Just back from first London "Wicked" preview..........

[leeinlondon]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 6:25pm

The show was amazingly well received tonight... a very loud and appreciative audience were with it every step.

The first act was stopped a minute or two in when Glinda's bubble would not come on stage... there were crys of "here's Glinda" and then the cast starred at an empty space till the curtain came down for a few minutes.

They started the show right from the beginning and everything went smoothly this time.

Idina got a HUGE reception from the audience, they went crazy when she came on stage.

Of the new cast I was only disappointed in Adam Garcia who at the moment plays Fiyero like a Prince form Into the Woods... why either girl would want him is a mystery... he sings well but is rather unlikeable.

Everyone uses English accents except Boq has a Scottish accent, Idina has her usual Elphaba accent and the Wizard is played fantastically with an American accent by Nigel Planer who has never been this impressive on stage before in my opinion.

Helen Dallimore.. well it takes a while to get used to her strong voiced Glinda... she is not the air head valley girl that Kritin portrayed... she is English and posh... lets see how she comes along.. she lost some of the laughs but generally I am sure she will make the part her own... her Popular sounded very different from Kristen for example.

The show is more or less exactly the same as Broadway with one or two words changed, Glinda says they were at "uni" together (university) rather than college for example.

All in all they must have been blown away by the full standing ovation right to the back of the circle. Idina was jumping up and down as the curtain finally came down looking thrilled with the cheers !!

It will run forever.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 6:28pm

Thanks for the review. I hope this show gets recorded. My NY ass isn't getting to London that soon.

[Candleshoe2]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 6:33pm

Thanks for the review! How were the sets and lighting? Any major changes or pretty identical to Broadway? I saw some photos of the set, but it wasn't lit, so it was difficult to tell how different it was!

Also, how was the Madame Morrible? She looked like she would have an interesting take on the role!

[joshy]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 6:37pm

Woo, thanks for the report! Excited to see it next weekend.

But...
It will run forever.
god, I hope not!

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 6:38pm

im glad it was well-recieved
this is sure to be a hit over there in the West End!
:)
and yes, i also hope for a cast recording...
but nice review!

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 6:43pm

Thanks!

Isn't Helen Dallimore Australian though?

[Practically Perfect]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 6:52pm

It was the most amazing night of theatre I have ever attended. Not purely because of the show, but because of the atmosphere - it was just incredible. The audience went crazy when the lights dimmed, when they made an announcement about phones and cameras, when the orchestra started, when the curtain went up... the list goes on and on.

There were some technical problems - as leeinlondon said, Glinda got stuck for a bit, and they started the show again (with more enthusiasm from the audience than the first time!) The benches didn't come on during 'What Is This Feeling?' and thus for the whole of the classroom scene the students had to sit on the floor. Stage crew had to bring the beds on in 'Popular' - I assume some of the motors for the tracks had malfunctioned? Anyway, for anyone who hasn't seen the show five times, you wouldn't have noticed any major problems except Glinda's bubble.

Idina - the reception she got as she ran through those doors was staggering, people wouldn't stop cheering - we couldn't hear half of 'Dear Old Shiz,' they were that excited. She sang the hell out of 'The Wizard And I' and 'No Good Deed'. She cracked a bit on the top 'DeFYing', but to be honest nobody cared, because she was completely in the character, and giving it her all, emotionally and vocally. She really is superb, and she was crying when she was 'leaving Oz'. She has matured so much as a performer since I saw her in the role in June 2004.

Helen Dallimore as Glinda - she's very British, but she sings very nicely, and looks gorgeous. She'll grow in the part, I know, and I'm sure she'll be great.

Adam Garcia as Fiyero - got better as the evening went on. 'Dancing Through Life' was a bit tame, but 'As Long As You're Mine' was good. Looks good!

Miriam Margolyes as Morrible - she doesn't sing, but delivers her lines brilliantly, and is actually incredibly funny. I knew she'd be great in the role.

Nigel Planer as The Wizard - his big dance routine with Elphaba in 'Wonderful' has been cut (thank goodness!!!), though it was in the run-through 3 weeks ago, so obviously they thought the British audience wouldn't like it. But he was excellent, sings nicely, and was actually quite amusing in 'Wonderful.'

