Can you believe that Wicked the Musical has been Defying Gravity for twenty years?
Well, here’s the truth — when I first saw it, many years ago, I found it exciting, colourful, creative and inspiring… a story of friendship and a close bond between two opposites.
I went on to tell others what a fantastic piece of escapism it was, with an imaginative storyline that was quite different from what I had expected — encouraging others to go and make up their own minds.
It was some months later when I ran into a friend who immediately said to me:
“I took your advice. I booked to see Wicked, but we went to see it in the West End. It was everything you described and more — especially when Elphaba flew. I wasn’t expecting that, because you didn’t mention it.”
My smile dropped. I stood silent and couldn’t believe my ears.
“What?” She said? “Elphaba didn’t fly in the performance I went to see.”
And we both laughed out loud — but I felt seriously short-changed, because that most definitely would have made it even more of an experience.
I guess this is what happens when you’re one of the first to see a touring production — and it reinforces the fact that as theatre, special effects and performances evolve, like everything else… a production can just continue to get better at telling a great story.
So, it’s no surprise that as soon as the opportunity came around, I booked to see Wicked again…
And Elphaba most definitely flew! I’m not sure what was fuelling that broomstick, but Elphaba most definitely flew — and I loved it even more!
The moral of the story… Just because you’ve seen a stage performance once doesn’t mean to say it will be the same the second time around.
Different characters, different actors and actresses, different costumes, stage sets, lighting — and, most importantly, special effects!
So, just when I thought I had seen Wicked the Musical, I saw a whole lot more the second time around!