Inge's Review

My review of Wicked, 26 June 2010
I had been stressing all day because my whole family kept saying we were going to see Mamma Mia to tease me but then we had to find the right underground from the hotel to the musical so I asked my dad in which theatre it was. So when he said Apollo Victoria theatre I yelled for the whole hotel and people started laughing, which was quite embarrassing but I didn’t care.

When we got to the theatre my heart was almost bumping out of my chest because I was getting so nervous and I also didn’t know who was going to play.
So when I saw that Rachel ànd Louise ànd Lee were going to play, for a moment I was the happiest kiddo in the world. I bought a program book (or how it is called) and we got to our seats row A in the stalls (balcony I think).
Of course we were way to early so I had to keep my nerves down for another half hour. I was getting really mad at the people who were coming in like for the last 5 minutes and there were even people who came in while the show was already actually playing.

Anyway, at last it started and my head was completely in the play from the moment it began.
Louise was amazing of course and I’ve always loved the Glinda-dress but it was quite a good feeling to see it in real life for once instead of on YouTube. But then came the moment I had been waiting for, Rachel’s entrance. I already adored her, but now I even found out she’s hilarious. Her rendition of The Wizard And I was perfect and I couldn’t believe that someone was capable of doing those notes so brilliant. The whole audience was laughing during What Is This Feeling? and I felt a huge relief when I also saw my parents and brother enjoying themselves. All the other songs were perfect too and the actors were piece by piece amazing. And then… an insanely brilliant performance of Defying Gravity. I mean, where do those notes come from? My family was very enthusiastic during the intermission and then the second part came. Also perfect and no single note was out of tune. How I loved No Good Deed!

Rachel made me laugh, cry, smile and proud. I don’t know why, but I think it’s because I’ve been supporting her since IDA, just like we all do.
The only drawback was that the bows were like extremely short. I immediately jumped out of my seat, but the time was too short to get the other people up too.
Anyway, I came out with a HUGE smile on my face but unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to go to stagedoor because my dad didn’t want to wait and we were also exhausted because of the time difference.

Honestly, Rachel was born for the role of Elphaba and I truly hope she’s going to play it for a very long time, that a lot of people can see her shine on that stage.

Gay Pride Update

Further to our earlier post, Rachel is scheduled to appear at around 4pm on Saturday.

There are quite a few rumours flying around as to what songs will be performed, including a possible first ever official public performance of a certain song we ALL love, so if you can get down there, you definitely won't be disappointed!

At least three top class Rachel fans will be there to report for us and if it's anything like West End Live, there should be plenty of Youtube action as well.

To everyone who's going, have a fantastic time! As always your photos, videos and reviews will be very welcome.

Andy - Initial reports suggested that as at West End Live Rachel was set to wow the audience with another stunning rendition of 'The Wizard and I' but according to the link below, we may be treated to something even more special; the first ever official public performance of 'Defying Gravity':

WICKED LONDON FACEBOOK

As David said, whatever she sings you can be sure it will be amazing!

Wicked Tickets For Sale

Wicked fan Rachel Grey has two tickets for sale (July 7th, 14:30 matinee, stalls row H). They are £55 each (this is below face value).

If you are interested in buying (they are only for sale as a pair), email Rachel at xx_rach.grey_xx@yahoo.co.uk

She also has them listed on getmein.com.

Couple of (Late) Wedding Photos

Long term readers may remember us running several 'Rare Rachel' posts in 2008. These consisted of photos which we weren't able to fit into current articles.
I recently found these professional photos from Rachel and Guy's wedding on 4everphotos.net and just had to feature these two.

No prizes for guessing any identities, though it's probably worth pointing out that the first photo features singer James Huish.

Pride London

As previously mentioned Rachel will be performing at Pride London next Saturday, 3rd July. As at West End Live the chosen song is 'The Wizard and I' and she is due on stage at approximately 3:30pm. The event takes place in Trafalgar Square and is, of course, completely free!

We should also mention that due to this commitment Rachel will obviously not be able to perform at the Wicked matinee that day. She will however be back in her witches hat for the evening show.

Why not make a day of it, Pride in the afternoon and Wicked in the evening. Sounds perfect to me.

Unfortunately neither David or I are able to attend, so if you are lucky enough to be there please send us your reviews, pictures or videos and we'll add them to the blog.

