This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Sarah O'Connor: My name is Sarah O'Connor.

[0:03] Laura Pick: My name is Laura Pick. And you're listening to Eleven, the official theatre podcast.

[0:17] William J Connolly: Hello and welcome to Eleven, the official theatre podcast that brings the biggest stars and creatives together in one place to discuss life in the arts. They're the leading ladies of Wicked that are currently flying high in the UK and Ireland tour that's selling out nightly and reminding us all why there's no place like Oz. So what does it take to play these iconic roles? And how does this smash hit West End show relate to audiences and individuals through the UK and Ireland? Well here in an exclusive conversation direct from dressing room number one in Dublin, Ireland, where the show is currently touring, we talk taking this wonderful show to new audiences, the enduring hearts of this 20-something-year-old show, and what does Wicked mean to them in their heart, separate to their jobs?

Plus we dive into pre-show rituals, almost dropping the wand, finding unexpected love and even energy drinks for that extra witchy power. You'll see what I mean in a minute. So get ready as it's the stunning Sarah O'Connor and Laura Pick here now on this, the next episode of Eleven, the official theatre podcast.

[1:24] William J Connolly: To ensure the safety of all involved in this episode of Eleven, Sarah, Laura and I connected for this conversation digitally, so please forgive any brief moments while we wait for the internet to catch up. Enjoy. Please help me welcome to this, the next episode of Eleven. They're the witches of Oz that are currently touring the UK and Ireland with the epic blockbuster hit that's teaching us all about the power of difference, individuality and being true to yourself. So first up, some call her good, some say that she flies by bubble, but to us she's known as Sarah O'Connor. Hi Sarah, how are you?

[1:56] Sarah O'Connor: Hi, I'm loving the intro, thanks. Practising really hard, I was like I'm not going to mess this bit up, I'm going to do this correctly. Would you mind jumping into my shoes just for five seconds and introducing the lovely lady next to you?

[2:08] Laura Pick: Oh god, the pressure. She flies into all the theatres around the UK, she flies into the theatre currently in Dublin, her name is Laura Pick.

[2:14] Sarah O'Connor: That was really bad. I don't know. I'm just flying everywhere.

[2:21] Laura Pick: Yeah, she loves to fly. Mine wasn't as good, I'm so sorry. Laura, I quite like that introduction, I think we should stick with that.

[2:26] Sarah O'Connor: Yeah, I think, well let's keep it, let's keep it. She's green, she's mean, she's lean.

[2:35] Laura Pick: Well, you can be a bit mean to me at the beginning of the show.

[2:40] Sarah O'Connor: She's lean, she's mean, she's green, it's Laura Pick.

[2:44] William J Connolly: Oh my goodness. Okay, maybe we need to not do the introduction bit. Let's skip very smoothly on to the next bit. Thank you both so much for agreeing to do this. I am so grateful and I'm so excited because you'll be able to tell by my social media the fact I am obsessed with absolutely both of you, because I had the pleasure of coming to see both of you in Dublin, in Ireland, literally what is it, like three, two days ago, three days ago from where we are now, literally two days ago. It feels like so long already, but it was absolutely incredible and this is a show I know very well, but it felt so fresh, it felt so new and it was so exciting to get to see it. I feel like everything changes the second you leave London, you're like right, absolutely, it just feels amazing.

Sarah, for you, talk to me about what's going on in your mind right now, give me a little bit of a temperature check. You're obviously just about to depart to go into the next chapter of this Wicked Tour, but for you, is it like live, laugh, love? Are you loving life right now?

[3:22] Sarah O'Connor: It is epic. It's actually been a really emotional two months being here, you know, meeting up with friends, family, being here for different events, like actually being around with people that I haven't seen in years, some of them, you know, and but even just to be able to go meet my, you know, my mates and my sister for a coffee and just do normal life while in Dublin, alongside of doing the job which I'm loving so much around the UK, but I think to have such a long pit stop in Dublin has been absolutely awesome, but I do think so far we're on venue seven and this is the best audiences, these really are, like Dublin show us and let us know exactly what they think.

[4:03] Laura Pick: Don't let the other locations know you said that.

[4:04] Sarah O'Connor: Sorry guys, up the levels, Sunderland, we're coming for you. No, it's been absolutely brilliant, I have loved representing my country and my county and it's been really, really fun, yeah, we're having a great time, really, really fun, it's brilliant.

[4:14] William J Connolly: The audience reaction was crazy when I was there, I mean, you know Wicked is such a phenomenal show, so, you know, even on the quietest days it's still absolutely crazy, but it felt so special, it felt like people were so excited to be there, appreciative of the material and the work. Laura, what's it been like for you getting that response, night after night, being like, oh wow, they are really enjoying it?

