You can see Wicked more than once and still spend half the show wondering how they do it. Elphaba flying, Glinda arriving in her bubble, the enormous sets and, of course, all that green make-up.
The London production has been at the Apollo Victoria Theatre since 2006. Here are five things happening behind the scenes that you might not notice from your seat.
1. Elphaba’s green make-up is a very precise shade
There is more to turning Elphaba green than simply opening a pot of face paint.
The make-up was specially created by MAC and follows the original Broadway design by Joe Dulude II. Every new Elphaba has a make-up test because the green looks slightly different depending on the performer’s natural skin tone. The colour then has to match the green material covering the skin beneath her costumes.
A full transformation, including the wig, has been reported as taking around 45 minutes.
Getting rid of it afterwards isn’t particularly quick either. Former London Elphaba Alice Fearn said taking the green off could take around 20 to 40 minutes.
That is a lot of green faces over the course of a West End run.
2. Elphaba isn’t really hanging from a wire in Defying Gravity
The end of Act One is the moment everyone waits for.
Elphaba appears to rise high above the stage while singing Defying Gravity, but the effect doesn’t simply involve attaching the performer to a flying wire.
She is raised on a specially designed hydraulic platform. Her costume, lighting, smoke and movement help hide the machinery and create the impression that she has simply taken off.
From the audience it happens remarkably quickly. Backstage, it is a carefully rehearsed technical sequence.
3. There is a Plan B if Elphaba can’t fly
This might be the best secret of all.
The Defying Gravity lift contains safety systems. If everything isn’t correctly secured, the lift won’t move.
Rather than stopping the entire performance, the cast has an alternative version of the scene ready to go. Elphaba remains at stage level and the performers and lighting adapt the sequence so the story can continue.
Most of the audience may never realise anything has gone wrong.
It is a good reminder that some of the cleverest theatre happens when something doesn’t work.
4. The lighting is doing far more than making the stage look pretty
A lot of the magic of Wicked is actually created by light.
A behind the scenes look at the London production in 2015 revealed that the show was using 88 moving lights and 498 lighting fixtures at the time.
Those lights help transform the same stage into Shiz University, the Emerald City and the darker world of the second act.
They are particularly important during Defying Gravity. Darkness, bright beams, smoke and Elphaba’s enormous costume all help hide the mechanics of the illusion.
Sometimes the thing you aren’t supposed to see is just as important as the thing you are.
5. The giant dragon above the stage isn’t there just to look impressive
Look up when you enter the auditorium.
One of the most distinctive parts of the Wicked set is the huge mechanical dragon sitting above the stage.
It relates to the Time Dragon Clock from Gregory Maguire’s original Wicked novel and helps explain the slightly strange collection of cogs, clockwork and mechanical details running through the production’s design.
It is easy to miss some of this when you first see the show because there is so much happening on stage.
Next time, spend a few moments looking around the set before the performance begins.
Seeing Wicked in London
Wicked is playing at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, 17 Wilton Road, London SW1V 1LG, opposite Victoria Station.
The London production opened there in 2006 and the theatre has been its home ever since.
Official tickets: Wicked The Musical London
And when Defying Gravity arrives, have a look at just how cleverly the lighting, costume and staging work together. Knowing the secret somehow doesn’t spoil it. It makes the whole thing even more impressive.
Leave a Reply