Wicked blows into town from the land of Oz

Wicked
Civic Theatre
Auckland
From September 21

International Broadway musical blockbuster Wicked will be blowing into New Zealand later in the year.

Now in its 10th year on Broadway, the show has grossed more than $US2.9 billion and been seen by nearly 36 million people worldwide.

Since opening at the Gershwin Theatre on Broadway in October 2003, Wicked has regularly broken box office records, consistently grossing more than $US1.8 million a week. In the seven days between Christmas and New Year 2012 it took $2.95 million, the highest grossing week in Broadway history.

In London, it had the highest weekly gross in West End history – a record Wicked also holds on Broadway, as well as a North American weekly touring record in the US and Canada – and in Tokyo and Stuttgart, where it also set new box office records.

During its three-year tour across the Tasman, the show was seen by more than 1.5 million people – one in 20 Australians.

The show features music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Academy Award winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and Winnie Holzman (My So Called Life, Once And Again and thirtysomething), and is based on the best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire.

Wicked takes us back to a time long before Dorothy was whisked away from Kansas when two other girls meet in the Land of Oz.

One, born with emerald-green skin, is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. These two unlikely friends end up as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good.

National Business Review commented on the Melbourne season: “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 storyline there are also interesting and convoluted love interests as well as social and political intrigue which can be interpreted as having contemporary relevance to the 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).

Subtlety and complexity

But it is Harrison who stands out in a role 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 it when she first goes to university after enrolling in the sorcery course but we realise she will use her powers for good.

Her singing of The Wizard and I was rticulated clearly and it allowed her to set out her vision with a tight, emotional presentation.

Glinda, the goody two shoes of the film, is a self-obsessed character with occasional bouts of being a smarty. But she can certainly sing, with Lucy Durack giving her an effervescent personality with 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 (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 Dr Dillamond (Rodney Dobson) when one of the students complains: “Why don't you teach us about history instead of going on about the past?”

It is shortly after that scene that we get some intimation about something socially and politically amiss, with the clever Something Bad is Happening in Oz.

The Wizard is stylishly performed by Rob Guest. They Called Me Wonderful, a song about moral ambiguities, is a good old-fashioned solo dance number which he carries off with panache.

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 just keep coming, 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.

Tickets for Wicked will be available from Monday, April 8, at 9am at buytickets.co.nz or phone 0800 BUY TICKETS (0800 289 842) or ticketmaster.co.nz (09 970 9700).

For groups of 12 or more, call 09 357 3360 and for premium packages visit showbiznz.co.nz.