Wicked Girls Race For Life

Team Tucker member Naomi kindly pointed out that the Wicked Girls are taking part in the 'Race For Life' tomorrow (Sunday 27th June), helping to raise money for cancer research.

I'm not totally sure Rachel is running - maybe David can confirm - because the Wicked girls members are listed by first name only but there is a Rachel in the team.

If you can spare any money for this very worthy cause I know all the girls at Wicked would really appreciate it. Lets help them reach their £2000 target.

RACE FOR LIFE

Andy's Not Quite Wicked Review

A Wicked review...of 'The 39 Steps'

As previously mentioned I last went to Wicked on Rachel’s Birthday. It was an amazing show and Rachel was phenomenal as always but I didn’t get chance to meet her at the stage door because she understandably had plans that night and couldn’t afford to be held up.

My Glinda Curse had also struck again, making it only 3 times out of my 9 visits I’d seen the lead Glinda.

Having not met Rachel at the stage door I was a little concerned that the curse may be spreading and that it was starting to affect Elphaba too. I now have more reasons to fear that may be the case.

I had another visit to London planed for the tennis at Wimbledon so I decided to incorporate another trip to Wicked and hoped I’d have more luck at the stage door this time around.

I’d booked 2 nights – Sunday 20th and Monday 21st - in a Travelodge this time so I could at least have a few extra hours in bed. I got up at about 6:15am, jumped on a bus at 7:45am and was in the queue for a day ticket by about 9:00am. London traffic at that time in the morning was not pleasant even on the bus.

Worryingly there were about 15 people in front of me and with 2 available per person I knew it would be touch and go.

As always I got chatting to other fans and as per usual they had nothing but praise for Rachel and the show. A couple had been to West End live and said there was no doubt Rachel was the highlight of the day. Having seen the video of her 'Wizard and I' performance about 1000 times, I didn't find that surprising.

At 10:00am the doors opened but a man came out and explained their computers were down and he couldn’t be sure when they’d be able to begin sales. He came back out about 30 minutes later and said the computers were still down but they could take bookings for the front row only, as long as you could pay by cash.

I managed to get the very last seat available. They scribbled A18 on a blank Wicked card and said I’d be able to exchange it for a ticket before the show, by which time they were sure their computers would be up and running.

As I was walking out I looked at the cast board left up from Saturdays show. I was pleased to see Rachel had performed after her illness last week and wasn’t at all surprised to see that Sarah Earnshaw had played Glinda. It looked like my Glinda curse might have struck again.

I then caught a bus to Wimbledon to watch a bit of tennis but left early to arrive back at the Appollo Victoria for 7:00pm. That is when my worst fears were realised. They’d updated the cast board for Monday’s show and Louise was back to play her role as the good witch but to my horror the sign now read that in tonight’s performance of Wicked Elphaba will be played by Nikki Davis Jones.

So my Glinda curse may be over but it's been replaced by a much more serious condition; the curse of Elphaba. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. Wicked without Rachel is just not.........Wicked!

At that point I decided I’d sell my ticket. So I stood outside the theatre asking anyone if they’d like one of the best seats in the house for £25. That is until the general manager came out and threatened to get me arrested of course. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do then until a guy who’d already turned down my ticket offer came back out and said he’d like to buy it. I discretely exchanged ticket for cash and headed off to catch my bus back to the Travelodge.

As I was walking along I realised I had just enough time to get to the Criterion in Piccadilly Circus to catch the evening performance of the 39 Steps which started at 8:00pm. My other favourite West End leading lady Dianne Pilkington - who used to be Glinda in Wicked - was now in this play and I hadn’t had chance to see it yet.

I got there just in time, got a great seat for £12.50 – that’s right, £12.50 – and really enjoyed the play. There were some real laugh out loud moments and Dianne was sensational. She plays numerous characters and you could certainly see Glinda in some of them. There was even a scene where she was able to sneak in a toss, toss; well sort of. There will never be a better Glinda than Dianne and she will always be Glinda to me but she proved what incredibly talented actress she is because she is equally as amazing in 'The 39 Steps' and the 2 shows really are chalk and cheese.

After the show I went to the stage door and got chance to meet this very special lady for the first time. Just like Rachel, she was so lovely and spent some time chatting with me, signing my Wicked programme and posing for the above photo. My 2 favourite leading ladies are not only superb on stage but they are also 2 of the nicest people you could ever wish to meet.

