Heads up if you're going to reprint can you at least credit me till the morning (since I pulled it off the wires especially for theatre fans).
Courtesy of Herald Sun (tomorrow's edition)
AMANDA Harrison lets out a gutsy woo-hoo as Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West strides on to the stage; Lucy Durack gleams and giggles when glamorous Glinda the Good Witch glides in on her bubble.
After just a few days of watching the Broadway blockbuster Wicked, the women seem already to be in character, barely an hour after they are unveiled as Australia's Witches of Oz at the Gershwin Theatre, where the musical has played to sold-out audiences for five years.
Some may call it a ``twister of fate'', but at least one of the pair had a premonition of their roles when they performed together in the Production Company's Oklahoma nearly three years ago.
``I wrote in the program `Lucy is Glinda and Amanda is Elphaba','' 26-year-old Durack says.
Now they are in their Emerald City, New York, the Big Green Apple of every performer's dream.
``If somebody said to me,`You only have the chance to play one role in your life', I would choose Wicked. It's a complete dream come true,'' says Durack, with a toss of the bouncy blonde hair that sets off her favoured pink outfits.
``I couldn't be happier. I keep saying that, like in the show.
``And I get to wear some of the most beautiful dresses you've ever seen in your whole life.''
Harrison, 33, as forthright and as feisty as her green-skinned alter ego Elphaba, says she sang her heart out at auditions and always thought she should play the role.
``It's a beautiful show with two strong women roles, and we're it.''
The pair, who beat hundreds of hopefuls, were brought up with The Wizard of Oz and couldn't wait to read Gregory Maguire's prequel, Wicked, which tells the story of the friendship between two roommates and how it transformed them.
Music by Oscar-winner Stephen Schwartz, along with a spectacular set and costumes, has given it new life, they say.
``The music is uplifting. It's exciting and it's absolutely technically difficult, which makes it amazing,'' Durack says.
``I grew up watching The Wizard of Oz. I can recite most of it to you, and here you get to find out how the Tin Man and Scarecrow and everybody gets to become who they are.
``I like the idea of what happened before Dorothy dropped in -- it's exciting to make the discoveries.''
Having now seen the green girl fly twice, each considers the vocal challenge to be the biggest.
``I think I'm ready for it, but it's going to be a tough job keeping fit,'' says Durack, whose eight-layered gem-encrusted bubble costume is too heavy to lift with one hand.
``She goes on a huge journey and she goes through a lot and becomes somebody who is stronger and deeper. The advice from the girls (Broadway witches Stephanie J. Block and Annaleigh Ashford) is to pace ourselves. And have fun.''
Harrison and Durack agree that most people can relate to both witches who, through their link, blur the line between good and evil.
``Everyone can relate to not fitting in or being different,'' Harrison says. ``Everywhere you go that's new you can feel that way to a certain extent.''
Durack continues: ``When you go to school or university where it looks like everybody else belongs.''
Harrison: ``You can always go back to when you were a little girl and someone's picking on you. And how that made you feel . . . and how you lashed out at times. Made to feel wicked.''
Each is quick to admit that, superficially at least, they resemble their characters.
``I am a little bit Glinda, honestly,'' Durack says.
``Well just look at her,'' Harrison quips about her good mate.
DURACK grew up the ultimate girly girl, playing dress-ups with her two younger sisters and revelling in singalongs in the car.
``My poor dad, who works at an oil rig in Africa, is a very macho man and he worked away every second month so every second month of my entire life it would be mum (a kindergarten teacher) and the girls,'' Durack says.
``On occasion, like two occasions, he let us dress him up! So I can relate to Glinda, and I don't mind a makeover.''
Harrison, daughter of a retired mechanic and a school worker, cannot claim a chilling childhood like that of Elphaba.
``I am forthright, and anyone would tell you that I'd tell them exactly what I think. Everybody knows where they stand with me,'' she says.
``I am strong in that fashion, which you can parallel to Elphaba.''
Wicked producer John Frost, who has spent a few days in New York with the performers, says they uncannily fit their superficial stereotypes of strength and sweetness.
Where the Yellow Brick Road will take them is anyone's guess, but the women are throwing themselves into their characters already.
By the time we reach the stirring finale of the show, they prove they can shriek louder than anyone at the standing ovation.
