Profile for Christopher Gough

Sir Percival Glyde.

I should imagine that Idina Menzel will have had enough of Elphaba after her engagement here in London. I saw her again last night and her performance is still amazing, but I would guess she'd want to do some other roles? I shouldn't think her pay cheque bothers the production company. The London production has to be taking more than £650,000 per week. 18,000ish seats - average price £40? I'm sure they'd have her for as long as she can bear to be greenified.

Err....seven!

I fondly remember being at the last night of 'A Chorus Line' here in London many years ago. If it takes up the Broadway board as much as 'Wicked' did - then great. If people like it enough we might get another production here in London. I have had an early dinner here in London (wonderful Aberdeen Angus steak and some great French grenache noir) listening to the London cast recording of 'Sunday in the Park with George' which has been - well just blissful! 'Sunday' has appeared on another thre...

Two countries divided by a common language and all that.....

Having seen the London show more than a few times now, I don't think those video snippets are representative of the quality of the performances given with an audience in front of the performers. I am guessing, but it seems to me that what we see are sections of the show performed just for the recording of the publicity video - they don't have the same oomph as normally performed. Having listened for months to the OBCR it was a shock (even for us Brits) to hear some parts performed with an Eng...

Tim Walker - 'Sunday Telegraph' - 5 star review: - "Since my esteemed colleague Charles Spencer (Daily Telegraph) pronounced 'Billy Elliot' the best British musical he'd ever seen, it seems tantamount to blasphemy to suggest that it could possibly have a rival. 'Wicked' is an American musical - it's just swooped into the Apollo Victoria, fresh from Broadway - but it will, I predict, leave Master Elliot on the floor, spread-eagled and dazed. A 'prequel' to 'The Wizard of Oz', it relates how th...

Michael Billington - 'Guardian' Friends of Dorothy may be diverted by this musical prequel to The Wizard of Oz. But, although it has been a hit in New York, it seems all too typical of the modern Broadway musical: efficient, knowing and highly professional but more like a piece of industrial product than something that genuinely touches the heart or mind. Winnie Holzman's crowded book is itself based on a novel by Gregory Maguire that imagines the prehistory of both the Wicked and Good Witche...

We love her here - if she wants to stay and become a West End diva - no problem! Lets see what tomorrow's reviews bring.

Every preview (last one tonight) has received a standing ovation in London. If there was a London cast recording with Idina Menzel - it would sell here. Helen Dallimore's different take on Glinda would sell it too!

Nope - no hat in London.

No need to apologise - I think too many people get angry with others on here!!

Hi Yeah - some of the London ones appeared on Broadwayworld - but there is now a larger set on the official UK website - presumably posted yesterday or today.

'Spose it depends on your definition of 'old'! The US ones were still there on Sunday!

Hi The London cast photographs have now been added at www.wickedthemusical.co.uk

I have only seen two of the London previews of 'Wicked' and therefore only seen Idina Menzel in the role of Elphaba. Her performance of 'Defying Gravity' and 'No Good Deed' on the second occasion 'blew me away'. I'm sure Eden Espinosa's and the other leading ladies' performances have their own kind of power too. It made me think that the other person who deserves praise is Stephen Schwartz for providing these wonderfully talented actors with the vehicles in which to showcase their awesome pow...

It has to be 'The Woman in White' I heard it 10 times here in London.

Sold out I believe.

I saw the first preview this evening as well. Yep, this is a BIG show - in a big auditorium - 2,348 seats. I have never seen (or heard) a UK audience react as they did this evening. The atmosphere was electric - the technical fault which burst Glinda's bubble just made everyone cheer even louder when we saw the opening for the second time! Accents - didn't the Wizard fly in by balloon from Omaha? I think he's supposed to be American - I presume that's why Nigel Planer used an American accent....

From what I have read, P L Travers hated the Disney film and exasperated the company execs during its production with constant demands for changes and different interpretations. She was only grudgingly given a last minute invitation to the premiere. Even after the film's premiere she was demanding that the animated sequences be cut - only to be told that 'the boat had sailed'. I read an interview with Cameron Mackintosh where he acknowledged that although everyone loves the Disney film and lo...