Review: WICKED Continues To Amaze Audiences 9 Years After Toronto Debut

One can't help but leave the Ed Mirvish Theatre on a high after a performance of "Wicked," a musical now in its 11th year on Broadway. The show is visually stunning with a well placed plot and one catchy show tune after the next. Who could possibly dislike "Wicked?" The Wizard sings a short song in the show which begins with "I am a sentimental man," and as I watched him call the guards just before Elphaba (the Wicked Witch) takes flight at the close of the first act - I realized that this lyric perfectly summed up my thoughts on the production I was seeing tonight.

Anyone who's gone to the theatre semi-regularly in the last decade will have likely already seen "Wicked," and people who saw it for the first time when it was still billed as "Wicked: A New Musical" are now taking their own children to the show for the first time.

My first exposure to "Wicked" was during the first return engagement of the first national tour in 2006. I remember it as clearly as I do the performance I saw this evening. Megan Hilty (of NBC's "SMASH" fame) stole the show as Glinda while Shoshana Bean brought tears to my eyes as Elphaba - and even though I've seen "Wicked" a few times since then, no repeat performance has perfectly captured the awe I felt seeing it live on stage for the first time.

All these years later, it's a comfort to know that the show is still playing to capacity houses in two touring cities every night as well as at the Gershwin Theatre on Broadway. (One could also mention the London production and several other international productions.)

Kara Lindsay is Glinda in the latest company to visit Toronto and her take on the role is one I've seen before. Her over-the-top "mean girls" persona has become the de facto choice for young actresses in this part - and it works perfectly. In this production Lindsay is paired alongside the vocal powerhouse of Laurel Harris as Elphaba. Harris is perfectly cast as the misunderstood green girl; she brings a vulnerability to the role that I've found other performers in the same part lacked in companies past. Her voice is rich and soars through the theatre in her big eleven o'clock numbers.

Special mention must be made of Emily Behny who plays Nessarose, Elphaba's sister of a perfectly normal colour. Behny makes excellent use of all the material she is given and brings something new to the character, stealing every scene she appears in. Her only solo number in the show, "The Wicked Witch of the East" brought tears to my eyes - something that has never happened to me previously in the four times I've seen "Wicked."

While no repeat performance will ever enchant the same way as the first time I saw it, the current production of "Wicked" gracing the stage of the Ed Mirvish Theatre captures the magic perfectly all these years later and will be a treat for those sentimentally returning to OZ again, or those who have the pleasure of experiencing it for the very first time.

Go and see it. I promise you won't be dissapointed.

Wicked is now playing at the Ed Mirvish Theatre through November 2nd. Tickets are available over the phone by calling 416-872-1212 (toll free at 1-800-461-3333) or online via TicketKing.com.

Follow Alan Henry on twitter @alanhenryTO.

Photos: The Emerald City Company of "Wicked" (2014). All production photos by Joan Marcus.

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