Wicked flies into Auckland

  • Breaking
  • 19/09/2013

Auckland's Civic Theatre has taken on a green tinge with one of Broadway's biggest musicals flying into town.

Wicked officially opens on Saturday but the cast have already been put through their paces by the show's songwriter, who was there to check up on them.

Stephen Schwartz declared the mostly Australian cast the best he's seen since the show started on Broadway a decade ago.

"I'm sure everybody watching just thinks, 'Oh well, he has to say that,' but I've been travelling around the world seeing various productions of Wicked because we have many companies out right now for our 10th year, and I was just blown away by the level of acting here," he said.

Wicked is the story of the unlikely friendship between Glinda the Good and Elphaba, the much-maligned Wicked Witch of the West.

"[Elphaba is] This misunderstood person, you know, the green girl who's kind of the outsider," Schwartz explains.

Elphaba is played by Jemma Rix, who spends up to 45 minutes each night being spray-painted green.

Rix says performing for Schwartz was a nerve-wracking experience.

"I admire him. I've been in this musical for such a long time, I love this musical. So to actually have him in the audience who created it was overwhelming."

Kiwi Jay Laga'aia is the mysterious Wizard of Oz, and proud to be treading the boards in his hometown.

"I suppose as a Polynesian, [I'm] trying to fly the flag and say if I can do it anyone can do it," he says.

Wicked is in Auckland until November 24, before moving to the Philippines to continue its 10th anniversary run.

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source: newshub archive