WICKED THE MUSICAL: The Review

The novel-based musical in London’s Apollo theatre has caused major hype since it began to run in 2006 – and rightfully so. Stephen Schwartz’s musical adaptation of Gregory Maguire’s novel provides a powerful and entertaining show. Just walking into the theatre, which illuminates the whole of Wilton Road with a green glow, you’re surrounded by an excited and – as cheesy as it sounds – magical atmosphere.

The musical provides an alternative viewpoint to the famous story The Wizard of Oz. It tells the story of Elphaba, the wicked witch of the west, who is currently played by Rachel Tucker. The audience is shown a different side to the evil witch that is portrayed in the story of The Wizard of Oz and how she came to be wicked.

The story also shows Elphaba’s relationship with Glinda, the good witch of the north, played by Louise Dearman.  Dearman wonderfully acts the difficult part, in which the most widely known and somewhat ‘perfect’  good witch of the north,  with a comic portrayal of the actually less-than-perfect Glinda.

Though the musical would assumedly be quite suitable for children, the plot shows corruption in government in Oz and is darker and more complex than the storyline of the much loved film adaptation of the Wizard of Oz.

The plot is both entertaining and is able to reach out to a broad spectrum of any potential audience – even the males who had been dragged a long to the performance kicking and screaming, such as my brother, shut off their iPhones which they had intended to watch the football on and gave the show their full concentration after the first five minutes.

 The amazing vocals of all the cast eradicate any annoyance you may have had over the ridiculously priced ice-cream and drinks you purchased in the interval. Rachel Tucker’s spectacular performance in the iconic song ‘Defying Gravity’ was in particular, awe inspiring.

If the show, which has recently been voted ‘The Best Long-running West End Show’, instantly turns you into another of the many die-hard fans then you will be pleased to know that you’ll be instantaneously greeted by a large number of different merchandise upon leaving the theatre.

Wicked is most definitely three hours and thirty-five pounds well spent. The entire audience leaves in a heightened mood and go on to annoy passers-by on the journey home by singing the catchy songs within the show.

Dorset's Hidden Gem

Annabelle Chisholm

It’s a quiet Monday afternoon and I’m sat in a small white room, surrounded by the largest array of jewels I’ve ever seen. I’m chatting to Annabelle Chisholm, a lively 30 year old from Poole and proprietor of the prestigious jewellery boutique Beau Bijou in Westbourne. Annabelle’s neat dark hair and elegant appearance reflects both the pride she has in herself and her store.

Annabelle, along with her mother Joy Marsh, is a long time collector of vintage costume jewellery. From the age of sixteen she and her mother used to travel and collect different pieces of vintage jewellery as well as other antiques until the obsession proved to cause difficulties.

“We were falling over it. We didn’t know what to do with it all! We absolutely love vintage costume jewellery. I’m all about big, statement, individual, vintage pieces”

It was at this point that the pair decided to invest in their hobby and share their collection with the people of Dorset in 2005. Annabelle smiles as she reminisces

Three years later, through good trade and increased business she was able to move the business to Westbourne. The quaint, fashionable town is beset with similar boutiques selling all kinds of goods.

The shop maintained its regular customers. The store is now situated in the heart of Westbourne and has a loyal list of clientele. Many customers regularly travel from London to shop at Beau Bijou. However some customers request services from further afield - as far as Switzerland and New York.

“The most important thing is customer service. Our customers want to see something different. Nothing I sell is mass produced.”

Beau Bijou carries a beautiful range of jewellery.

One customer approached Annabelle requesting a very specific piece of jewellery for her wedding. After searching the country to find such a piece, Annabelle instead decided to give making it herself. She smiles with pride “I knew she wanted it for her wedding. What she forgot to tell me was that she was getting married in St. Paul’s Cathedral!” She adds thoughtfully “It was incredibly bizarre.”

Annabelle learnt to string pearls when making her own jewellery. Upon learning this, The Dorchester Hotel, London, asked Annabelle to string a chandelier made from 69,000 fresh water pearls. The creation took her five weeks to produce and can now be seen in the hotel’s spa. She did all of this while planning her own wedding. She laughs “The wedding was good. Those five weeks were a bit manic though!”