She said she still misses Wicked and I told her how much I would have loved to see her work alongside Rachel. She said she loves Rachel and agreed they would have made a great team. I think the word she used to describe Rachel was ‘Fierce’ but I know she meant it in a good way lol.

In the end my day worked out fine but I am now a little concerned about the new curse. For various reasons I haven't actually met Rachel now since Scaramouche night back in November 2008. However, I won’t give up and intend to try again later this summer.

Wicked London Photos

Westend Live Performance Close Up

Well done Rosie for spotting this video on Youtube. Credited to elizabethtoni, it's shot in excellent close up, and of course we all wanted to see Rachel's shoes in their full glory!

All the Best to Samantha

Best wishes to Samantha Barks who debuts as Eponine in Les Miserables tonight. I was lucky enough to see the show last October and if you haven't yet been, it's superb.

Interview with Rachel at Westend Live

Another Great Review

Since Rachel took over as Elphaba, there have been so many positive comments that I've given up trying to blog them all. I do however particularly like this one. It's written by a guy called Hamza who appears to have been at both Westend Live and the matinee performance on Saturday.


Rachel Tucker (Elphaba)

This woman has got a massive pair of lungs on her! She is just phenomenal, singing and acting-wise. I can now see why she got the role after the previous Elphabas. Her acting is actually so believable. She had real tears or is a great actress, as when she sang Defying Gravity and No Good Deed, she had tears which made me really believe her character and go up on stage and give Elphaba a big hug(Obviously I couldn't as i had the orchestral pit in front of me, haha!)! Her singing. Well, what can I say? After seeing her in West End Live riff so much on The Wizard and I, in the Apollo Victoria, she made singing the songs so effortless. A pure unique voice, similar to that of Kerry Ellis' and she is just sensational. She has truly made the character of Elphaba her own!

More from West End Live...by Rosie

Both Georgia and Dan have written fantastic reviews and there's not much more I can add to them... So I thought I'd share a few pictures I managed to get from my spot near the front this morning instead!

Dan's Review, Photos AND Video!!!!

As I took a video and pictures, I thought I may as well do a little review for all you guys who weren't lucky enough to live near London.

I'd been looking forward to West End Live for months, especially seeing Rachel! And I'd honestly been having the WORST week that I've had all year - a few things at work and stuff like that. Anyway, I'd made a little Rachel Banner/poster thing, which I thought she might like. Having finished it, I thought maybe I'd check twitter the night before and slowly realised that Rachel was Ill, and not been at Wicked since the Tuesday. I also read on the WICKED twitter page, that Nikki Davis Jones and Sarah Earnshaw had done a sound check for West End Live.

You can imagine how gutted I was.
- also the morning of West end Live the glitter glue I'd used, some of it had kinda melted down... - although that looks quite good cos it's on the WICKED part.
Here's the poster i made, but didn't in fact take with me...



Anyway, Whilst in the queue I heard a quick sound check for W&I, and assumed it was Nikki Davis Jones.... but I thought hold on, she sounds VERY good.... almost like Rachel.... WAIT!..... These rather annoying girls were in the queue near me, one of them said "is that Rachel.... I don't like her" ... I raised my eyebrows and glared at her in disgust.

I still wasn't sure... but I got as near to the front as possible with the many hundreds of people. Whilst the first few acts were on I checked twitter on my phone again, and there was a message on the WICKED page saying "please support Rachel Tucker at WEST END LIVE!!! "

THE EXCITEMENT!!!

Before Rachel came on there was a video message from the cast of Wicked saying they were sorry they can't be there but they've sent Rachel Tucker along to see us and to take care of her. Unfortunately the sound was completely out and delayed by about 10 seconds... much to the amusement of the crowd. If you've seen a longer version of her performance on youtube, you might notice her saying "Hopefully I'll be in time".

Anyway Rachel came out looking STUNNING! with kinda reddy brown hair in a tumbling curl, white jacket and top and sparkly black leggings. Here's a few pictures before she performed.







I wanted to get a few photos before I started the video or I'd have had no photos! Luckily I think I only missed the first line. Rachel of course was incredible, vocally she did not sound ill at all! - although I did sense in her breathing she didn't sound 100% well. I swear she smiled and winked at me at one point, but then I was grinning from ear to ear as I didn't think I would get to see her! She really went crazy with the riffing as I guess it's the only time she's allowed to do it! the crowd went mental at every one, Wicked fans seem to love adlibs and changes actresses make to the songs.