[4:32] Laura Pick: Yeah, it's amazing because I actually think this is what's so great about the tour, because you get people that maybe don't go to London to see the show, so for a lot of our audiences it probably is their first time ever seeing the show, or if they have seen it before it was a long time ago because they don't have as easy access to it, and so the jokes just land so well and they seem to love it, it just feels, it just, it feels so amazing doing it to an audience that are just so responsive and just so happy to be there, like they're all excited and, you know, it's really special, and it is quite emotional, some of the responses we get, like, that you would expect on like a special night in London, like a cast opening, you know, we just get that on like a random Wednesday evening, you get like amazing applauses after the numbers, and you think, oh my gosh, like, and it kind of, yeah, and it just hits, it just hits in a way that kind of, I sometimes like get a little bit choked up, even just after Wizard and I, and I'm like, oh, I need a second before moving on, yeah, it's been, it's been really special.

[5:54] Laura Pick: The DMs have been busy at Stage Door, online, you know, people just kind of expressing their relationship with Wicked, I think Wicked is very much a musical that kind of sits in people's lives in a lot of different ways, and then the people that have come along that are new to it, that are now exploring musical theatre because of it, I just think it's brilliant.

[6:02] William J Connolly: Laura makes a good point there, Sarah, which is that, like, Wicked doesn't always travel all the time, obviously it's predominantly based for us here in London, so therefore to have it travelling all of these places, and also it feels like people locally will be not just longing for it, but so appreciative when it does come, what do you think this show coming, you know, when you were growing up, having a show like this would have come to the theatre near you, what do you think that would have meant, like, for you to see such a huge blockbuster in your hometown that you can finally connect with in a way that, you know, is very, very accessible for lots of different people?

[6:22] Sarah O'Connor: Yeah, I mean, when we, when you see some of the shows now, I can't imagine having had seen them when I was a kid, like, the board gosh wasn't here when I was a child, you know, it only got, it only got built as I was growing up, and I just think it makes it more accessible, it kind of ignites the creativity and the arts in kids, and it kind of, I think drama is so important, even if you don't go into it, I think all kids, and even adults now, if we're, you know, people are ever struggling with confidence, or trying to lose some inhibitions, you know, go to a drama class and just get stuck in and play around, we get too serious as adults to, like, go to a class and just, like, meet people and chat, and so I think it will definitely get kids exploring, like, I love when the kids turn up at stage door and they're all dressed up in a witch's outfits, or, you know, we've got some, like, video, videos of that little girl singing popular, and gosh, she's, like, so, so adorable, it's so cute, but then the amount of, like, parents with their kids at stage door that have said, oh, she wants to do this when she grows up, you know, he wants to do this, he wants to be you one day, and it's just so, it's so nice, it's so nice, because everyone can go to, you know, the big smoke of the big, massive, you know, the, and the New York cities, and the London's, and whatever, to go see these shows, so it's so important that these shows keep, um, keep touring, you know, and I was amazed by the sort of differentiation in the audience of the ages, and, like, people in different groups, and, like, couples, and stuff, you know, like, you see the classic guy that's clearly being brought on a date by his partner, and then, literally, by the end, he's, like, crying, and you're, like, there we go, that's exactly why, like, this show connects with so many people, I feel like taking shows to people invites a more diverse audience in every possible sense, Laura, and I feel like that in itself will probably surprise, you know, similar to the example I used, this show will surprise a lot of people of how fantastic it is, and how they resonate to it, have you been surprised by some of the commentary on tour, but also, perhaps, in London, as well, of the types of people that proactively make an effort to tell you how this show has affected them?

[8:08] Laura Pick: Yeah, like, even just, like, friends, or, like, people that have dragged a family member along, because, like, my friend's in Wicked, come on, he's here, and they hate musicals, and actually end up leaving Wicked a bit choked up, and kind of walking out singing a bit of the songs, and stuff, because there is something, we do say this a lot, there is something in this show for everyone, whether it's somebody that feels a little bit different, or they've been treated differently at school, or they're just having a hard time, they come to Wicked, and it's a safe space, because you feel like you relate to these characters, or, you know, you've fallen out with your friend, and then you see how two friends can come back together again, a big fallout, I just, I just, there's the music, there's the costumes, I just, it's just such a special show that so many people, the amount of messages you get from my time in London, and from now, of people just telling you how much it means to them that we brought this show here, or there, or, and how the music speaks to them, how they cried, how they really needed it in that moment, I just think it's just one of those shows that you can really just escape into.

