The Wicked and I...

Wicked: The Untold True Stories of the Witches of Oz has had its run of Melbourne and for some, is a nostalgic ode to theatre past, By Genevieve Spiteri.

In 2014, I saw my first ever professional musical, Wicked.

Ten years later, the witches landed again in Melbourne, so I just had to see it.

Genevieve and her father ten years ago at Wicked (left); "Watching it live for a second time brought me so much nostalgia..." photo: Genevieve Spiteri.

Watching it live for the second time brought me so much nostalgia and reignited my love for this wonderful musical.

The cast was brilliant! While I hadn’t heard of any of the cast members before, the vast majority completely outdid themselves with their performances. A standout performance for me was Simon Burke, who portrayed The Wizard. In particular, his characterisation and vocals of The Wizard were fantastic. (He even made me enjoy Sentimental Man, my least favourite number in the show).

Photo: Jeff Busby

The only actor I didn’t like the performance of was Shewit Belay, who played Nessa. In my opinion, the contrast in tone from Act One to Act Two should be stark and noticeable straight away, while Belay’s performance continued the same, exaggerated, over-the-top acting from Act One which set the wrong tone for the rest of the act.

Both the vocal performances and the orchestration were excellent, especially with the vocal talent of Sheridan Adams (Elphaba) and Courtney Monsma.

I really liked the arrangements, even though they were quite subtle, they supported the performers to meet their capabilities. I’ve already mentioned Burke’s performance, and the sheer talent of Adams and Monsma cannot be overstated, but special guest star Ainsley Melham’s performance as Fiyero was also splendiferous.

The ensemble was amazing overall, their acting, dancing and vocals were perfect, the ensemble for Wicked is generally tricky, as the direction is often quite demanding, being in most scenes, but their performances were seamless and quite spot-on. Especially the members of the cast who were the flying monkeys; They were such a delight to watch chaotically fly around the stage.

The apron of the stage was well put together, but I did have some problems with the actual staging during the show.

While it worked overall, the stage was mostly kept empty with only one or two set pieces in the background.

This set-up is generally good and effective for a minimalist show, but Wicked requires the sets to be as extravagant as the front of the house, the costumes and the performances.

I was also particularly disappointed with the dorm set, as it was quite lacklustre. They also didn’t bring it on for What is This Feeling? which meant that the scene felt empty and like they were singing in a void. Most musicals try to avoid this unless they are making a point about a big, emotional moment, which What is This Feeling? isn’t.

When I saw Wicked for the first time, there was a technical malfunction and Elphaba didn’t fly. The song that played during this effect is Defying Gravity, and this moment was my favourite in this production. It was amazing to see this effect in person; videos just cannot do it justice.

My favourite moments:

• Defying Gravity. Adams’ performance was amazing, not only did she hit all the notes and do them well, but she also adapted it to suit her voice and style perfectly.

• Sentimental Man. I never like this song, but Simon Burke’s performance made me fall in love with it and cemented his characterisation of The Wizard.

• For Good. Aways makes me cry, this performance was no exception.

My least favourite moments:

• Dancing Through Life. It was fine, but the costumes really let it down. The dancing was good, but not a standout.

• The train station scene. It was quite weird and awkward, which it’s supposed to be, but felt like it dragged on for too long and that disrupted the pacing of the first act.

Wicked has ended its Melbourne run and will premiere in Brisbane on September 12.