living out london: Totally Wicked!

I have always been a sucker for Broadway shows. As a little kid I'd pretend our lounge room was my personal stage. This included moving the furniture to 'the wings' and setting up chairs in a row for the family members and friends I'd managed to manipulate into watching my little musical... Phantom of the Opera was of course my favourite. I knew the auctioneer's opening lines about the, "papier-mache musical box, in the shape of a barrel organ..." off by heart and belted out all the classics, Think of Me, Angel of Music, Masquerade, I even attempted Christine's shrill scream, much to my neighbours' dismay. So it wasn't such a stretch for my parents and I to make a visit to the theatre while they were in town.

But what to see?

As their baby, I got to choose. And I chose Wicked. And it was brilliant! The three of us went in knowing only that the story told about the lives of the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch of the East, before Dorothy and Toto met the Wizard. I don't want to ruin it for any of you - and I truly hate writing reviews - but if you want a synopsis check out Musical Cyberspace at http://www.geocities.com/joecable1997/sz/wicked.html. What I can safely say is that the songs were contagious, the singing inspirational, the theatre jam-packed and that the entire audience applauded and awarded the cast with a standing ovation. I even cried. Yes, when Elphaba (the WWW) and Glinda (the GWE) realise that deep down they are each other's best friends - to the tune of For Good - and are forced to say their final goodbyes, I was smearing my make-up and quivering-of-lip... you gotta love a musical with soul. Even one that's green, and wicked.