Wicked fans can rejoicify! Stephen Schwartz’s mega-hit musical is back in town with two “thrillifying” performances (as the citizens of Oz would say) by Sheridan Adams and Courtney Monsma in the starring roles.

Coutney Monsma, Sheridan Adams and the ensemble in Wicked, 2023. Photo © Jeff Busby

Twenty years since it premiered on Broadway, Wicked has broken box office records around the world. It was first staged in Australia in 2008, then returned in 2014 for a 10th-anniversary tour. Another decade on, it still has plenty of to offer thanks to its lively combination of razzle-dazzle spectacle, uplifting girl power and serious political commentary.

Based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, the musical is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz. It tells the story of the unlikely friendship between the green-skinned outsider Elphaba (Adams), and the pert, popular Galinda (Monsma), and how they become the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch Glinda.

Rivals at school and in love, they still forge a strong sisterhood, and learn from one another. Along the way, we discover how the Scarecrow, Tin...