Theatre Review - Wicked at The Apollo Victoria, London

A few weeks ago Daddy and I headed to London for the day. We got the 6:45am train and was in London by 9am. I had booked us tickets to see Wicked at the The Apollo Victoria. It’s not a musical I had wanted to see before but Daddy really liked the sound of it so I booked them for Father’s Day.

When we arrived at the theatre for the matinee performance I was overwhelmed with how pretty it looked inside. Everything was lit up in emerald and once we got inside, the seats were emerald too. 

This was after the show - thats why there are so many empty seats.

The stage had a map of Oz on the stage curtain and there was a huge dragon suspended from the ceiling. The auditorium was full, I didn't see one empty seat. I started to get excited once the lights went down and knew this was going to be something special. 

The show begins with the people of Oz singing a song about how the wicked witch is dead. Glinda the good drifts down on a bubble and rejoices with the people as they sang and danced. 

We quickly find out that Glinda and Elphaba (The wicked witch) knew each other and at that point the story turns in to a flashback. The remainder of the show tells the story of when Glinda and Elphaba first met at university. 

Before Elphaba took to the stage the atmosphere changed in the auditorium. I can only guess that most people had seen the show before as the crowd cheered before she even made an appearance. 

From that moment I was blown away. I have never felt so emotional in a musical before. The story follows Glinda and Elphaba as they meet, become room mates and then best friends. 

The chemistry between the two was amazing and the whole story was so believable. The actress who played Elphaba is probably one of the best singers I have ever seen in a stage show. 

When it got to the interval I was in tears. The scene before the break was so powerful and without giving away any spoilers has one of my favourite songs from a musical ever. When the lights up I had to hide my face because the tears were streaming down my face, I was so embarrassed but I guess that just shows how amazing the show had been so far.

I knew the second half of the show wouldn't be as strong as the first, and I was right. I always think the second half of shows are never as good as the first. It was still fantastic though and the whole 2 and a half hours (or maybe slightly more) flew by. Not once did I think it was dragging or there were pointless scenes to fill the time.

The cast that we saw performed their last performance of the show that day. They were invited to do it to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the show.  I read that Willemijn Verkaik‏ who played Elphaba has played the part over 2,000 times..wow. I am so happy I got to see her as she was amazing and from the reviews I have read she is one of the best Elphaba's ever.

Wicked is coming to the North West in 2018 and I am tempted to buy tickets but sometimes the UK Tour versions of the shows are just not as good as seeing them in the West End.

Michelle