Wicked tickets<\/a> on LondonTheatre.co.uk<\/p>\n![\"idina-menzel-and-kristin-chenoweth-1200](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/idina-menzel-and-kristin-chenoweth-1200_LT.jpg\")
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1. Stephen Schwartz discovered Wicked on holiday<\/p>\n
The composer was snorkelling in Hawaii when he heard about an incredible new novel, which told the Oz story from the Wicked Witch\u2019s perspective. He was immediately hooked on the premise for what turned out to be Gregory Maguire\u2019s Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.<\/p>\n
2. Teenage drama was the perfect background<\/p>\n
Book writer Winnie Holzman was also instantly intrigued by the novel, and was the ideal fit for the show: she had previously created the teenage TV series My So-Called Life, starring Claire Danes. The authentic adolescent characters in Wicked, and especially the richly drawn Elphaba and Glinda, are part of why the show is so adored by fans.<\/p>\n
3. Wicked was originally planned as a movie<\/p>\n
That is, until Schwartz made a passionate case for why the citizens of Oz just have to sing! Of course, the project recently came happily full circle, with the stage musical becoming a big-screen hit thanks to the two mega-successful Wicked films.<\/p>\n
4. Elphaba owes her name to the original author<\/p>\n
Ever wondered where Elphaba got her distinctive monicker? She is never actually named in L. Frank Baum\u2019s 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz \u2013 but, in a roundabout way, the author did inspire it. Maguire cleverly took Baum\u2019s initials, \u201cL. F. B.\u201d, and turned them into \u201cElphaba\u201d. Magic!<\/p>\n
5. Stephanie J. Block first defied gravity<\/p>\n
The first ever Elphaba was actress Stephanie J. Block, who inhabited the role in the developmental workshops alongside the show\u2019s eventual Glinda, Kristin Chenoweth. Although Block didn\u2019t continue with the show at that stage, she later returned to play Elphaba in the first US tour and was also a celebrated Broadway replacement.<\/p>\n
6. Idina Menzel went green immediately<\/p>\n
The actress was committed to the role from the very start. She turned up to her audition wearing green eye shadow and green lipstick, and wearing dark, grungy clothes in order to channel the misunderstood witch. It paid off: she was soon painted green for real!<\/p>\n
7. Wicked became a Broadway smash<\/p>\n
The show opened on Broadway in 2003, and immediately chimed with audiences. It was a huge success, recouping its $14 million investment in just 14 months. It won three Tony Awards: Best Actress for Menzel, Best Scenic Design for Eugene Lee, and Best Costume Design for Susan Hilferty.<\/p>\n
![\"Wicked](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/wicked_1200_LT_credit_Matt_Crockett_2025-26.jpg\")
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8. Costume inspirations included Princess Diana<\/p>\n
Wicked is a true stage spectacular, featuring more than 200 costumes in a style that Hilferty calls \u201ctwisted Edwardian\u201d. Inspirations for Glinda\u2019s majestic look included Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s coronation, Princess Diana\u2019s wedding, and Dior, while Elphaba is connected to nature via fossil and stalactite patterns woven into her dress.<\/p>\n
9. The key to Elphaba’s green is MAC make-up<\/p>\n
Elphaba\u2019s greenifying process is complex but actually quite quick to achieve: around half an hour. The make-up used includes MAC Landscape Green Chromacake, a water-activated paint, applied with large Hake brushes, and then a custom mix of MAC Paint Sticks for each actress, such as True Chartreuse, all sealed in with a finishing powder.<\/p>\n
10. Wicked’s set revolves around a clock<\/p>\n
The Wicked set design was inspired by a W. W. Denslow illustration in Maguire\u2019s novel showing huge, fantastical gears and cogs from an ancient clock \u2013 known as the Clock of the Time Dragon. Although that particular storyline (which involves a travelling mechanical puppet theatre) didn\u2019t make it to stage, the incredible aesthetics did.<\/p>\n
11. Fog and lighting rule in Wicked<\/p>\n
The fog in Wicked is serious business. The show uses around 250lb of dry ice per performance, making a vital contribution to the production\u2019s atmosphere and mystical quality. The lighting is astonishing too: the London production has 498 lighting fixtures and 88 moving lights.<\/p>\n
