Firstly my wonderful followers, fellow Wickipeeps and Tuckmanions I must apologise for the lack of blog over the last few weeks. Without going into detail and boring you all with details of my woes and strife lets just say I had other things on my mind! I am back now, getting into the flow of life and all things Wicked again!
This week I wanted to talk about the two characters (and the people that play them!) who are often forgotten about due to the popularity of our leading ladies. Everyone knows that Wicked is the untold story of the Witches of Oz, but they of course have friends and relatives that are a big part of that story.
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| Zoe Rainey & Ben Stott |
I am of course talking about Nessarose and Boq, who are just as important to our story as Glinda, Elphaba and Fiyero!
Nessarose, for those that may not be familiar with the story of Wicked is Ephabas sister. People who are more familiar with The Wizard of Oz will know here as The Wicked Witch Of The East, the one who has a house fall on her at the start of the story (this of course happens much later in the story of Wicked!)
Boq is a munchkin that arrives at Shiz University the same time as Glinda & Elphaba and falls head over heels in love with G(a)linda!
While their roles may be minor compared to others, it is Nessarose and Boq that are responsible for the delivery of one of my favourite songs from the show, which unfortunately didn't make it onto the soundtrack :-( This was due to the fact that producers thought it gave away too much of the story and was therefore omitted!
The Original London Cast - The Wicked Witch Of The East - Idina Menzel, Katie Rowley Jones, James Gillian
This song just captures the change in Nessarose so perfectly, while Boq was falling in love with Glinda he failed to realise that Nessa was falling in love with him and this is why, upon becoming governess she relinquished the rights of all munchkins in order to keep him there with her convinced he would eventually fall in love with her.
Nessa realises after her attempt to 'magic spell' Boq into loving her that she truly has become 'The Wicked Witch Of The East' and yet in true Wicked style still blame it all on Elphaba once Boq awakes as a man made of tin...
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| Zoe Rainey - Nessarose |
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| Ben Stott - Boq |
In keeping with the present I wanted to take a closer look at the actors currently creating London's Nessarose and Boq - Zoe Rainey & Ben Stott!
Zoe and Ben joined Wicked at the last cast change, February 7th 2011 and I had the pleasure of seeing them perform their roles of Nessa and Boq in March this year.
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| Zoe Rainey as Amber |
Before taking over the role of Nessa from Cassi Compton, Zoe had previously been performing in the West End production of Hairspray playing the role of Amber Von Tussle, a far cry from Miss Nessrose I'm sure we will all agree! She also took on a role in a musical called 'Sunshine on Leith' which was to The Proclaimers what 'Mamma Mia' is to Abba! It received rave reviews and one reviewer even compared it to the great Willy Russell classic 'Blood Brothers' stating, "What Blood Brothers did for Liverpool this will surely do for Edinburgh!"
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| Ben Stott as Jack |
Ben trained at The Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA), where incidentally I had an audition for in 1999 (showing my age now!) I sadly did not get in and ended up studying theatre in Blackpool! Ben however did and was nominated for the spotlight award in 2007! Prior to winning the role of Boq, which he took over from George Ure in Feb 2011, Ben was performing as Jack in an open air production of 'Into The Woods' He even had the privilege of performing at West End Live 2010 with a song from the Sondheim great - Giants in the Sky
A beautiful song sang by a wonderful performer i know we will all agree!
And there we have it, a short insight into not only Nessa & Boq but also Zoe & Ben. I cant go without saying how wonderful both Ben and Zoe were when I saw them in March. I really felt for Nessa and it was Zoe's performance of Wicked Witch Of The East that made me fall in love with that song (Now 2nd most played on my itunes!) Her voice gave me chills and I felt every emotion with her!
Zoe not only sings but also writes music & lyrics too, here is a small offering she posted to youtube as a tribute to all the mothers out there! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!
Bravo to Ben and Zoe!! I can't wait to see you guys again - hopefully very very soon!!
Until next time Wickipeeps, and I promise it wont be so long this time!!
K x
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