Andy's Wicked Day

It wasn’t until I woke up on Sunday 31st October that I eventually gave in to temptation and decided to make the trip to St. Pancras Station to experience my first ever ‘Wicked Day’.

I rushed around and set off from Bristol at 8:30am. That gave me about 3 hours before the event was meant to start, which I thought should be just enough time. Unfortunately, 50 miles up the M4 the heavens opened and I had to drive through torrential rain from then on. The spray was horrendous and the traffic really built up as I approached Reading and only got worse the closer I got to the capital. When I eventually parked my car in St.Pancras NCP it was just after 12:00pm.

When I entered the station I could hear Rachel and Louise belting out ‘For Good’. Unfortunately St.Pancras is a pretty large place and the mini stage on which they were performing was at the far end. I raced past other Wicked fans and daily commuters but only arrived as the song was coming to an end. I didn’t even get chance to take my camera out at that stage.

Now the order in which things happened after that is a little blurry. I don’t have the best memory and of course due to the fantastic news of Rachel’s contract extension I am writing this over a week late.

I think the first autograph signing session was arranged for 1:00pm, so before that I went for a wonder round. Everything was quite spread out and I know a lot of people preferred 2010’s more intimate setting but I wasn’t there last year so I can’t really compare.

There were Wicked stalls everywhere, some selling merchandise but others happy to take any sort of donation for the less expensive items. I popped a couple of pounds into a collection pot and picked up a Wicked Day 2010 poster.

Costumes from the show were on display in numerous shops, there was a story telling workshop for kids, face painting and other activities. I saw various cast members walking around, George Ure (Boq), Cassandra Compton (Nessarose) and Sarah Earnshaw (Standby Glinda), all of which were more than happy to stop and chat to fans.

I stopped for a bit to enjoy the Wicked karaoke. The standard of those singing varied quite a bit if I’m honest but it was good fun. I might have been tempted to take part had a duet with Rachel been on offer but unfortunately it wasn’t, so I gave it a miss.

By the time I made my way back to the autograph area the queue was very long. I could also see that the Wicked staff were ushering everyone through pretty quickly because they had a schedule to keep to, so I would have barely have had time to say hello. I decided at that point to try and catch Rachel a little later.

That autograph session finished at about 1:30pm – I think – and as the Wicked staff tried to rush Rachel and Louise off to their next assignment I managed to grab a few words with the lady I’d come to see.

I know I always say she looks stunning and that’s no lie but this time she looked even more amazing than ever, dressed in a incredible Wicked t-shirt that she customised herself. Check out the picture at the top of the post or the one at the bottom and you'll see what I mean. I think we’ll need to add fashion designer to her ever growing list of talents.

I got her to sign my Wicked Day poster and told her that I’ll be selling it either on the blog or on EBay, giving the proceeds to the events charity, the Woodlands Trust; more on that later. We could only have a brief chat because the organisers were very keen on everything running to time but she was as lovely as always and seemed apologetic as they encouraged her to get a move on.

After getting a bite to eat I purchased a standard Wicked poster and Wicked card holder from another of the charity stalls. Unfortunately I didn’t get chance to get those signed but whoever purchases the Wicked Day poster will get those as well.

At about 2:45pm it was time for Rachel and Louise – I think Lee was there too – to judge the Glee Club performances. The first act – pictured above – chose Defying Gravity as their song which went down well with the mass crowd of Wicked fans watching on. I stayed to watch the first couple before having to leave for the long drive home at about 3:15pm. I had plans in the evening that I couldn’t really get out of.

I have to say I think it’s a great event and I want to thank Rachel and all the cast for giving up their day off to meet the fans and help raise money for a good cause. I’ll definitely be going back next year.

The Wicked Day 2010 auction is currently on EBay with so much memorabilia you won’t know where to start. The sensational T-Shirt I mentioned above which was designed by Rachel is one of the items available, although you’ll need to dig deep if you want it because bids have been flying in and the current highest is £151.00. Most of the cast designed their own tops for the auction but Rachel’s is clearly the best and is understandably proving to be the most popular. There is only about a day left to run on most items so if you want to pick up a unique memento of the show I suggest you follow the below link and get bidding NOW. Good luck!

WICKED DAY EBAY AUCTION