If you haven’t seen Rachel Tucker in Wicked yet then you must book Wicked theatre breaks soon, she’s fabulous. Here’s a video from West End Live last weekend which doesn’t do justice to the full theatre performance of Wicked by any means, but gives an idea of how talented a performer Rachel Tucker is.

Before landing the part of Elphaba in Wicked, Rachel Tucker has played both Meat and Scaramouche in We Will Rock You and before that was a finalist in the I’d Do Anything TV casting show to find a Nancy for Oliver. And here’s the backstage interview conducted by Keith Martin of Leicester Square TV with Rachel Tucker of Wicked herself:

In the interview, Rachel Tucker describes how Wicked is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz. Loosely based on the Wizard of Oz Wicked has a kind of twist to it. It’s the story of how the good witch and the bad witch became enemies, so Dorothy has nothing really to do with it. It’s an amazing moral story highly relevant to anybody who has ever been bullied or discriminated against just for being different.

Wicked Theatre Breaks with Rachel Tucker as Elphaba was originally posted at London Theatre Breaks blog

Chicago is simply one of the best known musicals for theatre breaks in London and despite being a bit long in the tooth it’s a perrenial favourite. The promotors of this international hit show manage to keep on coming up with unlikely special guest stars who always bring a new lease of life and interest to the show, for example this summer in London you can see Jerry Springer in the role of Flynn the lawayer. Here’s a video of Jerry helping to publicise Chicago at West End Live in London’s Leicester Square back in June 2009.

YouTube Video by Theatre breaks

Wicked Theatre Breaks Anybody in London for a Wicked theatre break in the past three weeks will have had the opportunity to see Alexia Khadime as Elphaba, the green witch with the big songs. Alexia replaced Kerry Ellis who went to play the role on Broadway until December when she returns to the West End. Now Kerry Ellis was a big act to follow, having gathered a huge pack of devoted fans during her time in London, but Alexia is proving to have unique qualities which bring a fresh approach to the acting and she’s rapidly building a loyal support base of her own. The two tribes will each advocate for their favourite at any given opportunity and the result can be anything from unkind to insightful. Alexia Khadime as Elphaba Here’s the popular video from theatre breaks youTube which shows what Alexia can do, out of costume, solo and live at West End Live 2009, the popular theatre festival event in London’s Leicester Square
(it takes a few moments to get going) Click here to view the embedded video. Alexia’s a really good singer and and a really good actress, she has the best Elphaba interpretation I’ve seen. She is amazing! Cute yet powerful voice! Very well done! I am also a big fan of Kerry’s? and her! So amazing! ** Book Wicked theatre breaks in London **

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Well it’s Saturday night and West End Live is half way through. There were some great shows on today in Leicester Square all to promote the West End and provide some free entertainment for the London crowd at the same time. Highlights sp far have been a good three song set from a big cast from We Will Rock You , always a high energy show, the lovely duet from The King And I and this performance from Jodie Prenger as Nancy from Oliver! who sang as if she thought she needed to win I’d do Anything all over again! Click here to view the embedded video. If you keep an eye on the Theatre Breaks youtube stream you’ll catch a glimpse of Patina Miller and sisters from Sister Act and also Jerry Springer in Chicago!

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West End Live 2009 will take place on Saturday the 20th (11am to 6pm) and Sunday the 21st of June (12noon to 6pm). The venue will be Leicester Square. This is the 5th annual West End Live and promises to be even bigger and better than last year’s extravaganza. Although there’s no official running order or confirmations yet it seems likely we can expect to see performances from new shows like Priscilla and SIster Act as well as several of the more established favourites. As ever there will be some extracts from new off West End shows as well. As soon as I hear what the running order will be I’ll post it here so you can plan your trip to be sure of seeing favourites. I really want to see Sister Act! West End Live 2008 Last year’s West End Live was fantastic and well worth putting up with the crowds.

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