The public has officially declared Wicked to be award-winningly wicked after they voted for it to be crowned the This Morning Audience Award winner at this year’s glittering ceremony.
The only Olivier Award to be voted for solely by the public, Wicked beat fellow West End heavyweights Billy Elliot The Musical, Jersey Boys and Matilda The Musical to take the baton from last year’s winner Les Misérables.
Talking to us backstage at the ceremony, the show’s star Emma Hatton said: “I’m absolutely elated. I’m so proud of the show, the whole team. We know that Wicked is a very popular show and it’s well-loved but to know that the audiences have voted for you to be at the top is a real honour.”
Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked puts a new spin on the classic The Wizard Of Oz to imagine how two young sorcerers fulfilled their destinies to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good in a magical story of friendship, love and growing up.
Featuring dazzling costumes, incredible sets and, of course, Wicked’s now famous score including showstopping, gravity-defying numbers The Wizard And I, Popular and I’m Not That Girl, the Broadway hit has become one of the West End’s best loved shows since opening in 2006.
Speaking about the importance of the This Morning Audience Award, Wicked star Savannah Stevenson told Official London Theatre: “It’s an amazing award. For West End theatre, this award is what it’s all about: the public, the theatregoers recognising and voting for their favourite show.”
The Oz-set musical last triumphed in this category in 2010.
