Interview with stars of hit show Wicked, coming to Bradford Alhambra

She is, thanks to Margaret Hamilton’s exquisite performance in the 1939 film classic, one of the greatest screen villains.

Then Wicked came along - and the Wicked Witch of the West finally got to tell her own story. Turns out she wasn’t so bad after all...

Smash hit musical Wicked - which flies back to the Alhambra next week for a month-long run, following a celebrated season in 2016 - tells the untold story of the Witches of Oz.

Staring Wakefield-born Laura Pick as Elphaba and Sarah O’Connor as Glinda, the West End and Broadway hit show is a beguiling backstory of L Frank Baum’s beloved characters from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - revealing the events that shape the destinies of two university friends on their journey to becoming Glinda The Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

Wicked has won more than 100 awards, including three Tonys, two Oliviers and a Grammy and last year was the 20th anniversary of its Broadway premiere. A film version, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, is in production.

Here, Laura Pick and Sarah O’Connor tell us more about the show:

* What’s it like to star in a musical in which the two leads are played by women?

Sarah: “It’s important to be telling stories where women are strong, independent and driven. For Glinda, it’s about where she wants to be in her career and becoming a better person. It’s important people see that women can have that voice.”

Laura: “Wicked is two strong women making choices and leading this show. The responsibility we take on our shoulders as actors is that we, as two women, are the leads in this company. That’s pretty great.”

* Do you recognise your own friendship in the relationship that develops between Glinda and Elphaba?

Laura: “Yes, in some ways. It helps that me and Sarah get on like a house on fire. That strengthens the bond between the characters. It makes any scene that’s feisty more real because you care about each other. Wicked explores how friendships can grow with age or circumstance.”

Laura Pick as Elphaba (Image: Matt Crockett)

Sarah: “Relationships aren’t simple. They take time, effort and nourishment. There’s a massive part of the story where Glinda and Elphaba aren’t with each other, but they’re still in each other’s lives.

“There are parts of Glinda and Elphaba in us both. We’re not just one or the other. They represent all parts of you in two different people. That’s why they become such a force of nature. Their differences pull them together like polar opposites.”

* What’s it like singing together?

Laura: “You really have to listen to each other. The first time we had to sing For Good together, both of us were tearing up. Looking into someone’s eyes you find a way to communicate without using words. You reassure the other one. There are moments that nobody would even know, but they’re there. You have to connect, blend and be cohesive - especially with For Good because it can be emotional and you have to support each other. “

Sarah: “Elphaba and Glinda are so different vocally. Glinda is a soprano and Elphaba is epic. They are two very different vocal worlds to put together, so when it blends it can be magic. I spend the whole musical listening to Laura singing and she’s ridiculously good, but when we get to For Good we’re thinking more about story. She’s telling her part of the story, now it’s my turn to tell my part.”

Sarah O'Connor as Glinda (Image: Matt Crockett)

* Do you see your younger selves in Wicked’s coming-of-age story? The sense of finding a place and an identity as you grow up?

Laura: “Yes. I’m only realising as I get older how much I struggle going into groups with big personalities. I was anxious the day before starting rehearsals, not about doing the job but about all these new people I was going to meet. We all, at some point in our lives, feel like an outsider. Elphaba turns up at school thinking, ‘Right, I’m going to be accepted here’, but she isn’t. We all sometimes feel we don’t fit in. That’s why so many people connect with the show. It’s their safe space and they feel seen.”

Simeon Truby takes on the roles of The Wizard (pictured here) and Doctor Dillamond (Image: Matt Crockett)

Sarah: “That’s such an important thing about theatre. It is a safe space to feel creative and to escape. Every character has something we can identify with: Doctor Dillamond being an animal they want to get rid of or Madame Morrible who looks confident but is trying to get to the top and feel accepted, Glinda pretending she’s absolutely fine but she doesn’t know who she is, and she needs Elphaba to bring it out.”

Donna Berlin as Madame Morrible (Image: Matt Crockett)

* What’s it like to play a baddie who’s not all bad and a goodie who isn’t all good?

Laura: “It must get boring if you’re playing someone who’s nicey-nice all the time. Nobody’s that perfect. We all have a part that we battle with. It’s good to explore all the avenues of these roles”

Sarah: “Their names are the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good, yet they’re neither of those people. It’s enjoyable to play characters that have more to them than just beige.”

* How do you respond to Wicked’s theme about excluding people who are different, whether it’s Elphaba for being green or her sister, Nessarose, for being a wheelchair user?

Sarah: “Wicked was before its time. It’s one of the reasons it’s been running on Broadway for 20 years and nearly the same length here. Thank God these things are being discussed now and acceptance is being normalised. We’re putting a mirror in front of people and going, ‘How are you making other people feel?’”

Laura: “You can come to Wicked and think, ‘What a good show, what amazing songs’ but if you take in those storylines, it can make you think.”

* What are your favourite songs to sing?

Sarah: “Popular is great craic. What Is This Feeling? is juicy and you get angry with each other. Then you have Thank Goodness, my emotional gem.”

Laura: “I love Defying Gravity because Elphaba is going, ‘What I thought I wanted can’t happen any more and I have to do something’. That’s her soaring - literally - and saying, ‘This is me now’. As well as being an audience pleaser, it feels powerful. If you feel it through your body it’s an amazing song to sing.”

* Wicked is at the Alhambra from April 16 to May 19. Call (01274) 432000 or visit bradford-theatres.co.uk