Here's the video link, I would like the think the quality is VERY good.




Funnily enough I saw that irritating girl... who was looking very sheepish... clearly she was proved WRONG! A lot of the crowd when asked by Toby Anstis who their favourite performance was, 3 out of 4 asked said WICKED! :)











The rest of West End Live was very good... especially seeing my first Elphaba, CASSIDY JANSON in Avenue Q being as funny as ever.

If i'm being picky the guy who played Frankie Valli was AWFUL, he clearly couldnt hear the music and went spectacularly off key quite a few times :s
who else.... uh Siobhan Dillon, I've met her a few times randomly and she's lovely and I am a fan... but I was not very impressed with her as SANDY. - I think she's got more of a classical voice.
Couple of snooze shows... Dirty Dancing (aka Bad dancing) and Love never dies (aka Paint Never Dries)
...also sweet Charity.... WHY NO SINGING? the audience were dumbfounded. I was expecting to see Tamzin outhwaite.
shock Impressiveness has to go to Thriller Live - ZOE BIRKETT!?!? all of them were incredible. I'm not particularly a fan of Michael Jackson, but the talent in this cast, I'd consider seeing it!
The Brazil brazil gymnastic guys were astounding! One guy doing somersaults so fast he appeared to just be spinning in mid air.

Can't wait for Pride in 2 weeks, definitely going to take my RACHEL banner.... I wonder if she would like to keep it? :)

The Wizard And I at West End Live

Big thanks to Georgia for her excellent review and photos in the post below. Now for the video courtesy of Theatre Breaks -- three words -- oh my God...

Georgia's Day at West End Live

We've had our first West End Live review sent to us by Team Tucker member Georgia. She was lucky enough to see some great acts at Leicester Square today and was obviously delighted that Rachel managed to shake off her recent illness to wow the crowd with a stunning performance of 'The Wizard and I':


Decided to go to West End Live today, despite having been out in Newcastle all day beforehand and being very tired. We caught the train to London at half nine, queued in the not so big queue (compared to last year as we got there early) and were inside the gates at 11 when it started with Brazil Brazil, and interesting show of football and gym skills with some very catchy music. Sadly the presenters this year weren't up to Biggins's standards, so they had five to replace him!!
Dirty Dancing was fab, the sneak preview of Burn The Floor was impressive, but then came Rachel and everything changed!

Before she came on they played a good luck message from Louise and Lee, which amusingly had a time delay meaning Louise's speech was when Lee's mouth moved, the result was a very amusing message! Then Rachel came onto the stage, i'd seen her play Scara in WWRY, at the ALW Party and at West End Live last year, but this time she was completely different, the best i have EVER seen. She was incredible and all the die-hard Wicked fans around me all seemed to love it too as she belted the Wizard And I, it was incredible, a world class performance!!



She was followed, rather aptly by We Will Rock You, who were fabulous as always, and this time the new Meat was accompanied by Brit to sing I Want It All, a song i wished i'd seen Rachel perform! The cast seem fab, Gallileo seems very physically like Jon Boydon, but not quite as good as him. However the woman whose name is not on the WWRY website but who i think is Brenda Edwards of X-factor fame as Killer Queen was amazing!!

The next few shows Billy Elliot (the kids are amazing), Love Never Dies (Sierra incredible as always), Chicago was great, but not quite the same with no Jerry Springer, Hair was interesting and im not sure what i make of it.
Jersey Boys with Jon Boydon were incredible, i really want to see it now. Sweet Charity, disappointing as they sang no songs. Grease was incredible, my third faves of the day (behind WWRY and Rachel). Mamma Mia was a sing-a-long fest!

A surprise visit from Simon Webbe (Blue) then it was Sister Act and Thriller Live. We left Leicester Sqaure very happy (though not as happy as our friends who bumped into Danielle Hope).

Today was another incredible day for Rachel, and i will have to try and see her in Wicked. She is amazing!



Georgia's video:

Rachel at Westend Live

As mentioned, Rachel has been off ill for a couple of days, but I'm very glad to say she was well enough to perform at West End Live this morning.

Initial audience reports are hugely positive and we should have some photos over the weekend. If you have any photos or even better video footage, please email us at dlar193076@aol.com

West End Live Times

For anyone lucky enough to be going to West End Live this Saturday (19th), the event will run from 11am to 6pm and Rachel will be performing at 11.35. The 'Wicked' slot is scheduled from 11.35 to 11.45, followed rather appropriately by WWRY.

