Wicked

Wicked is a musical theatre phenomenon, a Wizard of Oz origin story that celebrates female friendship even more than romantic love.

This production is being staged to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its original Broadway opening but doesn’t hit quite the same heights as the show Australians were first introduced to in 2008.

Unfortunately the performer who seems most out of step is returning cast member Lucy Durack, who got it so right playing Glinda the Good in the original Australian tour.

This time around though she spends too much of the first half hamming it up and playing for cheap laughs. Thankfully Jemma Rix as Elphaba, the green outcast hero of the story, is impeccable; sarcastic and smart but showing a brittle vulnerability during songs such as The Wizard And I and I’m Not That Girl. Durack does settle into the second half and steps up on the duets, firstly during the show’s big-ticket number, Defying Gravity, and then later, the gorgeous For Good.

And Reg Livermore is divine as the toe-tapping but ultimately pathetic Wizard, especially when he gets to waltz his way around the stage in Wonderful. The costumes still dazzle and with such a beautifully crafted set, Wicked’s version of Oz is definitely worth revisiting.