Wicked: How London fell under the spell of the new blockbuster film

“I won’t occupation you with thing much than a snippet of ditties,” Jeff Goldblum told gobsmacked commuters astatine Kings Cross presumption connected Wednesday.

He past sat down astatine the station’s soft and proceeded to dainty a increasing assemblage of onlookers to a medley of Christmas music, jazz and – of people – a fewer tunes from the Wicked soundtrack. “Wicked comes retired successful theatres Friday, November 22,” helium cried astatine the end, to a oversea of telephone cameras.

It’s surely 1 mode of getting your connection crossed – not that anybody needed to beryllium reminded. He was, aft all, performing astatine the unveiling of the station’s Wicked-themed Christmas tree. Or rather, a two-storey edifice of emerald buildings successful the signifier of a histrion designed to transport viewers to the Emerald City of the film’s setting.

And arsenic off-the-cuff arsenic Goldblum’s performance mightiness seem, it was conscionable the latest successful a drawstring of high-profile collaborations that, combined, person pushed our tendency for each things green-and-pink to fever point.

Wicked is everyplace close now. Greenwich Market has been adorned successful the benignant of the Emerald City and rechristened ‘Green witch’; Greenwich Town itself has been scattered with themed signs that tin beryllium tracked down via its ain dedicated walking trail.

Greenwich Observatory hosted a themed airy amusement attended by the cast; past determination was a Q&A with costuming manager Paul Tazewell astatine the V&A.

Even brands are getting involved: conscionable plaything by Liberty’s of London to spot the themed model display, the centrepiece involves a angiosperm sculpture of Glinda and Elphaba. Or what astir Hamley’s Toy Shop, which has gone greenish and pinkish for the occasion?

There’s an Emerald City-themed Popcorn Emporium successful Soho, courtesy of Butterkist; successful a spectacularly bonkers move, London’s Northwestern Railway work besides got successful connected the action, debuting a caller logo and wondering whether the moniker London NorthWicked Railway should enactment ‘for good’ (the answer, from commenters: a resounding no).

Combine this with each the ads blazing from double-decker buses, the conduit and the sides of section stores (the selling squad person surely been engaged this year), and it seems arsenic though the philharmonic has good and genuinely formed a spell connected the capital.

But each this hype isn’t truly a astonishment erstwhile you see however profoundly beloved the philharmonic is successful the capital. The amusement has been moving astatine the Apollo Theatre since 2006 – wherever it opened 3 years aft the archetypal premiered connected Broadway successful 2003.

Since then, it has flourished. Wicked the philharmonic precocious celebrated its 7,000th show and its 18th day successful its location astatine the Apollo Victoria Theatre.

Over its run, it’s been seen by implicit 12 cardinal radical successful the West End and go the 10th longest-running West End amusement successful British history; hardly a puerility sojourn to the superior is implicit without a travel down the Yellow Brick Road. The amusement itself has clocked successful much than $5bn cardinal successful summons income worldwide: not atrocious for a baddie from The Wizard of Oz.

The film’s cast’s emotion for London is well-known, too. Wicked was filmed successful the UK, connected a purpose-built acceptable astatine Sky Studios Elstree, which meant that manager Jon M. Chu moved his full household implicit to London, adjacent putting his girl successful schoolhouse present for the 2 year-plus shoot.

“It’s home,” helium said astatine the London premiere – a sentiment that was echoed by Ariana Grande, who called the metropolis her “second home” and rented a mansion successful northbound London portion she was filming.

For Cynthia Erivo, of course, it is home: the histrion was calved and grew up successful Stockwell, starting her vocation successful the West End earlier segueing to the large screen.

“The archetypal clip I heard of Wicked was backmost successful play school,” she told Empire recently. “A person of excavation who played the soft said, “There’s this philharmonic that I deliberation you’d really, truly like. We should instrumentality the publication to a country and sing it erstwhile we can… by the clip I near play school, I knew it similar the backmost of my hand.”

She went onto picture however connected her 25th birthday, “I decided to instrumentality myself connected a day to spot the amusement successful the West End. I retrieve having the astir unthinkable experience.”

And that emotion has been magnified by the fans, galore of whom queued for hours successful the pouring rainfall connected Wednesday nighttime to get a glimpse of the stars for the London premiere astatine the Queen Elizabeth Hall astatine the Southbank Centre.

Accordingly, the greenish carpet was decked retired with thousands of fans wearing their precise champion costumes – including 1 mates dressed arsenic Glinda and Prince Fiyero gushed astir the premiere being “stunning.”

“I consciousness similar it's conscionable specified a positive, breathtaking communicative astir relationship and love,” 1 of them said, portion the different added that it was “the archetypal accumulation connected signifier that threw maine into West End theatre.”

Why bash radical emotion it truthful much? For one, the characters. The amusement felt groundbreaking successful the mode it portrayed its 2 pistillate leads – and enactment their narration centre stage.

“There’d been a batch of romances astatine that point, and a batch of stories astir 2 guys, but determination truly had not been a communicative that captured the fashionable imaginativeness wherever the 2 main roles were female,” Wicked’s creator Stephen Schwartz told the Independent successful 2021.

“Wicked was fundamentally a emotion communicative betwixt 2 women. And I deliberation that conscionable happened astatine a constituent wherever the civilization was acceptable for it.”

Plus, the show’s themes – that of uncovering your dependable successful a close-minded nine – stay timeless. Add immoderate slayer philharmonic lines, and immoderate dire governmental warnings astir fascism, witch-hunts and dictatorships, and what you’ve got is simply a deed that transcends borders. “I privation it was becoming little politically and socially relevant,” Schwartz added.

With hundreds of fans present streaming into cinemas to instrumentality to Oz themselves, Wicked the movie looks acceptable to recapture overmuch of the magic of the archetypal show.

Certainly, the archetypal formed deliberation so. “I conscionable saw the movie and I'm dying. I'm deceased, I'm really dead, I'm not here,” Kristin Chenoweth, who played the archetypal Glinda connected Broadway, told the Reel. “People are not going to beryllium good erstwhile they spot this film. It is truthful good, it is truthful special.”

As London heads into Christmas season, it looks similar Wicked’s spell is acceptable to linger implicit the capital. And adjacent erstwhile the excitement dies down, there’s ever portion 2 to look guardant to... truthful expect much of the aforesaid this clip adjacent year.