“This production of Wicked is still very much worth the ticket, especially to see Courtney Monsma, Robyn Nevin and Todd McKenney hold the stage as they do.“
Suzanne Mackay
4 /5 Stars
Lyric Theatre
Even with a large chunk of my life spent training in musical theatre, I often find myself saying I don’t really care for it much, despite downloading every new soundtrack and singing along incessantly. I would never say this of Wicked. I’ve loved it from the start and have had the privilege of seeing it on five previous occasions including in its first iteration on Broadway. The show is always solid, energetic, funny and brimming with colour, the choreography is next level and perfectly complements the story, the whole show is absorbing and you know what you’re going to get. Every single time. This is both the shows blessing and its curse. The contractual restrictions put on the big scale Broadway musicals to keep to the original production, leave little room for performers and creatives to add their creative stamp to the role.
Even so, every cast has its own rhythm and strengths. In this most recent production the standout performance was provided by Courtney Monsma in the role of Glinda, because although there were familiar tropes from the original production, she played the role effortlessly, with energy and she made it her own. Sheridan Adams’ Elphaba and Liam Head’s Fiyero were also at the top of their game in terms of an energetic performance, but seemed to really shine when on stage with Monsma. It was the first production I’ve seen where it could be argued that Glinda stole the show, as in it almost felt like her journey. However, this didn’t detract from the show at all, rather it felt like
a slightly different take on a familiar story and it made me want more. More scope to create a new take on a classic in the way great plays do and more for local creatives to contribute to the canon. I understand the need to keep a musical in its original form for a time after its premiere but after nearly 20 years, surely it can only increase its allure by allowing it to be reworked, even slightly.
The other standouts were the musical and theatre old guard. Robyn Nevin as Madame Morrible brought another level to the role, keeping the comedy while avoiding any kind of melodrama which made her both more evil and more sympathetic a character. Todd McKenney’s Wizard of Oz is also a sympathetic and layered character and the obvious training and Broadway calibre performances of these two is clear to all. Other characters were played with a little less consistency. Shewit Belay as Nessarose and Kurtis Papadinis as Boq provided competent performances but without the depths of the more experienced performers, perhaps because of a lack of Broadway calibre tertiary
training. In fact the program notes indicate Belay to be a practicing doctor with no formal musical theatre training and in an industry with many more talented, trained an experienced performers than there are jobs, it’s hard to reconcile this.
This production of Wicked is still very much worth the ticket, especially to see Courtney Monsma, Robyn Nevin and Todd McKenney hold the stage as they do.
Suzanne Mackay, Theatre Now
