Prisoner of Melbourne: Wicked

When in Oz, we’re off to see the historic Regent Theatre and all the men and women behind its curtain. Maggie Kirkpatrick continues her engagement as Madame Morrible in the Melbourne production of the made-in-San Francisco franchise musical based on the book by Gregory Maguire.

Regent Theatre, 191 Collins Street, Melbourne.

Jeff wants me to be nice, but I never liked Wicked. Is it a rock opera or a showtune musical? It doesn’t have one catchy, tuneful song. If she says, ‘Don’t clear my name,’ why does the whole show do that? Elphaba being the daughter of a powerless wizard makes no sense whatsoever. And – what’s the point of the wizard sending Dorothy to retrieve the broomstick when he has repeated access to it in the second act and actually handles it twice? But hey, we thought Maggie was great and Wicked much improved over the original, pre-Broadway version we saw at the Curran on Geary Street a few years back.

As Madame Morrible, Kirkpatrick has a Freak moment near the end of the second act when she menaces Glinda, reminding the good witch of her own culpability in the matter of Elphaba. Morrible and Joan Ferguson meet similar fates.

Back at Wentworth, they called one good, the other the Freak.

OTI tells Prisoner fans to keep their eyes open for Prisoner portrayers around Melbourne. The show employed hundreds of people during its 692-episode run. We met up with a few, but we don’t lag.