Katie Rowley Jones as Nessarose - such a pretty girl, and a beautiful voice too. Acted the part really nicely - a great performer, really liked her.

James Gillan as Boq - hate the Scottish accent so much; munchkins weren't Scottish in the novel or the film, why make him Scottish??? I'm sorry, he was great, but the accent has to go.

I actually had a problem with all of the accents, but maybe that's because I'm so used to the Broadway cast recording with American accents. I just couldn't understand why Nessarose was English, when Elphaba was American. Then Glinda is British, Fiyero's British with an Australian twang, the Wizard's American, Morrible is British, and Boq is Scottish??? Weird.

Anyhow, it was a great night, I still think it's an excellent show. It looks great in that theatre. And the audience loved it!!!!

Mary P x

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 6:57pm

Practically Perfect, that was a SUPERB review
i am so glad to hear this show is doing well, and that Idina has matured as a performer
Good for her!
:)
Thank you, that review was "Perfect"...haha, im funny
:P

[mrkringas]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 6:58pm

James Gillan is from Glasgow. I have yet to see the show but I cannot for the life of me see why anyone would have a problem with an actor using his native accent in this show when the whole thing is set in a the land of Oz (ie doesnt exist!)

I would assume that he has made a choice with the directors approval to layer his character with his own accent to indicate that he is very clearly a Munchkin and different from the other students.

As for Glinda, Morrible and co using "British" accents thats very misleading and inaccurate as there is no "British" accent. You mean English accent dont you? Oh and Adam Garcia happens to be Australian too...whats the matter with accents being used here? It seems bizarre to me that its a problem for some.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 7:00pm

James Gillan IS Scottish, so most likely it's not a "put-on" accent, it's just...him speaking.

[swerve]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 7:01pm

Thanks so much for the reviews! Really appreciate the detail.

How was Martin Ball as Dillamond? I've been enjoying his blog so much I have to ask.

[JamesMacon]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 7:06pm

Thanks for this review. Glad you guys liked everyone!

[Practically Perfect]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 7:13pm

If James is indeed Scottish, that's fair enough, it's his normal voice and that's fine. I thought it was a put on accent to heighten the difference between munchkin and human, which I didn't think was necessary. It does just sound weird with all the different accents.

mrkringas - I'd just like to say that I don't have a problem with people speaking with their native accent, but it was perfectly reasonable of me to assume that he was putting on an accent, as so many of the people on that stage were. Nigel Planer is English and speaks with an American accent, Helen Dallimore is Australian and speaks with an English accent. Adam Garcia is Australian, and speaks with an English-ish accent.

Mary P x

swerve - Martin Ball was excellent in his small role - sings and acts very nicely.
Updated On: 9/7/06 at 07:13 PM

[All_For_Laura]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 7:18pm

I'll probably see it when I'm there in February. Looking forward to the new elphie.

[mrkringas]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 7:22pm

Updated On: 9/7/06 at 07:22 PM

[EugLoven]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 7:34pm

Thanks, both of you! (above)
Was anxiously awaiting the news.
Idina must be thrilled to be back in this role.
I'm toying with the idea of flying out there for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Don't want to miss the opportunity to see this, accents and all!

[Christopher Gough]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 7:36pm

I saw the first preview this evening as well. Yep, this is a BIG show - in a big auditorium - 2,348 seats. I have never seen (or heard) a UK audience react as they did this evening. The atmosphere was electric - the technical fault which burst Glinda's bubble just made everyone cheer even louder when we saw the opening for the second time!

Accents - didn't the Wizard fly in by balloon from Omaha? I think he's supposed to be American - I presume that's why Nigel Planer used an American accent. 'Corn-fed hick' wouldn't sound the same in 'English'! If he could fly in from the US it doesn't seem to matter that Oz is multi-cultural and has a couple of Australians and a Scot for good measure!