[9:17] Sarah O'Connor: Yeah, perfect musical in that sense, like you say, it has a bit of something for everyone, and even if it is just the escapism for three hours, you know, like, it's absolutely brilliant, and you'll always leave feeling something, there's nothing worse than having no opinion on something, do you know what I mean? So when someone leaves and they have quite a strong opinion on it, it's just fantastic, so yeah, it's great, and it's good for us, I don't know about you, but, you know, you could be having a bad day, and all of a sudden we get to work, we have warm-up, and I'm, there's never a night passes where we're not laughing so hard, or something silly happens, or, I've never gone to work and ended up either leaving the same if it was a bad day or worse, for sure, it always lifts you up, even us as actors, you know?

[10:35] Laura Pick: Yeah, you can be having a bad day, and then as soon as you start the show and you go, this is why I do it.

[10:40] Sarah O'Connor: Yeah, definitely. Laura, did you notice that your love of playing this role, I don't want to say reset, but kind of started a new chapter when you knew that this was going to be what you were going to do? Were you like, oh, did you almost have to remind yourself doing it again, how much you loved it, I guess, when you first did it back then, did it change?

[10:55] Laura Pick: Well, I feel like when I first started, when I was the standby in London, it was like, because I hadn't really done another big job, I still, it still took me so long to register what I was doing, like, you have so many pinch moments going, oh my gosh, like, I'm playing Elphaba. It's crazy, and it's all I ever wanted to do, and I think it took me a really long time to go, I wonder, like, my job is really cool, and then being able to come and do it on the tour, and owning it, and it's mine for the whole year, you know, it's, I do have so many days where I'm just like, I love my job, and on the days where I can't do my job because I'm a bit under the weather, or my voice is tired, or I've hurt my neck, or whatever, it's, you don't feel like, oh yeah, I'm getting the day off work, it's like, oh, I really, I really want to go to work, I'm really, I'm sad that I can't go to work, so it's, I'm more grateful, like, I was really sick while we were in Birmingham, and I like, barely did any of the shows, and I remember coming back, I think, just for the last day of the venue, I was such a mess in for good, because I was just like, oh my gosh, I've missed this so much, like, I just love my job, so yeah, it's been, it's been really special, and like, doing it with Sarah's been, yeah, I just think my, all my, all my love for this role, and this show has done is grow, it's just grown continuously from the day I first did it, to now, it's just getting more and more, like, I just love it.

[11:36] Sarah O'Connor: Does there come a point when, to Laura's point, like of oh my gosh I'm playing this part that I've actually maybe didn't even realise to myself truly how much it meant to do it and then when you do do it you kind of I guess grow to understand it? Does there come a point because it's so iconic where you have to almost ignore the fact that it's this iconic role and do the job? There are days like that and more when you know if people are coming to see the show or they have their favourites or they're so curious about yours after all the other Glyndas they've seen. I guess I have to kind of compartmentalise it but generally I don't tend, I very much own my Glynda. I own it and I stand by it and it's who I you know have created with her in the team and with Laura very much it's definitely a two-hander.

But yeah, I mean I don't think about it too much. I mean if I was to think about being in the iconic shoes of all the women that have played it I probably wouldn't walk on this stage. No, you would because everyone that does these roles is at a certain level amazing, you know you're not going to be everyone's favourite but you do you and you deserve to be where you are. Yeah, I stand by my version of her for sure but I think more on what Laura was saying there's so many times where I catch because we don't see each other we don't see ourselves very much so like unless there's a mirror and you catch your wig and this peripherally in your eye or something you kind of forget that you're these iconic people until you catch yourself in a mirror and you go oh my god yeah I'm playing I'm Glynda that's so cool you know and but it doesn't get old at all and it just gets better with time.

I love watching you know other people's versions of it but obviously I don't take it into my own but it is like I'm still a wicked fan myself you know so it's cool. Definitely it's been so interesting getting the opportunity to talk to so many ladies that have played these roles that say the longer they do it actually the more they love it which I think I don't actually think genuinely happens with some things. Some things you're like oh I've done it now so I've got it out of my system but Laura it feels like the more you do it you sort of I guess it's respect right you respect her and the institution of Wicked even more particularly as like in London like 18th anniversary this month like this is crazy 18 years.

[13:47] Laura Pick: Yeah, it's really crazy. It's mad. Like I went to see it in the first I think I was sort of in previews with Adina when I was 14, you know, and it's really aging well. Yeah, like the storylines are it's one of the few musicals that kind of is as relevant now as it was then, you know, when it comes to accepting people and being who you are and it's okay to be individual and you know how to communicate with people and other relationships making you a better person. Yeah, like it's as relevant, it's not dating in that way. Yeah, and even but even the magic, the magical elements they still work. They're still like I don't think Wicked's ever gonna change, it's not gonna update the way it does things and I don't think it needs to because it was before its time I guess.

