Wicked – Bradford Alhambra

I MUST admit I have been wanted to see Wicked for several years and was extremely excited.

Was it what I expected? No. Did it live up to expectations? A very definite yes.

Wicked tells the story of Oz before Dorothy landed from the tornado, how the Witches of Oz came to be, and the ending according to Elphaba.

The two witches, Galinda and Elphaba, meet in school and after initial loathing form a most unlikely friendship which sees them visiting the Great Wizard of Oz in order to unite the beings of this land.

As we all know from our childhood favourite, things don’t quite go to plan, and although Galinda becomes known to all as the good fairy Glinda the Good, Elphaba takes quite a different path to defy the Wizard and become the Wicked Witch of the West.

This was a very slick production with fantastic scenery which appeared to move seamlessly and added to the magical world would been transported to.

A fantastic supporting cast and chorus were all obviously deeply involved within the story themselves, providing us with some wonderfully slick dance numbers and very realistic flying monkeys.

I have listened to the songs numerous times and they are all very powerful and quite moving, so when I was suddenly presented with a more comedic aspect of Glinda’s character, portrayed brilliantly by Carly Anderson, I was a little surprised, but it worked fabulously well.

She was a good counterpoint to the slightly-more-serious Elphaba played by Jacqueline Hughes.

“As with all good musicals there needs to be a love story intertwined, and with this I was not disappointed as Bradley Jaden gave us a wonderful performance as Fiyero turning from slightly-conceited to caring to the ultimate Knight in Shining Armour. He was by far my favourite character.

The audience was very appreciative and rightly so – Wicked is a must-see musical.

• Bradford Alhambra – until August 21. Visit bradford-theatres.co.uk or call 01274 432000 to book tickets.

• Katrina Knights