Watching Wicked: The Musical at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) feels less like attending a theatre production and more like stepping into a fully immersive version of the world of Oz.
The celebrated Broadway musical, currently running in Mumbai, unfolds with such scale and visual ambition that the boundary between stage and audience often dissolves.
The most striking aspect of the production is precisely this sense of immersion.
At several points in the show, the performance spills beyond the stage and into the audience, making viewers feel like participants rather than passive spectators.
The moment that truly captures this magic is when Elphaba takes flight. Instead of remaining confined to the stage, she glides out over the audience, her iconic defiance of gravity unfolding above the crowd. It’s a thrilling theatrical moment that earns audible gasps and applause.
The staging is lavish without feeling cluttered. From the towering set pieces to the constantly shifting backdrops, the design creates a world that feels fantastical.
Lighting plays a particularly powerful role, casting emerald hues across the theatre and punctuating key emotional moments with dramatic intensity. Both the intricate stage mechanics and the mesmerising visual spectacle become one of the production’s strongest assets.
Costumes, too, deserve mention. Glinda’s sparkling gowns and Elphaba’s stark black silhouette form a striking visual contrast that mirrors their emotional journey.
Performance-wise, the actors bring energy and charisma to the beloved characters. Elphaba commands attention with her powerful presence, particularly in the show’s emotional crescendos. Glinda, with her bubbly charm and comic timing, brings levity to the narrative.
That said, some of Glinda’s dialogue occasionally feels a little stretched, lingering longer than necessary. These moments slightly slow the pace, but do little to dampen the overall delight of the show.
What ultimately makes Wicked at the NMACC memorable is the sheer theatricality of the experience and a story that audiences around the world have cherished for years.
By the time the curtain falls, what lingers is not just the music or the performances but the sense of having been transported into a world where witches fly, friendships fracture and heal, and theatre itself seems to defy gravity.
Overall, Wicked at NMACC is a dazzling, immersive production, that is occasionally indulgent in its pacing. It reminds audiences why live theatre remains so magical.
