Defy Gravity? Hell, I'd defy anything to see that show again.

Last Saturday, I passed three hours of my life with the loopiest grin you have ever seen sitting comfortably on my tear-stained face. Sat in seat T31 of the stalls in the Apollo Victoria Theatre, I would have been bouncing off the walls, if the walls had not had various pointy carvings, twiddly bits and the occasional (well alright, just one) dragon built onto them. That's right, last Saturday, I went to see Wicked. And what a Wicked night it was (be prepared for many more appalling puns during the course of this blog).

Now I'll freely admit to being a great lover of Musicals, but my love of the cheesiness in them was forever scarred by the festering pile of rotted brains that is the film (and I use the word 'film' with the utmost reluctance) High School Musical. So I was a little wary on entering that, since I was no longer keen on cheesy and had never been a big fan of The Wizard of Oz, I wouldn't enjoy as much as, for example, The Phantom of the Opera. But, quite frankly, wow. It had everything; great costumes, actors and songs (oh my!) and, for me, Wicked blows The Wizard of Oz so far out of the water, it's no longer even relevant.

For anyone that doesn't know, the plot of Wicked follows the story of the young Wicked Witch of the West - Elphaba - and her friendship with G(a)linda the Good Witch, following them from their meeting at 'Shiz' University right up until after the events of The Wizard of Oz. I know - it doesn't sound good. But when you throw in a few brilliant characters, a sprinkling of truly epic one-liners, Vivienne-Westwood-on-crack style costumes, enough twists to get you blissfully and dizzily stunned and a load of incredible songs, you have the feast for the eyes and ears that is Wicked.

The actress playing Elphaba - a 27-year-old Londoner named Alexia Khadime - had quite honestly the most powerful voice I have ever heard, and she belted those songs out at a volume and intensity that almost rendered you oblivious to the pitch-perfect notes. Following her rendition of 'Defying Gravity', jealousy had painted me several shades greener than she was - and believe me, that really is saying something.

But though her voice completely eclipsed anyone else's, I have to say that, in my opinion, she was out-acted by the wonderfully irritating Glinda - played by a Lancastrian actress called Dianne Pilkington. Glinda is twee, annoying, girly and, when excited, shoots through the octaves at a pitch only actually legible to bats. She is one of those characters that, should you meet her in real life, would have your blood boiling before she even opened her mouth, but on stage she was brilliantly funny and just generally fantastic.

In terms of acting, other highlights include Oliver Tompsett as Fiyero (tall, charming, handsome, singer and dancer - fiver says he's gay), a wonderfully Northern Alex Jessop as Boq and an actor I've just forgotten the name of as Doctor Dillamond. And that's before you get to the songs. Oh, my God. The songs. There's no way I can possibly do justice to them in a blog - you'll really just have to see for yourself.

So basically, I charge you all to defy your parents, defy your finances and defy gravity (poor effort, I know - it was all I could think of) to get your backside down to London, and sink into three hours of the wondrous, wondrous Wicked.