, Wicked does succumb to a schmaltzy fairytale ending.

These flaws aren't significant, however, when every aspect of theatre craft combines to create an immersive experience.

The casting is inspired, and director Lisa Leguillou has the actors working in perfect harmony. Harrison and Durack give commanding performances. They nail the vocals. Their movement, comic delivery and timing are almost faultless, and together they possess a fantastic stage chemistry.

The Australian Idol factor also comes to the party: Mills is an appealing presence as the young romantic lead, while Callea seems born to play a munchkin. Guest and Kirkpatrick are both old hands, making charismatic villains. And the ensemble doesn't put a foot wrong.

Some of the technical wizardry is astonishing: the lighting creates the illusion of Elphaba flying high, the set design incorporates everything from the Emerald City to a huge dragon, and costumes range from flying monkeys to edgy Edwardian-inspired outfits.

Anyone with a taste for musical theatre will be spellbound.