Yeah, it's just it's magical. Yeah, but 18 years like my five-year-old niece came to see it when we're in Bradford and she will barely sit down and watch a film but she sat there in that auditorium and watched every single second like just loved it.

[14:45] Sarah O'Connor: I came I think it was last summer so literally I guess just over a year ago now to see the show in London. I took my sister's girlfriend and we were just having a really great time. She's never seen it before to be honest she didn't really know that much about it and it reminded me of how great the power of the show is where at the end of act one she was crying and I said like are you enjoying it? You know like sort of going is it happy tears or like you know what was it going? She's she was like oh it's amazing I can't believe it. I was like why did you cry at the end? I was like you know was it the spectacle of it and she went it was just nice to see somebody genuinely brave enough to do something that they wanted to do and it wasn't disrespectful to the moment of Defying Gravity but it was she was just like the fact she actually did it she was like I just felt such release for her and I was like I've never heard anybody say that and the fact that it's doing that that long into the run you know she it really took me actually I think I got more upset about her than the great performance on stage.

[15:36] Laura Pick: Do you find that the responses are very varied in particularly in that moment we referenced but throughout the show that people do find their own very individual connection to a girl that is in all sense of purposes pushed out and ostracized and it's kind of is an individual very much of her own even in the most challenging times in the show?

[15:46] Laura Pick: Yeah, 100% and I feel like it can you know to young girls, old women, anybody sitting there that maybe feels a bit vulnerable or like they don't have the confidence to do something. I think you can be very easily inspired by such an epic turning point in a character's journey, you know Elphaba has to make that decision to go no this isn't good enough, this isn't right and I have to go out and do this on my own essentially and just change changes the whole it's like a sliding doors moment changes the whole course of her future and her life because I'm not gonna say anything because you know there are some people that still don't seem like it but um but because of what the evil I guess in the story is is trying to do so yeah I feel like I remember the first time I saw it with Idina Menzel and I sobbed and I was 14 years old and I sobbed and I think probably a big element of that was the fact that I was just so overwhelmed by what I was seeing.

I was a massive Idina Menzel fan anyway, I loved the music, I was singing it every day in the car on my way to am dram rehearsals and whatever and then I'm this American woman turned around and went oh my goodness that girl is just so overcome with emotion because I was just sat there sobbing for the whole interval and I probably wouldn't be able to articulate then quite what it meant but it probably was that similar thing of like oh my god like that decision that she's had to make and that power she's taking control of her life and her of what she knew that she needed to achieve it's very powerful.

[17:23] Sarah O'Connor: Are there moments in the show where you know that you as Laura would not respond in the same way that Elphaba does because she's very on the front foot and I think there are moments where you go oh yeah absolutely it makes sense in the script to do that but realistically it's like the hat for example like in the ballroom scene I think to do that in front of peers people that actually don't really like you I mean I wouldn't do it. I think I'd be honest to say that I think that would take a lot of courage to do that. Are there moments where you think oh Elphaba's actually teaching me maybe to take half a step forward as Laura the actress as the human being?

[18:27] Laura Pick: Yeah, 100% I would not do that. I would have been like I have a moment when I'm on the top of the stairs I'm like as Elphaba I'm thinking right fight or flight and I have a second I think am I gonna leave and then you kind of just internalize and you go nah bugger this I'm gonna find this girl that's done this to me and I'm gonna show her up and I don't even think like as Elphaba you don't even know what when you do that in that moment you don't even know what you're gonna do and then you're like instinct just takes over and you just think right well I'm just gonna do this because I should be I should be involved in this but as Laura you probably would have just had an early night and watched a bit of Netflix.

[18:57] Sarah O'Connor: 100% yeah I'd have been straight. I would have been like nah I'm busy babe soz. But then it's hard because like Elphaba literally sees this hat and thinks it's beautiful. I know. And I sometimes I'm like looking at it I'm like oh that's seeing better days. But she thinks she thinks it's beautiful so she thinks that oh my gosh somebody's actually giving me a gift my father doesn't give me gifts like somebody's actually giving me a gift maybe maybe actually this is this is the change this is the turning point and it was but just for the wrong I guess the different reasons. Oops, mad my fault.

[19:43] Laura Pick: But also you know the genius of you know the Gregory Maguire who is an absolute legend but like the writing is like Sarah that you as a human being probably would look at the scenario that Glinda is setting up which is for example to use the hat analogy like you know you're going to cause someone great harm by doing this thing is there a part of you that does it feel strange to be initiating something that you know is going to be causing great distress to somebody if not then but later on down the line and then being accountable for it one scene later when you're like well it's not like it's your fault well no it is it's absolutely your fault is is there a weird element of I would never do that because I know what it's gonna do to the other person?