12. Elphaba actually flies<\/p>\n
Of course, the most iconic effect in the show is Elphaba taking flight during Act I closer \u201cDefying Gravity\u201d. This jaw-dropping \u2013 and technically demanding \u2013 stunt involves a body harness and flying wire hidden under the actress\u2019s costume, with the cable connected to a flying mechanism that lifts her skyward.<\/p>\n
13. London’s Wicked has incredible actresses<\/p>\n
The first ever British actress to play Elphaba in London was Kerry Ellis, in January 2007. Since then, the West End has seen a host of remarkable performers as Elphaba and Glinda, including Rachel Tucker, Louise Dearman, Willemijn Verkaik, Emma Hatton, Alice Fearn, Lucie Jones, Dianne Pilkington, Gina Beck, Savannah Stevenson, and Sophie Evans.<\/p>\n
14. Alexia Khadime made Wicked history twice<\/p>\n
In 2008 the actress became the first Black principal Elphaba in the West End, and then in 2023 she and Lucy St. Louis, playing Glinda, became the first ever actresses of colour to be leading the show full-time together.<\/p>\n
![\"Wicked](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Lucy-St.-Louis-Glinda-and-Alexia-Khadime-Elphaba_Photo-by-Matt-Crockett_8332_RT.jpg\")
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15. Wicked is a thrillifying London favourite<\/p>\n
The show opened at the Victoria Apollo Theatre in 2006 and now, 20 years later, has run for more than 7,500 shows, welcoming more than 13 million people. It\u2019s currently the ninth longest-running West End show ever. The show is enormous around the world too: it\u2019s been seen by over 70 million people in more than 130 cities.<\/p>\n
16. Wicked has even gone into space<\/p>\n
Very aptly, NASA used \u201cDefying Gravity\u201d as a wake-up call for astronaut Dorothy \u201cDottie\u201d Metcalf-Lindenburger during a Space Shuttle Discovery mission in 2010. Everyone deserves a chance to fly \u2013 and no one\u2019s going to bring them down.<\/p>\n
17. Wicked broke a Hollywood record<\/p>\n
After years of fans calling for a movie adaptation, Wicked finally hit the big screen in 2024 (followed by the second part in 2025). The film \u2013 starring Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, and Jeff Goldblum \u2013 was an enormous success, making $764 million at the box office and becoming the highest-grossing musical film adaptation ever. It was nominated for 10 Oscars and won two: for Costume Design and Production Design.<\/p>\n
18. Wicked has very starry cameos<\/p>\n
The movie honoured its heritage by giving cameo roles to the original Elphaba and Glinda: Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth. The pair appear during \u201cOne Short Day\u201d. Other Wicked cameos include the original Fiyero, Michael McCorry Rose, book and screenplay writer Winnie Holzman, composer Stephen Schwartz, and two West End Wicked performers: Adam James and Alice Fearn, who play Glinda\u2019s parents.<\/p>\n
19. Wicked has conquered the charts<\/p>\n
The original Broadway cast recording has gone quadruple platinum, selling more than four million copies, and won a Grammy Award in 2005. The movie soundtrack was a smash as well, becoming the most-streamed musical soundtrack on Amazon Music within 24 hours of release, and debuting at number two on the Billboard 200.<\/p>\n
20. Wicked celebrates 20 years with a history-maker<\/p>\n
Joining Kingston and Strallen in the 20th anniversary London cast from Broadway is Jordan Litz, who has already done 1,700 performances as Fiyero \u2013 making him the longest-running Fiyero ever, perfect casting for this record year! Wicked just keeps dancing through life: here\u2019s to another 20 years.<\/p>\n
Book Wicked tickets<\/a> on LondonTheatre.co.uk<\/p>\nMain photo credit: Emma Kingston in Wicked (Photo by Mark Senior). Inset: Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, Zizi Strallen, Alexia Khadime and Lucy St. Louis (Photos by Joan Marcus, Matt Crockett)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The thrillifying musical has run for two decades at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in the West End, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[26],"tags":[27],"class_list":["post-114259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-london","tag-london"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117189300390555626","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}