WICKED REVIEW & WICKED DAY IN HALF TERM – 30TH OCTOBER

We were invited to see the musical WICKED last night, the “hit musical with brains, heart & courage” at London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre and had a great night out. Speaking as someone who can’t quite cope with musicals in general we all had a great time. It was very funny with lots of action – we were given the best seats in the house and could therefore enjoy the very slick show, with it’s amazing songs sung by some very talented actors with brilliant voices – it is clearly hugely popular – the American woman sitting next to me sang along to everything and virtually knew all the words. Whilst we were waiting for it to start and looking at a large map on the stage of “Oz Land” I heard her say to her boyfriend “shall I just talk to myself then?” and so he tried very hard to make encouraging noises as she proceeded to discuss how they must have walked from Emerald City to Munchkinland via Wynkie Country…..

I can’t believe I didn’t even know much about the story – it’s certainly a very clever take on the Wizard Of Oz with lots of amusing moments relating to the original story. Lots of strong life messages about not playing by the rules of someone else’s game and trusting your instincts and standing up for what you believe in and how love is blind (or certainly in the eye of the beholder) and all of that stuff that I love….

When we got back last night I emailed my friend Megan Castran in Melbourne to let her know we’d been and to ask her about her experiences – I knew she was a huge fan – but I didn’t know that she has now seen it 22 TIMES!!!!!

Here is her email response. You should check out her Youtube videos, they’re very good and she’s had LOADS of hits on them:-

“OK – I first saw WICKED in NYC because my daughter loved the Wizard of Oz. We saw the original cast which was AMAZING and went backstage etc as back then you could pay to do that.

When it was coming to Australia I asked if I could make a backstage video and they said yes… sadly one of the cast – Rob Guest who played the Wizard died suddenly and all of a sudden my You tube correspondent role developed!!!

I have seen it 22 times all over the world, NYC, Chicago, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Stuttgart, London.

I have also been backstage on Broadway and made videos AND met Stephen Schwartz who wrote it…had breakfast with him…and then drinks in Chicago!!!

It has just closed in Oz and I went to closing night…it’s gone to Singapore on tour..”

Good grief. That is an impressive passion.

Anyway, having been desperate for half term activities we have also invited to attend their sixth annual WICKED Day, a free afternoon of family fun that celebrates the award-winning production and all things Wicked. This year the event is being held on Sunday 30th October between 12 noon and 4pm at the London Film Museum, County Hall, situated on the South Bank. For the second consecutive year, proceeds raised will be donated to The Woodland Trust’s “More Trees More Good” Heartwood Forest Appeal, planting England’s largest new continuous native forest near St Albans.

Inspired by the magical school within the show itself, WICKED Day will this year feature a host of WICKED and Halloween-themed events based around Shiz University Class of 2011. Throughout the day families can expect activities for people of all ages including: Monkey Workshops, a Storytelling Classroom in association with the production’s WICKED Young Writers’ Award, SHIZ Karaoke, Face Painting and Galinda-fying Parlours, interactive SHIZ Playground area, plus roaming magicians, cast performances and more! Sounds brilliant – maybe see you there!!