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“Absolutely Outstaning - humerous, entertaining and fun!”

Written on: 22/03/2012

Whilst visiting the city of New York on February 16th, I watched the Broadway Company’s version of the prequel to the Wizard of Oz. The show was called Wicked; the lead character, the witch (Elphaba), is played by Donna Vivino.
Donna Vivino is an actress who has played roles in the Broadway productions of: Hairspray, Martin Short: Fame Becomes me, Saturday Night Fever, and the original Young Cosette in Les Miserbles. She was a fantastic actress.
The play is not in chronological order as it opens with Glinda, a princess (played by Chandra Lee Schwartz), telling her friends on how the witch was killed, and how bad she thought the witch was. Then someone accuses Glinda of befriending the witch. After that, we flash back to how the witch and Glinda meet, and how they became friends. This loved-up story is a play you cannot afford to miss.
Going through their school days is the first flashback moment. When Elphaba, born green, is sent to private school to look after her sister, who Elphaba’s family love more, she is forced to share a room with Glinda. They hate each other at first instance, and through insults at each other, like “blonde” (inferring Glinda is stupid) and “green.” When the handsome prince arrives, Glinda throws herself at him. But little does she know, he is in love with Elphaba (the witch) after they release captive animals together. Their teacher, an animal, is sacked, and is forced into captivity as well, which causes tension in the school – Elphaba is outraged. Elphaba is then offered to see the wizard, after the head teacher notices her ability to read spells. She sees this wizard, who is portrayed, firstly, as a wonderful character. But, the wizard is evil – And tricks Elphaba into reading a spell which changes the world. She goes into exile. At the end of the play, we see Elphaba fake her death in able to run off with the prince.
I thoroughly enjoyed the event. It was a fantastic play with only one or two noticeable errors – this was when Glinda throws a witch’s hat to Elphaba, who dropped it. Apart from that, it was error-free and I wanted to see it again. It was humorous, and serious and something for everybody to enjoy.