A fantastic evening out to see 'Wicked' for GCSE Music Pupils.

On Tuesday 5^th February, GCSE musicians travelled to the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London to watch a performance of the Broadway hit Musical 'Wicked' with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on Gregory Maguire’s novel 'Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West', a retelling of the 1939 film 'The Wizard of Oz' and L. Frank Baum's classic 1900 novel, 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'. 

From the moment the curtain went up, the audience were captivated with superb music, costume, set, lighting and choreography working together to bring the story to life. Of particular note is the role of Elphaba sung by a ‘belter’ voice - bringing the end of the first half to a dramatic close with the GCSE Music set work 'Defying Gravity'. It was good for the musicians to develop a better understanding of the context of the work within the musical and how Schwartz cleverly weaves melodic ideas heard in 'Defying Gravity' throughout the show, including the ‘Unlimited’ theme, based upon the first few notes of the famous melody 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow', written for the 1939 film 'The Wizard of Oz'.

A fantastic evening, enjoyed by all and well worth a late night.

Ashley Marshfield - Director of Choral Studies