THEATRE – Review: Wicked, Edinburgh Playhouse

[Published in The Student newspaper 25/11/14]

In terms of scale and success, the thriving musical Wicked is as big as they come. Having already bagged 100 international awards and captivated audiences both sides of the Atlantic, there’s been a genuine buzz surrounding its arrival at the Edinburgh Playhouse. It’s definitely been long anticipated and the level of expectation for the show is almost insurmountably high.

Based on Gregory Maguire’s novel, Wicked tells the story of the mutual-loathing-turned-friendship of two university students, the unfortunately green-tinged and unpopular Elphaba and the much-loved and ditzy Galinda. It is upon meeting the disappointing Wizard that both girls, who have been tutored in magic, must make a moral decision and eventually go their separate ways. This is the untold story of The Wizard of Oz, and it’s steeped in clever plot points that hint at the original source material and make you smirk in satisfaction when you understand a reference.

Emily Tirney shines as Galinda, quite literally, in a stunning array of princess-like costumes. Elsewhere love-interest and heartthrob prince Fiyero, played by Samuel Edwards, is delightfully self-assured, his voice only slightly faltering in places. But it is Ashleigh Gray who steals the show as Elphaba, aka The Wicked Witch of the West. She sweeps across the stage, showcasing her impressive vocal range, infectiously energetic and delightfully sarcastic in responding to the general disgust at her complexion. The culmination of the first act into the momentous ‘Defying Gravity’, a fearless and empowering powerhouse of a song, deservedly earns her tumultuous applause.

Coupled with this impressive cast, the staging is equally as striking. A fuming dragon sits above the curtain, watching over proceedings like a clock, its red eyes occasionally glinting maleficently. The contraption of the Wizard of Oz’s head is both terrifying and spectacular. The lighting changes in Emerald City are quick and serve to highlight a wonderful effort on behalf of the costume department with many green outfits that are reminiscent of the Hunger Games’ eccentric Capitol.

Perhaps another reason behind the lingering success of the show is the heavy political undertones that it carries. Not shying away from the question of Good and Evil, Wicked also presents a land of Oz under scary state observation, suppressing the animal minority who don’t have a freedom of speech, and distorting the truth to influence the public. ‘Where I come from, we believe all sorts of things that aren’t true. We call it history’, the Wizard reveals, in a chilling glimpse of totalitarian regime. There are moral and ethical questions to be asked here. Through the characters’ songs, we are taken on a colourful psychological journey where we might begin to wonder if Elphaba really is the villain after all.

Wicked is not your usual predictable, gaudy, one-dimensional musical. Rather, it is a much cleverer show that slyly points out common clichés and throws them at you, laughing at them in the process. There’s a surprisingly witty and perceptive script that makes it very special. ‘I clash with everything’ grumbles Elphaba, in a typical hormonal teenager fashion. Elsewhere, Galinda’s frequent mispronunciation of words produces giggles throughout the audience.

Visually stunning, surprisingly probing and extremely amusing, Wicked lives up to expectations. It’s a treat, go see it now.

Interview with Q magazine founder and broadcaster Mark Ellen

[Published in The Student newspaper 4/11/14]

I had a chat with the journalist ahead of his Born To Be Wide event to be held Thursday 6 November. 

Events targeted at giving you a sneak peek into the intricate workings of the music industry are sparse. But Born to Be Wide is here to change that. The Edinburgh-based project, founded in 2004 by friends Olaf Furniss and Brodie Smithers, aims to provide insight into areas within the industry through seminars, guest panels, and showcases of local bands, the odd DJ set being thrown into the mix. A brief trawl through their most recent endeavours reveals a spread of events on everything from music management to designing a record sleeve. It’s informative without the cost of an extortionate ticket down to a music convention in London. Their latest event is to be held this Thursday on the topic of music journalism. Edinburgh’s cosy Electric Circus will be the stage for a professional panel including Alan Morrison (Arts Editor of The Herald), Nicola Meighan (freelancer at The List) and the headline act of the evening, Mark Ellen.

