Wicked has passed twenty years at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, and the production marked the milestone with a weekend of celebrations that brought former Glindas and Elphabas back to the building. New West End character photography has been released to mark the anniversary.
Wicked reached its twentieth anniversary in the West End on Sunday 27 September, two decades to the day after the musical opened at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in 2006 following previews from 7 September. The production marked the occasion with a weekend of celebratory performances, and has now released new character photography of the current London company alongside pictures taken across the weekend.
Saturday 26 September was given over to the two witches in turn: a Pink matinee in honour of Glinda and a Green evening performance for Elphaba. Costume displays were set out through the theatre, and a photo booth was built around a custom-made Wicked backdrop created by TodayTix Group. Alumni witches attended both performances and spoke to the audience before the curtain went up.
Lydia Gerrard, the current West End Standby for Glinda, led the Glinda speech and was joined onstage by Gina Beck, Dianne Pilkington, Savannah Stevenson, Helen Woolf and Helen Dallimore, the original West End Glinda, each recalling what it was to step into the bubble. Ahead of the evening performance Laura Emmitt, the current West End Alternate Elphaba, welcomed Louise Dearman, Cassidy Janson and Laura Pick to talk about playing the green girl. Zizi Strallen and Emma Kingston each closed their own event with a speech after the performance they had just given. The weekend ended with a gala performance on Sunday 27 September, attended by alumni company members.
The anniversary follows another landmark four days earlier: on Wednesday 23 September the production welcomed its 14 millionth guest to the Apollo Victoria. It is now the ninth longest-running production in West End history, with more than 7,700 London performances behind it.
The London company is led by Emma Kingston as Elphaba and Zizi Strallen as Glinda, with Jordan Litz as Fiyero, Claire Machin as Madame Morrible, Michael Matus as The Wizard, Ross Carpenter as Boq, Yara Fabricante as Nessarose and David McKechnie as Doctor Dillamond. Laura Emmitt is Alternate Elphaba and Lydia Gerrard Standby for Glinda.
Wicked has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman, based on Gregory Maguire’s novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. Musical staging is by Wayne Cilento, with direction by Joe Mantello.
Wicked is booking at the Apollo Victoria Theatre on Wilton Road.