[20:39] Sarah O'Connor: Yeah, I know what you mean. I think yes generally in my life I don't do anything that's gonna cost so it is kind of it does go against the natural instinct of me but I think with Glinda a lot of the times she ends up doing something like that there's only really one moment where she does it kind of on purpose which is with with setting up the the Bach with the Bic and and Nessa Rose at the party but the things like the hash and she she kind of gets egged on by Fanny and Chen Chen she doesn't really intend to do something nasty I don't think she like even realizes the damage it no just popular she has not she has not thought that through she does not have the depth yet to foresee the actual damage she could be doing because she's not a bully she's not mean and she just does some silly things that end up being quite bad for Elphaba and for other people but she really didn't see that coming she definitely does not have that nasty streak the only thing she does try and do is set up a Bic but that's just a harmless date like that's not even a mean thing to do well that's what you would do anyways it's like well I don't want to go out with you and exactly so yeah I think it kind of it makes her look worse than she actually intended it to even be she really doesn't mean to be that nasty when it happens it was it kind of just gets bigger than she anticipates and I don't think it is I think you're completely right like it's not coming from malicious place in any way it's just the world that she knows and perhaps she is enabled by those around her to make decisions that are probably a bit silly probably a bit mean later on down the line but I don't know if she means to be like that.

[21:13] Laura Pick: Yeah and I think you see that towards the end where she starts to sort of be accountable perhaps at the start back to to our decisions there maybe even she starts to not like she can't even imagine being in a world where her dad is angry out of her or she doesn't get treated amazingly by her family or her parents or whatever she literally is in her ironically she is in her little bubble and as to how life is and she thinks that the way she has her mumsy and her popsicle and all this and life is a load of roses and she gets the best of the best and she comes to school and all of a sudden she's met someone and she's like what this isn't the same for everyone like she genuinely hasn't got that depth yet she has no clue she's not very life smart.

[22:10] Sarah O'Connor: No but then it probably also doesn't help that like she kind of takes the mick out of Elphaba for a bit yeah but then actually Elphaba gets what she wants she wants of the sorcery to do her with Madame Horrible. She's not used to nothing.

[22:26] Laura Pick: So it's like there's probably more of an element of like jealousy that but she's never experienced that.

[22:29] Sarah O'Connor: Do you think that's why she responds Glinda the way she does just before as long as you're mine in that when it doesn't go her way she goes oh it's almost like she has to accept that actually it's not going her way that's the decision that's actually almost by her own doing but through someone else you know that's why she doesn't fight it but she sort of has to accept that in that scenario she probably did lose?

[22:53] Laura Pick: Yeah, absolutely I think it hits her. I think she's had a listen it kind of seems to be a bouldering effect of loads of things not going her way I think the biggest being probably the top of act two when the you know when the can I ruin it and when things move forward with her and Fiyero and and the reaction is so not what she thought and if things are all clicking and I think the process of finding out then what happens with the other two is devastating that she just she probably wouldn't even have the fight in her but also loves Elphaba so much and deep down wants her to be happy no matter what.

[23:01] Sarah O'Connor: Should say some of the production pictures do feature Laura and Carl kissing so I feel like it everyone knows that stuff changes we're okay I've definitely said that we snogged it in to you before and I was like can I say that?

[23:11] William J Connolly: There's only like three people in the world that haven't seen Wicked and like two of them are coming to see you so it's fine, you know. Once the film comes out everybody will have seen it about twice so it's okay. I was going to ask you actually about the film so maybe it's a good segue but like does it feel even more special, what brilliant English that is, to be doing it while the film is also going to come out which means that people will, you know, film nerds, going back to people that maybe wouldn't traditionally connect with musicals, are going to watch it and then be like oh no now I want to see the OG, the original on stage live and very probably will come to see the touring version that you're part of.

[23:49] Sarah O'Connor: Yeah I mean it's, it's just, I mean we just can't wait to see it. Every time a new trailer comes out or new like images it's like...

[23:55] Laura Pick: I know the Wicked WhatsApp group goes absolutely mad.

[24:00] Sarah O'Connor: I cannot wait to see it but listen if it gets people in theatres, happy days, do you know what I mean? And then they can enjoy all versions of it but are we having a clue? We haven't a clue what's going on with the film so I'm buzzing. I can't wait. Oh my god it's going to be so good.

[24:14] Laura Pick: And in two months.

[24:14] Sarah O'Connor: We'll all go see it together as well which will be fun.

[24:16] Laura Pick: Also wouldn't that be slightly terrifying, seeing the role that you play in a film, literally like Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo who are like what, like the greatest vocalists of all time, like you know, like no, no pressure to watch them do it but like oh f**k now I've got to sound like that, like.

