What is this feeling...?? (or...whatever happened to Lee Mead)?

Name: Wicked
Date: 4th February 2011.
Venue: The Apollo Victoria

Our first proper outing this year was a much anticipated event, and did not let us down. Wicked is something of a Theatrefairy favourite. Full of belting songs, comedy moments, and costumes and staging to leave you wide eyed and gasping. Oh yes, a feast for the senses in every way.

Every time we have seen this show we have seen a different Elphaba, and were looking forward to hearing Rachel Tucker, who we'd heard sing 'The Wizard and I' at West End Live. As well as being Lee Mead's third to last performance, it was approaching the cast change date, and frankly it was time we reacquainted ourselves with the show.

Even before the first notes crash into the auditorium, the first thing you notice is the spectacular staging. The dragon. The clock. The sheer size of the stage. The lighting. It truly is stunning. The flying monkeys are more of an acquired taste (Karina's humble opinion...nightmarish...or maybe that's just her...) but they do tie in with the story line. The costumes are exraordinary. If there ever was a musical theatre production which suited us to a T in design, costumes and colours, it's this one. Absolutely gobsmackingly beautiful in places. Gorgeous.

As for the score, there are a few songs which are already making musical theatre history, despite this being a relatively 'young' musical. Taking in to account that the story itself is flimsy at the best of times, the songs do support the basic themes of friendship and love enduring all sorts of obstacles. Otherwise the storyline itself really doesn't endure closer probing. But it doesn't have to. It's light and fluffy, even when it pretends to be meaningful. No worries. It's a few hours of suspending belief and not taking things too seriously, which always suits us just fine!!



 Musically everything was ok on the night, though the singing sometimes was buried under the orchestra; maybe the sound engineer was having an off-night, or perhaps in our 2011 economy drive we had restricted audio as well as restricted view tickets. Rachel Tucker has an impressive set of pipes. She appeared to be 'holding back' at first, especially noticable during 'The Wizard and I'. Yet by 'Defying Gravity' she let go and was pretty impressive to say the least. Louise Dearman was adorable as Galinda/Glinda and has a very pure, sweet quality to her crystal clear voice. She also has exquisite comic timing, seen to great effect in 'Popular'. The entire cast are strong and seem to enjoy every moment they are on stage. There are characters that are annoying rather than add much to the storyline (Boq, anyone? Or whining Nessa Rose? Cassie Compton we know is a great singer and we heard her sing Eponine in Les Mis on more than one occasion, but she seems a bit wasted in this role), but even so, they work as part of the plot. There remains, however, one performer who we haven't yet discussed and whom we didn't want this blog entry to centre on...yet still...oh what the heck here goes.



 Lee Mead. Initally, we were really quite taken by the boy. Despite his rather strange fanbase and his sometimes odd career choices, we have had a well documented soft spot for Lee and were keen to see him develop and grow as a performer. In 'Joseph' he proved he could sing and was capable of producing rich and beautiful tones and sounds that made us goose pimply. And there was a purity about him. A very likable naivety, if you like, which added to his charm. And he is very handsome. Obviously much happens in three years; he's grown up, he is a father and a husband (an entirely different topic, don't get us started...)...and he's been having singing lessons. Whoever his singing teacher is, he now appears to sing (and speak!) through gritted teeth and through his nose.  And he swallows notes and phrases at the end of bars. It was hard to see, as the angle of our seats led to us staring at his back (and bottom) for much of the show, but this only made the mumbling and clenched teeth sound more obvious. It made for uncomfortable listening sometimes. Especially as, compared to an otherwise talented cast, he didn't stand out. He sounded like a talented amateur, rather than a West End leading man, and that in itself is tragic.Where did his charisma go? Instead of looking like the handsome matinee idol, he looked tired. Possibly that's just fatherhood. Or maybe we don't see him through rose tinted glasses anymore. Lee Mead, sadly, no longer features on our list of top West End men. Comparing him to Ramin Karimloo, David Thaxton, Drew Sarich...and indeed much of the ensemble, and he doesn't come close. Sad day for us. End of an era. Not that it will stop us seeing shows he's in, naturally! We would love to be proved wrong - maybe a different role, better script, meatier songs are what he needs? Or a decent love story? 
He made a good job of ...this  after all.  Just that...he isn't so shiny and sparkly anymore. His acting is appalling (to be fair, that was the case in Joseph as well, but we chose to blame the material.) He has little comic timing. He's nasal. We were tempted to tell him to breath through his nose and open his mouth when he sung!!!   Like he did here.....Those were the days.... He stunned everyone at the concert with that one (and no, that isn`t us screaming.  We weren`t there.... and frankly, we have NO IDEA WHY NOT???.)

Oh, and just for old times sake....Vocal Heaven
He held his own with JOSH GROBAN for chrissakes!!!! Where has it gone??!!!!
This is where we fell for him - maybe he`s better on the small screen?

We are including this one  largely because he is wearing what any fool can see is the sexiest outfit on Gods green earth. Oh we loved him. 

The boy Meady certainly needs to choose his next role very wisely in our opinion, and change his vocal coach, or we fear we may not be the only ones losing the Leelove.
Mind you, he still looks good from behind.

So, he evening was good. The show was great! And this was the first show in a long line of theatrical treats we have lined up for this year...ooooooh  2011 is going to be a great year for the theatrefairies...!!