Fionna's Review

Fionna has been a long-term Rachel fan and last week she got to see her in Wicked for the first time. Here is her review which I think says it all:

My Review of Wicked - 29/04/2010


I am a massive fan of Rachel and Wicked so when I found out that Rachel had landed the part of Elphaba I was ecstatic!!!! And then I realized that I was going on a Year 11 school trip to see Wicked! I had never gotten the chance to see Rachel in We Will Rock You so I finally got my chance! I had already seen Wicked before, when Kerry Ellis was Elphaba and she was brilliant in the role but I just knew that Rachel was going to be even better!

So it was a Thursday night that 160, 16 year old, girls from Watford went to see Wicked. To say that we were excited is a bit of an understatement! When we finally got to the theatre we found our seats, which were in rows U to Y - which I thought sounded really bad but we had an amazing view and you could see everything. My year took up a massive chunk of the stalls and the screaming and clapping soon started as soon as the curtain went up! Louise as Galinda in the bubble was brilliant and funny and I loved how her Galinda was so different from Dianne Pilkington - who was a very squeaky Galinda!

I was so nervous when waiting for Rachel to appear on stage, I think it’s because my expectations were so high because of all the reviews that I’ve read and the recordings on YouTube that I’ve listened to but as soon as she came running on all painted in green, I knew that she was going to be fantastic! The Wizard and I was so beautiful and Rachel really showed off her acting ability! The audience just fell in love with her after this song and the cheers were deafening afterwards! Next we had What Is This Feeling? which was hilarious!!!!!! Louise and Rachel bounced off each other so perfectly, Rachel’s line “blonde” got a lot of laughs! Oh and Rachel’s slow dancing after Galinda embarrasses Elphaba with the witches hat was amazing :D

I was so excited for Popular because it is so funny! When Louise was trying to dance around the stage and singing “La, la, la la” was brilliant! Rachel’s I’m Not That Girl was heartbreakingly beautiful and the way that she acted the song was mindblowingly good!

Lewis Bradley as Fiyero was actually really good. I didn’t like Lewis at all when he was in Any Dream Will Do but he really surprised me and he seemed a natural at the role! Lets just say that a lot of girls were screaming for him at the end! The only problem with Lewis is that he is soooooooo tall and Rachel is tiny next to him! It was really funny watching them stand side by side!

The moment that I had been waiting for came - Defying Gravity! My mouth dropped open as I listened to her sing the notes with such emotion and power. I looked at everyone around me and they were doing exactly the same! The last note was phenomenal and the riff that Rachel has added is astounding! She was unbelievable and my eyes were glued to her throughout the whole song! She has to be the best Elphaba ever!

I really could go on and on and on about how good Rachel was in Defying Gravity! During the interval that’s all that anyone could talk about and how could someone even hit those notes? I maybe should mention some of the other cast members! I absolutely love Wicked Witch of The East and I wish they made it into a longer song because the notes that Nessarose who was being played by Stevie Tate-Bauer, hits are brilliant! As Long As Your Mine was so special and Rachel and Lewis really seemed like they were in their own little bubble!

Rachel singing “FIYERO!!!!!!!!!” gave me goose bumps in No Good Deed - which is now one of my favourite songs! The passion and emotion that Rachel brings to this song is unbelievable! Once again my mouth dropped open at the end note! I actually can’t stop listening to this song on YouTube!!!!!

For Good between Rachel and Louise was amazing! I really didn’t want it to end! Then the finale came around way too quickly! As we saw Elphaba and Fiyero walk into the distance, it was the perfect end to a perfect musical. Wicked has always been an amazing musical but Rachel has made the role her own! We were sitting near the back of the theatre, yet we could see everything so clearly and that just shows you that Rachel really can fill up the whole theatre - no matter where you are sitting! Also Rachel’s English accent was so good! You could really hear how clear it was in Defying Gravity and you would never know that Rachel has a strong Irish accent! Of course Rachel got a standing ovation at the end and she deserved it because her performance was brilliant and I would pay to see her again and again! I can’t wait to see Lee Mead as Fiyero because I think his and Rachel’s chemistry will be amazing! To think that Rachel didn’t even get to the final of I’d Do Anything (which I was gutted about) and so she came 4th, yet she is now in the lead role in one of the best musical’s ever! Rachel is definitely the most successful Nancy and I am so happy that she is getting the success that she deserves! If you haven’t seen Rachel as Elphaba then do because she is the best Elphaba there has ever been!!!!!!!