[24:27] Sarah O'Connor: No, I don't think it's a disappointment Laura, if anything, you know, we could be getting a call from Cynthia and Ariana to go. We don't know if we did it justice, what can we do to rectify for Act 2?

[24:38] Laura Pick: No.

[24:43] Sarah O'Connor: No, listen, that's definitely not something I'd worry about because they're such different entities. Nah, I ain't worried about living up to Ariana Grande, there's no chance. We do it in our own way. This teaches to be individual so.

[24:59] Laura Pick: I saw Cynthia Erivo in The Color Purple like back at the Menninger Chocolate Factory and you know, and I saw her in the X Factor musical.

[25:08] Sarah O'Connor: I can't sing.

[25:09] Laura Pick: I can't sing.

[25:10] Sarah O'Connor: And you know when you're just like, oh wow, she's not even real.

[25:13] Laura Pick: No, she's just ridiculous.

[25:15] Sarah O'Connor: Can't wait.

[25:16] Laura Pick: Yeah.

[25:16] Sarah O'Connor: Can't believe either of you even questioned any form of vocal ability after what you performed on Wednesday night. It was literally cray cray. So bless you for being modest but I would literally sleep well knowing I could sing the s**t like you two do. So mega.

[25:28] Laura Pick: What I want to say is there is a high leg in the movie advert that I wouldn't mind trying to slip in to make it more popular but I would probably be given a P45 for that so I might leave it out.

[25:38] Sarah O'Connor: And you'll be in physio the next day.

[25:39] Laura Pick: I'll be in physio the next day. I'm like, go on Ariana, good for you.

[25:45] William J Connolly: Laura, can I ask you, we referenced at the start but some of the stage door interactions and the way that people have spoke to you about Wicked, some of the people that will have been similar to yourself that saw Wicked, you know, those 18 years ago or 20 something now, those of you lucky enough to go to New York, will have literally grown up and are grown women probably with families and children themselves that will have grown up with that show. Do you think it's the sort of responsibility telling a story like this that you consider will be with people in, you know, another 20 years? Do you think Idina Menzel had any recollection or insight into the fact that she may actually be carrying or telling a story that people will carry with them for so long? And do you think about all of the things we've discussed, the way it affects people and changes people, that what you're saying could genuinely stay with someone for a week, two weeks, one year, ten years?

[26:01] Laura Pick: No, I've never thought of that. No, that's, it is quite, well because I think it's very hard because I feel like we know what we do is important and we love what we do and we know that people enjoy it but I think actually sometimes we don't, we don't realise the impact that we can have on people.

[26:42] Sarah O'Connor: It's almost the weight is too much to hold.

[26:47] Laura Pick: Yeah, because if we did we'd probably put too much pressure on ourselves. I don't know, I just, I always love meeting people at Stage Door and them saying, like there's been a few people that have said, oh like we saw, I saw Wicked this many times, this long ago, now I'm bringing my daughter or my son and because it means so much and, but you kind of forget that you, we're a part of that.

[27:07] Sarah O'Connor: Yeah, because we're in the middle of it.

[27:10] Laura Pick: Yeah, but like the amount of, like I've seen comments on like TikTok videos and stuff being like, oh my first Elphaba, like so I can't wait to see my first Elphaba again on the tour and it's just like, you forget that a performance you do can have such an impact on somebody because I guess we just don't pick ourselves up that much.

[27:27] Sarah O'Connor: No, you do, it's almost just so normal for us that you forget that you could be that person for someone.

[27:32] Laura Pick: Yeah. Like it's almost just too ridiculous, you know, but then again I've worked with people, I remember seeing Emma Hatton, one of the old Elphabas and I remember seeing...

[27:43] Sarah O'Connor: Not old, like age. She's so old.

[27:43] Laura Pick: No, I love Emma, she's fantastic and the smallest Elphaba that ever was I would imagine.

[27:50] Sarah O'Connor: Yeah, I remember working with her at Wicked years ago and then I did Evita with her but years and years and years and years previous I remember watching We Will Rock You and she was on and I remember thinking, oh my god that girl's vocals, she's got great stage presence, she was really funny and then it turned around that within the next 10 years I was working with her twice, once on Wicked and once on Evita. So sometimes as the person in the audience you can so far as to even end up working with these people, the people that are iconic and that are in your head going, oh my god they're so amazing, you know. So you just never know how your paths will cross and who you are actually performing to.

They could be in your life in a different way in the future whatever but I just think, yeah, what we do happens so gradually. It never is like this big, you know, pinch me moment that you got these things, you're just doing it day to day so if that does happen it never feels quite real I don't think.

