I have found in my theatre musical travels that if u want to see a perfect production of professional slickness, see the show in the West End, London. If you want to see big and flashy and possibly over the top, see the show on Broadway. But if you want to see a production with passion and heart blazing out of every performer, see the Aussie version! Yay GO AUSSIES!
And of course there were old stagers like Maggie Kirkpatrick (the Secretary of the Wizard... read PR manager and downright dirty player) and Bert Newton (The Wizard, a real manipulator who is manipulated himself in the end). They always deliver onstage, and this is coming from someone who is not really a fan of either!
And then there was Rob Mills, as Prince Fiyero, who catches the eye of both girls, but can't seem to make up his mind which of them he prefers...until the chips are down and Elphaba is in danger.
If there was ever a story about truth versus public relations spin, this is it. And both girls decide on different paths as a result of their discovery that all is not as it seems in regard to the Wizard. Add a really wicked twist in the tale (excuse the pun) at the end, and u really couldn't ask for much better story closure and come-uppance for the instigators of the whole mess. Glinda suffers too, because of her decision to go along with the status quo, but turns it around to retake her power, ironically by using the very methods that she was taught by her mentors. Too late to save Elphaba, but in time for Oz.
Ok enough reviewing...! Here is a pic...or two...
and maybe one more...of a friend who is a Bert Newton fan!
Going now, another person coming to look the house over and I have to tidy up again GROAN...!
