Wicked - review

WICKED

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples
Friday July 18 2008

Wicked written by Stephen Schwartz &Winnie Holzman
based on the novel by Gregory Maguire from the original ideas of Frank Baum

Regent Theatre Melbourne
Premier performance July 12
Until some time in the future

You may have always been troubled by some of the great questions of the age which were thrown up by the film The Wizard of Oz, such as why the tin man didn’t have a heart, why the lion needed to get some courage and why the scarecrow needed to get a brain.These questions and a few other even more important ones are answered in the new musical Wicked which opened last week in Melbourne.

The story is set in the Land of Oz and covers a period of probably ten years before Dorothy arrived in her house killing the Witch of the East.We get to find out why there were two witches and why they were regarded as wicked. This is revisionist history however so your beliefs in the invented world of Frank Baum will be shattered a little.For instance when we left the Wizard of Oz last time he was a benign recluse who had to pretend to be an oppressive dictator. In Wicked he is a bit more of an ambivalent character, psychologically flawed, addicted to controlling.

While there is a great story line there are also interesting and convoluted love interests and well as social and political intrigue which can be interpreted as having contemporary relevance with oppression of indigenous minorities (Munchkins) and a lot of political obfuscation.

The two stars of the shows are Amanda Harrison singing the role of the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba and Lucy Durack as Glinda (formerly known as the Good Witch of the North).But it is Amanda Harrison who stands out in a role which is full of subtlety and complexity.

Born of an illicit love affair she is stained green as though suffering because of her mother’s folly. She must redeem herself before she can be made free.The role has a bit of the Harry Potters about her when she first goes to University enrolling in the sorcery course but we realize she will use her powers for good.In her singing The Wizard and I she really articulated clearly and it allowed her to set out her vision with a tight emotional presentation.

Glinda, the goody two shoes of the film becomes is a self obsessed character with occasional bouts of being smart. But she can certainly sing with Lucy Durack giving her an effervescent personality and a rich soaring voice to match. She even manages a perceptive sensitivity in her Act I song Why Does Wickedness Happen.

The grammatically challenged Madame Morribile sung by Maggie Kirkpatrick gives an over the top performance with a thunderous, well crafted voice.

There are some genuinely witty passages notably in the history class conducted by Doctor Dillamond (Rodney Dobson) when one of the students complains saying “Why don't you teach us about history instead of going on about the past.”

It’s shortly after that scene we get some intimations about something socially and politically amiss in Oz with the clever Something Bad is Happening in Oz The Wizard is stylishly performed by Rob Guest with his They Called Me Wonderful, a song about moral ambiguities is a good old fashioned solo dance number which he carries off with panache.

Rob Mills as the lover boy Fiyero and Scarecrow puts on a well measured performance as does Anthony Callea as Boq and the Tin Man.The other witch, Nessarose, Elphaba’s sister is sung by Penny McNamee who brilliantly manages the change from nice to nasty.

The set designed by Eugene Lee is huge and has a machine / clockwork theme which probably alludes to notions of time and history as well as the machinations of the bureaucracy.The special effects are masterful and keep coming along with fabulous costumes and props. There is even a huge, occasionally smoke breathing dragon looming out over the audience.The flying monkeys are a brilliant touch and the chorus does a particularly vibrant account of the citizens of Oz dressed as though they have just come from the Ascot scene from My Fair Lady, only done in green Wicked follows in the wake of several block buster musicals in Australia and New Zealand but this one has a twist to it.

The producers envisage that it will be in Melbourne for at twelve to eighteen months and it will not be transferring to Sydney or Brisbane.The various Victorian local and state agencies are using the show to promote Melbourne as a tourist destination. Even the ANZ bank is getting a good run with the show labeling themselves “The Official Bank of Oz”.

The producers have already spent A$12.5 million and sold over A$10 million worth of seats. In line with their expectations 27 per cent of the ticket sales have been from outside the greater Melbourne area.The musical has been very successful wherever it has been performed and is currently being performed in eight centres world wide and has been seen by 13 million people world wide grossing more then $1 billion Wicked co-producer John Frost says that they have found they have created an extra market because it is viewed as 4 – 6 ticket shows with more than just couples buying seats as happens with shows like Phantom.

The Premier John Brumby is also enthusiastic saying that Wicked was part of the Victorian Government’s strategy to make visiting Melbourne in winter attractive to visitors. “These shows help draw a steady flow of interstate and international visitors during the quieter months, ensuring that the hotels are occupied but also providing visitors with new experiences.“Our domestic tourism rose by an impressive 5.5 per cent to 6.7 million visitors while tourism across the country only rose 1.7 per cent.”We even outperformed Sydney with domestic overnights visitors spending $135 million more in Melbourne.”

John Daly-Peoples traveled to Melbourne courtesy of Tourism Victoria, Qantas and Sofitel Melbourne.http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/wicked-33162