Wicked - Apollo Victoria Theatre

SYNOPSIS

Wicked

With the tagline "So much happened before Dorothy dropped in", you just know that you're in for the ride of your life with the hit musical Wicked. Audiences are transported into a fantasy world of witches and wizards, where the spellbinding story of the Witches of Oz unfold in a time before Dorothy famously dropped in from Kansas. It is an unforgettable show laced with drama and intrigue, and some wonderful music numbers that will leave you crying out for more.

Background to Wicked

Wicked was conceived in 1996 by American composer and lyricist, Stephen Schwartz. He drew inspiration for the musical from Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. The novel tells the story of Elphaba, a green-skinned girl in the Land of Oz, and her rise to become the evil Wicked Witch of the West.

Since its 2003 launch on Broadway Wicked has become an international hit. It has broken box office records in the United States several times, and has won a number of prestigious Tony Awards. The show came to London's West End in September 2006. It debuted at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, where it can be seen today.

Welcome to the Land of Oz!

In the stage adaptation Stephen Schwartz focuses on the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda (the Good Witch), and how the pursuit of their differing aims - and a common love interest - effects their relationship.

The show begins with Glinda's descent on to the stage in a shimmering bubble. She announces to the people in the Land of Oz that the Wicked Witch of the West is dead. She then recounts the story of Elphaba and her rise from the misunderstood girl she was to the wicked witch that she became.

It is a roller coaster ride for the audience, who see Glinda (Galinda) and Elphaba develop a loathing of each other as roommates at school. Elphaba is the one who is 'magically gifted', and recognised as such by the school, much to Glinda's annoyance. But out of loathing a friendship develops, and when Elphaba is summoned to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard, Glinda accompanies her.

But all is not what is seems! The Wizard uses Elphaba and her magic powers for his own gain, and realising she has been tricked runs away with a book of spells. She asks Glinda to run with her, but Glinda refuses, and so Elphaba escapes the Emerald City on a broomstick as Madame Morrible, who is in league with the Wizard, declares Elphaba to be a wicked witch.

Years pass and Glinda, whose affections for Fiyero lead to an engagement announcement, sides with the ruling Government of Oz, while Elphaba and her sister Nessa (the Wicked Witch of the East) become ever more wicked. But Fiyero is besotted with Elphaba, and when he hears that she has been captured by the Wizard's guards, comes to rescue her. They then fall in love.

Fiyero is captured by the Wizard's guards and tortured until he gives up the location of Elphaba. On hearing the news Elphaba concedes defeat to Glinda, who arrives before the Wizard's guards in a bid to release the captured Dorothy from Elphaba.

Elphaba then disappears with a shriek and a cloud of smoke at the hands of orothy. Glinda believes her dead, but in a final twist we see Elphaba has fallen through a trapdoor. She is reunited with Fiyero, and they escape for good never to return, and never to tell Glinda that they are both alive!
 

"A wicked and wonderful vision of Oz. A remarkable kaleidoscope of magical shocks, surprises and sensations - Wicked works like a dream."
Nicholas de Jongh, Evening Standard