If you haven’t yet seen the Australian production of Wicked, you still have up to this weekend to do so. It’s a must-watch, with the production matching the buzz surrounding it.
Based on a book written by Gregory Maguire, Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz offers a back story of the witches, scarecrow and tin man in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The witches — Glinda the Good and Elphaba the Wicked — are the lead characters here, not Dorothy, thus giving the musical a refreshing point of view.
Written by Stephan Schwartz, the musical is fresh and fantastic, with well-arranged songs like “Defying Gravity,” “Popular” and “I’m not that Girl” leaving an imprint on those who’ve seen the play in Broadway, or those who traveled to Singapore when it showed there two years ago.
I have seen both and this is what I can say about the Manila production: It’s brilliant, and then some.
On the night that Coconuts Manila caught the play, Suzie Mathers and Jemima Rix played Glinda and Elphaba respectively, and, to borrow a phrase from one of the songs, “we couldn’t be happier.” They were so good, hitting all the right notes with such aplomb and power you can’t help but be blown away.
Hats off to Mathers for being such a likeable Glinda (sorry, we’re not very fond of perky blonds here). While “Popular” was her money shot, we she had us at “Thank Goodness,” whence she completely owned the stage.
Rix, meanwhile, hit all the high notes with such intensity and power, you think it was all just recorded. How the first act ended is nothing short of brilliant. Yes, all good words here, we must say.
The set design, the costumes, and the makeup were all aces, as the live band, but there’s yet another element that makes Wicked in Manila such a joy, and that is the CCP stage. Granted it’s not all that big, but size doesn’t really matter here because the compact stage proved just right given the size of the cast and the set. Plus, the audio is beautiful, making it the perfect venue for all of Wicked’s magic.
Wicked runs until Mar 9 at CCP. Get your tickets at ticketworld.com.ph
