Dancing Through Life!

My second day in London was BUSY - having seen the matinee of Everybody's Talking About Jamie, I had 2 hours before my next show started. So I hop-footed it from Shaftesbury Avenue to Victoria for some food at Ole and Steen (Carrie Hope Fletcher's suggestion - in a video, not personal!) and then for my 3rd show of the trip: a familiar one to many, many people, including myself, this having been the 3rd time I had seen the show, but the first in London, where it has been running since 2006: that show is none other than Wicked.

Now you may be thinking, it's going on tour now, so why catch Wicked when you're normally one of those people who would try to see stuff you can only see in London? Well yes, that's normally true - and I have seen the show twice before, the last being in 2015. However, I already said in my King and I review that 2 of my original choices were sold out at the time - and I remembered it was a cast change, with one cast member in particular leaving: Bradley Jaden, who played Fieyro. I first saw him (ironically on another cast change) as Enjolras in Les Mis, and he was brilliant, taking one of the smaller roles in the show into the spotlight. So yes, as sad as it sounds, I wanted to see him tackle the shallow and self-absorbed Fieyro before he left to go back to Les Mis and be possibly the fittest Javert to ever grace the Queens.

Bradley Jaden (Fieyro)

So, seeing as he was the main reason seeing the show, how was Jaden as Fieyro. Well, he nearly made me melt in my seat on his first entrance (when his ricksaw nearly runs Elphaba over), that's for sure. He's smooth and suave as you would expect, but you sense from the beginning, let alone as the show runs it course that he's also a very kind Fieyro, and like Elphaba, knows what's right - he just doesn't show it until he meets and falls for her. It's actually quite refreshing seeing a Fieyro like that. And on a side note, as it was a cast change, I of course waited outside with the groupies for the cast to sign my programme - and to take some pictures....!

As I've mentioned her a fair bit now in relation to Fieyro, let's talk about everyone's favourite green girl, Elphaba, played here by Alice Fearn. Giving a new take on Elphie I hadn't seen before, her interpreation is like a bull in a china shop. 100% impulsive, she does tries to do the right thing no matter what, never thinking about the consequences it might bring. Sometimes, she was a bit nasally vocally, especially on e sounds, but her big songs like The Wizard and I, Defying Gravity and No Good Deed still gave me chills.

Sophie Evans (Glinda)

I once saw a vlog about this cast and the girl doing it said that as Glinda, Sophie Evans was thinking a lot about her acting choices rather than just doing them, and to be honest, I think this is true to an extent - oh and you would NEVER guess she was from the Welsh Valleys with the high posh accent she was using. But she did have a great voice, being very clear when in her soprano register (such as in No One Mourns The Wicked and Thank Goodness) and her Popular was one of the best I've seen. Plus it's great to see her get a starring role after her Over The Rainbow days back in 2010 (she was my favourite to win actually).
The final person for me to mention is Melanie LaBarrie, who played Head Shiztress Madame Morrible - a very interesting cast choice indeed, but paid off really well.

Alice Fearn (Elphaba)

Though I came for the cast change, it was also an opportunity to see it at its West End home, the Apollo Victoria, a stone's throw from Victoria Station and the Victoria Palace Theatre (where Hamilton is playing). It's a big theatre, having only 2 tiers but them both going very far back. When you head into the foyer, it is completely green all over, carpet, lighting, the works! Plus, during One Short Day, the second Elphaba and Glinda arrive in the Emerald City, so do you, as the side lights around the theatre all light up green.

Look, this is Wicked, it has become one of the most popular musicals of all time; of course I am going to recommend this. To any musicals fan, to any fan of the fantasy and fairy-tale genres, whether that be from Middle Earth, Harry Potter or Disney, I would recommend it. If you're close to the tour, by all means go for it - but if you are close to London, or like me just fancy it, it is worth seeing it in the West End.