'Wicked' at the Apollo Victoria

I went to see 'Wicked' this evening, 53 weeks after last seeing it. I've seen it twice before, the first time in New York a few years ago and then last September at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. It's largely a different cast now, with Kerry Ellis as Elphaba and Dianne Pilkington as Glinda, but Idina Menzel's influence is still there in terms of vocal styling.

I'm quite familiar with the show and could look forward to the set pieces and appreciate the little changes resulting from having two new leads. 'Defying Gravity' is the big sequence but I didn't feel Kerry quite pulled it off compared to my memories of Idina (who is also on the cast recording), not delivering the same emotional impact. On the other hand, I liked her version of 'No Good Deed' which seemed a more more controlled and less fraught than Idina's. I think Kerry suffers from trying to sound like Idina, singing in the same style.

The pleasant surprise was Dianne who played the blond bimbo Glinda and played it for laughs as well as sympathies. She had great comic timing, particularly in her big piece, 'Popular', which was excellent, sounding good, funny and with lots of little 'blond' additions. After that sequence I liked her a lot - I think it just took some time for me to see her in the role, but she was very good indeed.

I enjoyed it immensely, grinning at the jokes and singing along under my breath in places. The Wizard's solo song still annoys me - it's unnecessary and only there for the older male lead to have something to do - but I can live with that. All in all, it was a good night out!