Annabelle has recently split from her husband and they remain on good terms. On the subject of children, she smiles and shakes her head  

“I don’t want kids. This business is my baby!”

Annabelle grew up in Poole and currently lives with her mum and dad. She shows a mischievous grin as she recalls her time spent at her senior school, Henry Harbin (now known as Poole High School). “I guess I was a bit of a class clown and had a little too much to say for myself. The teachers were mostly split, they either loved me or they hated me! I loved school though.”

Like most sixteen year olds finishing school, Annabelle had no idea what she wanted to do. “I went to sixth-form instead of getting a job to be honest!” “After a work placement I ended up dropping out to work full time anyway, I enjoyed what I did at the time and found myself soon entrusted with all sorts of responsibilities.” From then on she progressed to higher positions until she opted for redundancy in 2005. “I didn’t want to be there any more, I felt it was time to do something new”

Annabelle hopes that she will one day be able to expand Beau Bijou further. She is planning to move in with her sister after they embark on opening a second boutique in Westbourne together, selling wedding dresses. Though working with family is something many would be wary of, Annabelle explains cheerfully. “I’m from a very close family, it is sort of ‘out of the frying pan and into the fire’ but I’m looking forward to what’s to come!”

The chandelier now hangs in the Dorchester Hotel spa in London

a life in the day

My day normally starts at around 11am, unless it’s the weekend and then I'm usually rudely awoken at around 8am by my niece and two nephews who stay over and who love to come bother me at what seems like the crack of dawn. I live in a village in Lincolnshire with my Mum. Both my siblings are older than me and have their own children now. Daniel is 32 and his kids usually stay over on Fridays. My sister, Lucy, is 29 and lives in the same village. I often go over to her house at lunchtime to see if I can get in on their lunch and to see her kids.  I get on really well with both my siblings because of the big age gap. We never really had to live together so we’ve never really fallen out. They do, however, fall out with each other from time to time, even as adults. They both really look out for me but both moan that my mother spoils me more than she did them when they were my age. I always tell them that it’s because I’m her favourite but they won’t have any of it.

I normally wake up too late to bother with breakfast, if I have work I shove a poptart in the toaster and get a quick glass of orange juice before I rush out. I work at the village newsagents which is literally down the road from my house but I often end up being five minutes late, usually because I can’t find my shoes or keys which my mother is likely to have tidied away. I love my job because I get to know a lot of the customers and I can always have a laugh with the other girls who work there. Everyone refers to us all as ‘the girls’ however the staff - though all female - ranges in age from 16 – 50. If the shop is ever a bit quiet I normally end up reading all the newspapers and tv mags. I don’t even really follow soaps properly; I just read what’s happening from time to time. I usually have to fill stock and check the dates. Occasionally I’ll find some sort of chocolate bar or biscuit that is about two months past its best before and have to throw it away. Sometimes you get teenagers coming in trying to buy cigarettes and who insist they’re 18 but have ‘forgotten’ their ID. Nice try.

On weeknights I usually tend to stay in with my mum. We’ll argue about what to have for tea and usually agree to have pasta. My mum makes the best pasta, I’ve often tried to perfect it myself but it’s never quite as good as hers.  Then we’ll watch something on TV, she complains if I put ‘Friends’ on because “we’ve seen them all a thousand times”. We often watch University Challenge together and play it against each other however I am yet to beat her at it.

 On weekends I usually see all my friends. On a Saturday we will all get together at someone’s house and get ready to go out. I can probably get ready the quickest out of all of us but I always leave it to the last minute and have to rush around before the taxi comes to take us into town.  We normally raid all of each others clothes and wear ridiculously high heels that we end up taking off towards the end of the night. We then go into town and meet up with friends who went to our sixth form and spend the night bar-hopping, usually having one too many Malibu and Cokes. Sometimes we don’t bother going out and opt to stay in with a take-out, a bottle of wine and a chick-flick or x-factor. Either way we always have a great time.

 Normally I end up staying up too late, hense why I wake up quite late. I usually go to bed at a reasonable hour but end up awake at stupid’o’clock watching a film or reading blogs and wasting way too much time on facebook re-reading the same status updates that were there an hour ago.