With Wicked about to begin it’s 10th year on the West End Film-News.co.uk had a quick chat with actors Emma Hatton (Elphaba), Savannah Stevenson (Glinda) and Oliver Savile (Fiyero) about their thoughts on the show and its outstanding success.
FN: Do you remember the first time you saw the show before performing in it?
Oliver Savile: Yes, I do remember. Mine was 10 years ago, when it was with Adam Garcia. It was insane, and that’s when I fell in love.
Savannah Stevenson: That’s when I first saw it as well. At the very beginning with the very first cast with Idina actually.
Emma Hatton: Same for me I think. And I didn’t watch it since, until I got the job. So it was really nice to have a fresh take on it. It’s such a phenomenal show and it’s so lovely to be part of something that’s so recognized worldwide and that’s been so amazing. It’s a real honour actually.
FN: What do you think it is about Wicked that brings the audience back over and over again?
All: US!
Oliver Savile: For a start, it’s that every single character in the show goes on a journey and the whole show goes on a big long journey and it’s one that you can guarantee the audiences will go on that journey with you and will be moved in some way. I think that’s why they keep coming back.
FN: And what’s your favourite part of the show? If you could choose one song, one scene.
Savannah Stevenson: My favourite personal part of the show is when I get to the school prom and I get to create a dance for me, a dance that Elphaba has just done. And I love that moment because, for me, when I play it with Emma it’s the moment when these two girls really connect for the first time and see each other as just two equal people, and I love that moment, it’s my absolute favourite bit.
Oliver Savile: You know what my favourite bit is? That I get to fall in love with these two beautiful girls.
FN: How did you find taking on such a famous role as Fiyero? Was it stressful?
Oliver Savile: Yeah, nerve-wracking, but I was thinking about it and I’m going to bring something completely different to the job than other people will and other people have so, it was nerve-wracking, but you got to do it. I just bring to the table what I bring to the table.
Savannah Stevenson: It’s been so lovely having a new cast, hasn’t it?
Emma Hatton: It freshens everything up. It brings a new excitement, a new energy, and I remember chatting to Savannah before and it’s quite bittersweet because you lose friends and loved ones that you kind of got to know in previous casts, but there’s something really refreshing about finding new nuances in our performances as well. Because, particularly for someone like Olly, who’s coming in working directly with both of us, you have to go with what they bring too. So it’s really exciting and it’s an important thing, I think, for a long-running show to have a fresh cast coming in and bringing new life into it because otherwise, like in any other job, it can grow quite stagnant, so it’s really exciting and we’ve got a lovely cast and really special.
FN: What do you think is the importance of having two female leads in terms of women in the performing arts?
Savannah Stevenson: It is so important and it’s a real shame that, actually, to have a musical lead by two women is rare. I think it is fantastic, I think the audiences connect with that. It’s so brilliant to have a story in which both women go on such a journey to discover so much about themselves.
FN: What’s your favourite part of your characters?
Emma Hatton: For me it’s her strength. She stands up for what’s right even though she knows that she has to go against the grain and make herself really unpopular in social circles etc. she just stands up for what is good and what she believes in and I think I’ve tried to take an element of that into my own life because it is really inspiring to play a character with so much integrity and authenticity every night. You can’t help but take some of that on yourself.
Savannah Stevenson: For me it is the range of my character, she gets to be fun and frivolous and, then, she really goes on a journey into the emotion and the drama, so I get a nice balance.
Oliver Savile: It’s very rare that a leader man gets to literally chill out, you don’t have to go through so much with a character that’s literally lying back for the first half of the show at least!
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