We Brits are going to go mad for Idina Menzel - well we have already. Her reception was exceptional - and well deserved. OK she 'baled out' on the highest notes on 'Defying Gravity' - it didn't matter. I thought 'No Good Deed' was remarkable.

Can't wait for the charity preview on 19th now - thanks guys for sending us a great 'feelgood' show. It'll run at the Apollo Victoria for a decade or more.

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 7:39pm

how full was the theatre?

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 7:39pm

How was Idina and Helen's chemistry?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 7:40pm

How much of the reaction to you attribute the inevitable fans/friends/family that attend first previews? The response sounds thrilling but atypical of what I would imagine most British audiences would be like outside of opening night or a first preview...

[Christopher Gough]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 7:40pm

Sold out I believe.

[Moromir]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 8:05pm

Phew I am finally home!

Ok where to start.. I must applaude the utter professionalism of the entire cast at the beginning of the show.

I cannot believe this happened to Helen, on her West End debut...

During Noone Mourns The Wicked.. the ensemble shout 'Look! Its Glinda!' and we start to see bubbles emerging from the left side of the stage, whole theatre is silent... still ... the whole ensemble is frozen in place.. and nothings happening, theres no Glinda in her bubble!

Some technicians leave their posts on the left side of the stage and are obviously trying to fix things, in the end the big map of Oz comes down and they give the pre-recorded technical difficulties audio!

They eventually restart the song and the bubble works fine this time!

Not a lot has changed in the show to be honest, 'unpreposessing features' has been changed to 'un-FLATTERING features' (I attempted to denote the emphasis on syllabals there) in Popular. Oh and when Fiyero's cart nearly runs Elphaba over his line is 'maybe the driver saw green and thought it meant go?' although I don't remember what his line is in the US at that point.

As for the cast in general..

Miriam Margoyles.. I was EXTREMELY dissapointed with her performance, although her dialogues were funny, she spoke every word that is sung on B'Way. Her 'this.. Wicked Witch' was merely said and I wasn't scared by her at all, a good Morrible can horrify an audience into silence in my opinion and I've seen it done.

Helen Dallimore.. she's got some kind of 'put on' accent which really put me off her, technically very good, she hit all her notes, her Popular needs a lot of work, certain actions that bring the house down on B'Way raised nothing more than a titter from the audience although we liked the 'Fiyero and I are to be married.. oh no he doesn't know yet' section and 'wear the dress.. its pretty!'. The slight piss take of Evita at the beginning of Thank Goodness had us in hysterics as soon as everyone worked out what was going on.

Idina Menzel... better but no where near great, by any stretch of the imagination. She seems to have gotten a handle on that god-awful 'fish out of water' thing she used to pass off as breathing, I only heard it once or twice through out the entire show. She did an average Defying Gravity, her voice cracked out at least once and she aimed for, and missed, several notes, her end 'riff' was boring and strained. However, she NAILED 'No Good Deed' which is my favourite song anyway, very impressed with her rendition. I think her acting has GREATLY improved from the early days.

Adam Garcia... I was prepared to LOVE this man, but I'm going with.. good but not fantastic. His Dancing Through Life could have been MUCH better, he does have the comedic timing down so his lines didn't fail to raise a laugh ever which kinda made up for it.

Nigel Planer as the Wizard, I REALLY liked his rendition, very solid performance.

James Gillan as Boq.. was this man born to play Boq? Yes. His accent is wonderful and kind of adds to the differentiation between him as a 'Munchkin' and Glinda.

Katie Rowley Jones.. I love this girl, she was my favourite Belle (UK Tour) and again, I wanted her to blow me away, she just didn't, 'wicked witch of the east' should be big, powerful and haunting, she also didn't sing a lot of the stuff I expected her to, its become dialogue instead which I didn't like.

The ensemble were great, one poor girl fell over, her boot slipped from under her during the 2nd run of Noone Mourns The Wicked, she landed right at Helen's feet with a bit of a crack, bless her, Helen helped her up and they sort of incorporated it into Glinda's Meet & Greet with the Ozians. Absolutely solid ensemble, wonderful to watch, impeccable dancing. I can't wait to see some of these guys who are understudying get their chance in the main roles.