And of course being Rachel, she is doing the Saturday matinee performance as usual, quite probably putting some shelves up in between.

If you're going, have a great day and send us some photos!

You can view the full line-up for both days on the West End Live site here:

WEST END LIVE SITE

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As Dan correctly points out in his comment, Rachel hasn't been well this week. We want to wish her a speedy recovery and hope she's back at work soon.

£100 Million For Wicked

In just 3 1/2 years Wicked has taken over £100 million at the box office and unlike most shows its popularity continues to grow. With Rachel now leading an exciting new cast for 2010 I can't see that changing any time soon.

The following article was written by Alistair Smith for 'The Stage News'. He discusses this incredible acheivement with the shows executive producer Michael McCabe:


Wicked has now taken more than £100 million at the box office since opening at the West End’s Apollo Victoria in September 2006.

The musical by Stephen Schwartz, which passed the milestone last week, has now played more than 1,500 performances in London. The production currently stars Rachel Tucker, Louise Dearman and Lee Mead.

Executive producer Michael McCabe told The Stage that audiences for the musical showed no signs of tailing off. He said: “It’s still going incredibly strong. This year, we’ve already done our second and fourth highest grossing weeks of the run so far. It’s astonishing that we’re still growing - you expect to open a show at its biggest point and then gradually over the years see diminishing returns, but hopefully remain profitable. What we’re doing is still going up - that’s the real phenomenon of Wicked, it hasn’t plateaued. It just keeps on surprising us.

“When we opened, we would have loved to think, in our wildest dreams, that at the Apollo Victoria, we’d do five years. All of a sudden, we’re about to go into our fifth year with no sign of us going anywhere. That is amazing and gives you the chance to plan. We tend to plan a year ahead. We have no idea when the momentum will slow, but at the moment, it keeps on delivering.”

Earlier this year, Wicked won the Audience Award at the Oliviers. However, when it opened in 2006, it received four nominations but failed to convert any into wins.

McCabe stressed the success of the show had been based on “word of mouth” from audiences, despite mixed reviews when it first opened. He also said he felt that releasing the show’s box office figures had helped to propel its success.

He added: “We’ve always been very open about our figures. We’re very proud of the achievement and I think a lot of the time at the beginning, it was very purposeful to steer away from the industry apathy [for the show]. We thought, ‘Well, let the numbers speak for themselves’.”

Rachel the DJ

Rachel will be playing some of her favourite music in a special edition of the BBC Radio Ulster Late Show on Friday 2nd July at 10pm.

Her choices will include artists as diverse as Blondie, Beyonce, Sammy Davis and Cheryl Cole - songs which have featured in the soundtrack to her life and career.

Radio Ulster is available to listen live online and the show will almost certainly be on Iplayer too.

BBC Radio Ulster is on 92–95FM & DAB digital radio,
digital TV and online at Radio Ulster

Two great Rachel dates coming up!

Rachel will be performing at West End Live on June 19th and at London Gay Pride on July 3rd. There's a strong possibility that 'The Wizard and I' may be featuring!

If any of you lucky lucky London people get to either date, please send us any photos you can!

The Wizard and I

Additional Days Off

Rachel will be off for three days next week (Thursday 10th June to Saturday 12th inclusive).

Thank you from Rachel!

Rachel wants to say a massive, huge thank you to all the people who wished her a happy birthday, whether it was by card (including some beautiful hand made ones!), letter, flowers, gifts or on Twitter. She was really overwhelmed by the response - so huge thanks to everyone!

She would also like to send her apologies to all those who waited at the stage door on Saturday night -- she did have birthday plans and was running extremely late that night, otherwise like any other night she would have come out!

Rachel is loving doing every show and the support at the stage door and letters she receives are more than she had ever thought possible! The last 10 weeks have been everything she could have wanted from this role and more. She has now mastered Twitter so everyone is welcome to follow her and ask questions about the show etc.

By the way Rachel's Twitter address is:

Rachel's Twitter Page


ANDY - I would just like to thank Rachel for sending her apologies for not making the stage door last Saturday night and also for the personal email message she sent me via David. It really does mean a lot to know how much she cares about her fans. It's completely understandable that she had plans on her Birthday but hopefully I'll have more luck on my next visit which I'm hoping to coincide with a trip to Wimbledon (Tennis) at the end of the month.