Review: Kerry Ellis returns to Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre

Wicked

Apollo Victoria Theatre

Reviewed on Monday 4th August 2014

★★★★★

Kerry Ellis as Elphaba

Running on to a never ending round of applause, those who innocently bought a ticket to a random Monday evening performance of Wicked must have wondered what all the fuss was about when Kerry Ellis made her first entrance during last night's performance.

Of course many were there, clapping as fast and screaming as loud as humanly possibly, to see Kerry Ellis - who was the first British actress to star as Elphaba in the West End and Broadway productions of Wicked - reprise her celebrated performance for the first time in five years ahead of a limited twelve week run.

Despite Ellis being something of a Wicked legend, this was my first time seeing her as Elphaba (aka the Wicked Witch of the West), the most sought after female role in musical theatre.

Based on Gregory Maguire’s novel of the same name, Wicked tells the cleverly put together untold story of the witches of Oz. We first meet Elphaba and Glinda (the Good) as students; during act one we learn about their pasts before discovering what really happened whilst Dorothy was following the yellow brick road during act two.

Interview: Katie Rowley Jones, currently starring as Nessarose in Wicked

Katie Rowley Jones is currently playing Nessarose in the West End production of Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. 

The Olivier Award winning musical, which is currently booking until 1st November 2014, has already been seen by over 5 million people since its premiere in September 2006. Wicked, which tells the incredible untold story of the Witches of Oz, is already the 15th longest-running West End musical of all time.

Katie originated the role of Nessarose when the musical first opened in the West End in 2006 and, after a few years away pursuing other projects, last year returned to reprise the role while also understudying Elphaba.

Katie’s other theatre credits include: 'Sister Mary Robert' in Sister Act (Palladium, original cast), 'Belle' in Disney's Beauty and the Beast (UK tour), 'Ann' in Raindogs (Trafalgar Studios), 'Sandy' in Grease (Larnarca Amphitheatre), 'Janet' in The Rocky Horror Show (Queens and UK tour), 'Swallow' in Whistle Down the Wind (original UK tour), the title roles in Cinderella (Cambridge Arts Theatre), Snow White (Gordon Craig) and Sleeping Beauty (Northcott). 

Her workshop credits include: 'Shazza' in Bridget Jones the Musical, 'Althea' in The Light Princess (National Theatre), 'Maggie' in Lend Me A Tenor and 'Annette' in Marguerite. Last year Katie was a soloist in A Night of 1000 Voices at the Royal Albert Hall.

I recently spoke to Katie about what it was like working alongside Wicked’s original creative team, why she decided to return to the show and what it was like to recently defy gravity when she went on as Elphaba for the first time...

Let’s go back to the very beginning… when you got the part in the original cast did you have any idea as to how huge Wicked was going to be?

I remember somebody gave me a recording of the soundtrack. It was in the days of mini-discs before YouTube. Everyone was talking about it and saying “have you heard about this show?”, “my friend went to see it on Broadway”. I had listened to the soundtrack over and over again and was waiting for it come over, like everyone else! So I absolutely knew about the show and wanted to be in it!

New Wicked Cast Announced

At long last the new cast of Wicked has been announced! So, without further ado,  from Monday 29 October 2012, Wicked will star: Louise Dearman (Elphaba), Gina Beck (Glinda), Ben Freeman (Fiyero), Louise Plowright (Madame Morrible), Keith Bartlett (The Wizard), Christopher Howell (Doctor Dillamond), Sam Lupton (Boq), Katie Rowley Jones (Nessarose), Hayley Gallivan (Standby Elphaba), Lucy van Gasse (Standby Glinda), Florence Andrews, Gemma Atkins, William Bozier, Oliver Brenin, Lauren Brooke, Philip Catchpole, Aisling Duffy, Chlöe Hart, Jacqueline Hughes, Robert Jones, Sophie Linder Lee, Tania Mathurin, Marc McBride, Stacey McGuire, Tom Muggeridge, Sean Parkins, Michelle Pentecost, Stuart Ramsay, Lindsay Taylor, Paulo Teixeira, Justin Thomas, Hannah Toy, Matt Turner, Oliver Watton and Jason Winter.