The show had a slightly.. off beat feel to it tonight, I think its because dialogues stopped and words were intoned in certain ways that brought lots of laughs on B'Way but just didn't here, and then when the cast weren't expecting it we found something hilarious and theyd' already launched into another section and stuff got lost in the applause.

Over all, a dazzelling production and well worth seeing, I believe a lot of the problems were opening night jitters, but Kerry Ellis as Elphaba will totally rock when we finally get her.

[JeaniusIsMe]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 8:13pm

thought i'd put in my two cents as well-

As mentioned, there were some technical glitches, but the cast handled them brilliantly. And for those following Martin Ball's Wicked diary, he managed to get out "the witch of the west is dead" perfectly both times he had to say it.

This wasn't my favorite cast I have seen, but it was still a great show. The energy was huge (although it was a tad annoying when a group of girls in the balcony thought it was appropriate to "ooooo" and make similar noises during the Elphaba/Fiyero kiss at the end of "As Long As You're Mine.") and it almost seemed more like a rock concert than a musical. I dare say it was even more crazy than New York.

The one big change in the show (I'm assuming it was a change, as it wasn't in any of the previous productions I have seen) was that a scene was added prior to "Dancing Through Life" where Elphaba is nearly run over by Fiyero's cart. She is the one who wakes him up and they exchange words over him watching where he's going. It culminates in a joke by Fiyero about how the driver must have seen green and thought it meant go. Personally, I thought it was a really odd placed scene.

As for the performances:

Idina: She's clearly grown into a much stronger actor. I wasn't completely blown away by her singing until her "No Good Deed" which was absolutely amazing. She has some great chemistry with Helen. Despite all this, and please don't hate me for saying it, I wasn't completely blown away by her performance. She did try some new things which was nice to see, but it didn't really do much for me beyond NGD.

Helen: Definitely different than those before her. As previously said, it's a much more proper take on Glinda and definitely not the ditzy girl. I loved her "Popular"- she didn't go over the top and played it just right to get the laughs. You could also see a change in Glinda as the show went on.

Adam: I wasn't a huge fan of his voice, but I enjoyed his performance. Fiyero is a fairly bland role to begin with, but he managed to add some levels to the character. But I thought the songs were a bit weak.

Nigel: I actually really enjoyed his Wizard. His accent when in and out a bit during "Sentimental Man" but his "Wonderful" was very engaging.

Miriam: As said, she didn't sing but rather spoke her lines. I would have like them to be sung, but what can you do. I didn't think she was quite nasty enough during "March of the Witch Hunters" but she added a hillarious and slightly disturbing element to the Morrible/Wizard relationship- insinuating that there might have been something sexual between the two (something I honestly never thought about....and now I wonder if I was missing something before).

Katie and James: I really loved their Nessa and Boq. I'm usually not a huge fan of the characters, but I really liked these two in the roles. I think the Scottish accent added a lot to Boq as well.

All in all, I really had a good time. And it's still just the first preview, so I'm sure by opening night most of my criticisms will be out the window. I stage doored after, and poor Idina! They don't have baracades at the doors, so she was completely mobbed by people and looked a bit dazed. But she was a saint and still signed for everyone. The rest of the cast was wonderful too.
Updated On: 9/7/06 at 08:13 PM

[Moromir]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 8:20pm

Oh yeh I forgot to mention that bit,

'you do something for him...'
*Miriam insinuates like crazy*
'he'll do much for you'
*Miriam looks Nigel up and down with eyebrows all up*

*audience is laughing like crazy*

[Moromir]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 8:29pm

Oh and the stage door!

I've seen nothing like it, it was even more mental than the crowd for Ewan McGregor at G&D!

I only know stage-dooring in the English sense, maybe like 5 people braving the cold, an actor generally coming out and having a good chat with people, signing a couple of bits, all very orderly and British like

The Apollo stage door... there was just a MOB of people, no attempt to form a line or anything, I figured if you were at the back of the mob.. then no signed program for you.

I didn't even bother to try, I'm going to try in a few days when I see it again and hopefully security will have sorted out some barriers or something sensible.