[28:39] William J Connolly: Sarah, was it a similar experience doing Frozen then playing Anna where you know that that means so much to, especially to young people, you know, that that could be their first connection, you know, especially with a parent where they might go and see it and it's, you know, they've enjoyed that film at home and then you get to be the vessel to carry that story in person for them. I mean we talk about responsibility being a scary thing but actually I'd imagine what an honour to get to do it in something so special like that role.

[29:01] Sarah O'Connor: It was and that's even a slightly different one because it is genuinely about magic and kind of the really young kids, you know, coming along and oh my god, honestly I think one of my favourite things about that show was when you'd leave stage door either at night or after a matinee to go get your dinner or whatever was seeing all the kids dressed up as Elsa and Anna and Kristoff and Sven. Sometimes the parents were also dressed up and it was just seeing them having the time of their life and yeah you're being a princess and but they just love Frozen so much that you are just jumping into their world for a couple hours, like they're not coming to you, you're going to them if anything. But no, it was absolutely epic, yeah. Frozen was even heavier probably in that way but it was amazing.

[29:47] Laura Pick: I saw a comment on, I think somebody was saying something they heard at Frozen, was like a little child saying that's not the real Elsa and it's like the real Elsa's a cartoon.

[29:58] Sarah O'Connor: Yeah, we are mere humans. Some of the kids, I mean they're absolutely gods, just running around enjoying themselves, like it's so funny. That was brilliant.

[30:08] William J Connolly: Laura, is there a particular part of doing the show every day, you know, when you said like oh that's the part when I sing The Wizards and I and then it finishes or I go oh I forget about the things outside, but is there a particular part of the show that you're like that's the bit I know regardless of how I feel, I know I'm gonna feel like me at my best when I get to do that part and so often the answer to this question is not the most glamorous part but what's the bit that you go this is why I took this job?

[30:30] Laura Pick: Probably the end of Defying Gravity because even like on a day, even on a day because obviously we are our worst critics, even on a day where I think that wasn't my best, like it wasn't, it wasn't like even yesterday afternoon, like my cold was kind of hitting in a bit more, I was feeling quite tired and like I think I had a little wobble on like one of the notes.

[30:55] Sarah O'Connor: I can confirm that is not true.

[30:57] Laura Pick: It wasn't, it was a little wobble, it was, but to me it was, yeah and like and I thought oh that wasn't my best and you kind of you have a moment of going I feel a bit disappointed but then the audience like respond in the way that they do and you're like oh like they still enjoyed it enough to respond that way and that that can just lift you and you can just go okay it's really not that bad. Does that make sense?

[31:19] Sarah O'Connor: Yeah absolutely.

[31:20] Laura Pick: You just have that little minute to yourself when the lights go out.

[31:24] William J Connolly: I'd love to know what it feels like to be up there, that'd be well cool.

[31:27] Laura Pick: Well you always look like you're in your own little world when you're up there.

[31:30] Sarah O'Connor: Yeah.

[31:30] Laura Pick: It's mash.

[31:31] Sarah O'Connor: Because I, it's quite funny because like as soon as the lights go out, apparently if you watch it on like the infrared camera you literally just see us go oh.

[31:41] Laura Pick: Because that is the moment of the show and that is like the bit that kind of people really remember and especially from the first time they ever see it.

[31:49] Sarah O'Connor: So there is a lot of pressure on it and you want to do a good job so it is just that thing of going oh like I embody you because you really like embody it in that moment and like feel every single little bit so then it's like such a release at the end when it's done.

[32:03] Laura Pick: There's like um there's like a gif going around of Spongebob like.

[32:07] Sarah O'Connor: I sent you that.

[32:08] Laura Pick: You did, you did.

[32:10] Sarah O'Connor: I want to see it.

[32:10] Laura Pick: It's like Elphaba at the end of Defying Gravity.

[32:12] Sarah O'Connor: Okay oh I should go.

[32:13] Laura Pick: Um and it's like it's so true and it's so funny um because you do just have a minute of going right on to the next and then you don't even get an interval because you're straight back into makeup and hair.

[32:24] Sarah O'Connor: Just getting all green glammed.

[32:26] Laura Pick: Drink my tea, watching TikToks and gifs that people send me on social media.

[32:31] Sarah O'Connor: Not looking at anyone in particular.

[32:33] Laura Pick: Finally might be looking at the person opposite you, here we go I found it.

[32:36] Sarah O'Connor: Oh my god stop that is actually so spot on.

[32:40] Laura Pick: The amount of people that sent me that.

[32:42] Sarah O'Connor: That's brilliant.

[32:43] Laura Pick: Waiting behind the curtain at the end of act one.

[32:45] Sarah O'Connor: Thank you.

[32:47] Laura Pick: Sometimes I do a little dance if I'm feeling really good.

