There’s an all-trans cast version of Wicked coming to stage very soon, and it sounds incredible

A reimagining of Wicked the musical featuring a cast made up entirely of transgender and non-binary performers is coming to London, but only for one day.

Trans Wicked will grace the stage at the Clapham Grand in London on Sunday 27 July, raising funds for London Trans+ Pride – the largest trans Pride globally – which takes place the day before, 26 July.

The show will feature “all the numbers” from the original Wicked musical, plus some “pretty cool staging moments and tricks,” according to the show’s award-winning writer and director, Tabby Lamb.

Lamb will also feature in the show as the narrator, named Ozma after the canonically trans character in Ozma of Oz, the book by The Wizard of Oz writer Frank Baum.

Sex Education actress Anthony Lexa and drag king and Acid’s Reign performer Sé Carr will play the lead roles of Glinda and Elphaba.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory actor Teddy Hinde will star as Shiz University’s primo hunk Fiyero, while Kaos and Wreck star Sam Buttery will play everyone’s favourite goat-turned-teacher, Doctor Dillamond.

Gigi Zahir, also known by their drag persona Crayola, is on double duty as Shiz head Madame Morrible and Munchkin king Boq, while actor E Round will play Nessarose and The Wizard.

The London Trans Choir will support with some of the major musical moments in the show, “making it just that little bit more epic”.

Speaking to PinkNews ahead of the show, Carr explained that Trans Wicked was born both from a trip to see the film adaptation last November, and from their experience of working in musical theatre as a trans person.

“I remember one of the stories I told on that day was [how] I’d love to play Fiyero in the West End. That would be an absolute dream, but there’s a height minimum and my five foot five self isn’t gonna cut it,” Carr said.

The conversation led Carr and friends to discuss all the roles they “would be able to play perfectly with their acting skills” but wouldn’t get hired for, as “theatre is so typecast that if you don’t look a certain way, you won’t get it”.

“Me and Tabby looked at each other from across the table and gazed into each other’s eyes and were like, ‘We have to make Trans Wicked,’ don’t we?”

Wicked is known for having a distinct LGBTQ+ fanbase, with many queer lovers of the show and film enjoying the sapphic chemistry between Elphaba and Glinda.

For Lamb and Carr, Wicked has particular resonance with the trans community, both in how it portrays the mechanics of ostracising people, and the power of overcoming that ostracisation.

Lamb recalled a line, delivered by the Wizard, which runs to the effect of: “The best way to bring people together is by giving them a common enemy.”

“That is what governments around the world are doing at the moment. There is so much going on that they are using trans people to distract from,” Lamb said.

“They are doing terrible things, and blaming it all on the trans community and using us as a smokescreen so that they can get away with horrific things.”

“Then you add in a really banging score or an already quite sapphic friendship at the centre of it…”

For Carr, the importance of Wicked fully hit home after watching Cynthia Erivo, a Black, queer performer, take on the role of Elphaba.

“It is just… resonating with this story of, you’re different from birth. You spend your life trying to figure out who you are as this different person. You spend your life trying to figure out whether you will conform to what society is telling you you need to be, or if you’re visibly different and you cannot conform, then how would you make yourself small and shrink into the background, until you get to the point where you’re like: ‘Actually, nah. I’m the main character. Let me take my spotlight.”

The decision to support London Trans+ Pride feels like a no brainer, but is particularly vital this year, as brands and businesses continue to pull support from Pride events and LGBTQ+ collaborations.

“London Trans+ Pride is a grassroots community-based organisation committed to accessibility and committed to ensuring that trans people are protected and seen and supported, and they do incredible work,” Lamb said.

“So many organisations at the moment, corporate sponsors, are pulling away and donations are going down from large individuals. The world is in this weird turning point and we really need to protect our own and look after our community.”

As for what they hope trans folk and allies take from Trans Wicked, Carr simply wants audience members to feel “joyful and fulfilled”.

“We’ve put our full p*ssy into this”

Lamb, however, hopes two types of people attend. Firstly, trans folk, “because I want them to be able to see themselves on stage and know that they can do anything, and if that space isn’t open to them, then they can just make their own space like we’re doing.”

Secondly, she hopes some West End executives come down, too. “Let’s show them that you can have an incredible Fiyero who’s under five foot seven, and you can have an incredible Boq who is over five foot five.”

Whoever comes down though, Lamb promised they won’t be disappointed: “I don’t think you’re gonna feel short changed at all because it is gonna be a bit of a spectacle. We’ve put our full p*ssy into this.”

Trans Wicked takes place at the Clapham Grand in London on Sunday 27 July, with tickets available now.

And on the prospect of other dates? “Let’s see if it works first,” Carr said. “But given the opportunity to do it again, I think we would jump at that.”

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