You’d be excused for not recognising the name, but you’ve most definitely heard of Mark Ellen’s accomplishments. Founder of Q and Word magazine, former editor for MOJO, contributor for the NME, he has broadcasted for Radio 1, sitting in for John Peel, and he was the familiar face presenting Live Aid in the 1980s. It’s half expected that Ellen would be a bit of a condescending media ‘wise guy’ based on this impressive résumé. Quite the opposite: self-deprecating, funny and very talkative, he’s a gold mine of anecdotes. Ahead of the event, I had a chat with him about his career and new book Rock Stars Stole My Life!.

“It seemed the perfect way of bookending 50 years of an obsession with music”, he says of his nostalgic memoir. It speaks quite heartily of an ever-changing form that has recently led to the diminishing importance of the writer. In fact, when I first question Ellen about his goal in writing it, he’s quick to throw himself into an exaltation of the bygone eras of his youth: the birth of rock n’ roll and the subsequent boom of the music press that, panting behind, fervently tried to keep up with this rocketing scene. “Nobody knew which direction it was going to go”, he professes, in his distinct booming voice. “I was right in the central, molten core. It was really thrilling”.

His breakthrough as a journalist in the 1970s was due to the painstaking process of sending live review upon live review to the NME reception desk, until they eventually caved in and published him. Does he feel he’s delivered valuable insight into how you’d get into the industry at that point in time, then? Ellen is quick to agree, before nostalgically musing about an early interview he did. “I interviewed Sting at one point and The Police were literally the biggest rock and roll band in the world. And I’m sat there in Sting’s house, having just been given his home address on a piece of paper, and gone around to spend 90 minutes with him. When I was a kid, you had the most amazing access.”

It’s hard to imagine a similar situation in the modern day. In fact, Ellen contrasts this with meeting another successful musician. “I was put into this situation where I was eventually interviewed by Lady Gaga for half an hour in order to see if I was worthy of passing the test whereby I could interview her.”

This changing landscape of music and press is made even more apparent by the rise of social media. Magazines like Smash Hits and the NME used to be the foremost sources of news, offering a sense of community amongst readers. The writers also shaped the artists. “A lot of your understanding of them was inflated by the great mythology of the press”, Ellen pronounces. “Now, everything is available, worldwide, instantly, in a way that’s completely controlled by the artist”. He uses the example of Rihanna and her gratuitous tweeting and self-advertising. “She’s the architect of her own propaganda”, he concludes. It would seem that the power completely lies at the other end of the spectrum now.

The modern day has an undeniable impact on the way we listen to music. There’s an immediacy and speed of listening today, as opposed to when the younger Ellen had to ride miles on the bus to pick up a record and bring it home. Platforms like Youtube are changing this struggle to hold on to something concrete in your hands. There’s a lack of “jewel-like, fabulous recordings and B-sides” being heard because “they’ve been lost down the back of the giant sofa of the iCloud.” “Everything else just disappears, it’s vaporised”, Mark Ellen mourns. So should we at least be trying to listen to albums as a whole? “Yes. You wouldn’t in any way think of spooling a tape forward and just watching your favourite bit of a film. You either watch the film in its entirety, or you don’t watch the film”.

Finally, I ask the man if he can offer any advice to aspiring music journalists. “First thing; write”. He pauses before reaffirming, “You really have to sit down and write”. The next professed tip is to do your research. “The more you know about the author of those songs, the deeper, the more soulful and resonant the music becomes”. Once you have this, you need an angle. “You need an intro and some kind of trajectory to follow. You need to have a new opinion that someone’s never had before”. But by far the most important thing is trying to find your own style, he explains. “Find a real individual voice, the voice that’s you. Don’t impersonate somebody else.”

Rock Stars Stole My Life! is out now.

For more information on Born To Be Wide and their events, check out http://borntobewide.co.uk/.