[32:50] William J Connolly: Is there an opposite of that though? You know you said like you immediately went to when I'm not feeling it or yesterday with a note that maybe felt not right to you or not your best or however you want to put it. What about when Laura's really feeling herself? What about when you're serving cunt? What about when you're like right I'm ready up we go give and you go forward and then you're like right here we go.

[33:06] Laura Pick: Yeah that is it is very much like like actually I don't give myself a lot of credit and I actually had I've had to do a lot of checking in with myself recently and going no I am good at what I do and so like if I've done that in Defying Gravity and I finish it and I'm like that's when I normally do a little dance but only like anybody looking at the screen in the dark would be able to see because I'm just there.

[33:28] Sarah O'Connor: Can I answer that for Laura on my behalf as well?

[33:32] Laura Pick: So me and Donna or whoever's playing Marble I always call it my front row seat right? So I'm on my little podium ready to come on for Witch Hunters and it's after No Good Deed so for kind of the last third of the once you get to the lights and you're doing all the shaky shaky stuff I don't know the lyrics but you know the bit where you're like moving around all your um what you call that's really good English let's move on anyway I watch about the last third of No Good Deed and I just call it my front row seat because Laura is giving it major vocals and I'm having the best time every day and that's my kind of like I'm obsessed with the moment and if I was to switch kind of shoes with her it'd be like so I could do that and me and Donna and sometimes some of the ensemble that are waiting to come on or whoever and honestly the way you sing No Good Deed at the end is one of the most ridiculous things so for me that's when Laura is serving her best big C that you say it's so good I love No Good Deed because I actually feel like No Good Deed I sang No Good Deed at college like for like assessments and stuff like that and I it just kind of sits in a in a different part of the voice that you can give it more but safe like it feels because that's not the case with a lot of people it's I don't know there's something about No Good Deed that even if I'm really tired and I think like right at the end of the week I can sing.

[34:48] Sarah O'Connor: That's hilarious. People could train for years and they still can't pull it out.

[34:51] Laura Pick: I love No Good Deeds.

[34:51] Sarah O'Connor: It's so good.

[34:52] Laura Pick: It's such a sleigh.

[34:54] Sarah O'Connor: It's such like a, I'm not going to do it, it's such a middle finger like, uh, Elphaba song.

[34:59] Laura Pick: Yeah, I love just, I'm not like, which versions are you going to do tonight? Which notes are you going to do?

[35:03] Sarah O'Connor: No, I haven't seen what's on the page.

[35:05] Laura Pick: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.

[35:07] Sarah O'Connor: I love the fact, I just dropped a C-bomb over Defying Gravity. I love the fact that I've just completely ruined my relationship with them. I've been like, I can't.

[35:14] Laura Pick: Yeah.

[35:16] Sarah O'Connor: Wicked, universal, all the people, it was me that said it, not them. The girls look terrified when I said it, so they're brave.

[35:21] Laura Pick: Bugger it.

[35:22] Sarah O'Connor: Bugger it.

[35:23] Laura Pick: Bugger.

[35:24] Sarah O'Connor: Bugger off.

[35:25] Laura Pick: No, all gravy. No, it's so good though.

[35:27] Sarah O'Connor: It's just, Laura, genuinely, like, I know that the natural instinct is to always air towards, you know, how we can always improve. Sometimes I feel like that's a good thing, being self-aware. Like, I like the fact we're always pushing for more, but like both of you, it was like, and I said it, the first thing I think actually that came out of my mouth when I saw you on the stage after the show was like, the sound and the vocals were absolutely smashing. Like, it's so special to hear, particularly so long into a show now where you're like, I cannot believe I feel like I'm watching it for the first time again. And maybe because it was outside of London in a different setting and with a different audience, but like the lady behind me at the end of Act One, she was like, probably early of certain years, but she just was like, whoa, whoa, whoa.

And I was like, yeah, I want this energy. Like, I love the fact that people are getting excited. And like, Sarah, for you, you can't, I imagine, start the show feeling like meh, because Glinda doesn't come in at like a 5 out of 10. She's like a 15 out of 10. So where, how many like Lucases do you have to drink before the show to be like, and I'm charged, here we go. Like, you can't be rubbish, right?

[36:21] Sarah O'Connor: I wouldn't mind a Tenzing sponsorship if I'm honest.

[36:24] Laura Pick: We would love a Tenzing sponsorship.

[36:26] Sarah O'Connor: Hashtag Tenzing.

[36:27] Laura Pick: Love the Tenzing. Couldn't get it here.

[36:29] Sarah O'Connor: Couldn't get it here. We're on the Knocko in Dublin, lads. Knocko, give us a call. The mango flavour is my favourite.

[36:35] Sarah O'Connor: Makes me really gassy.

[36:36] Laura Pick: Oh, I burp a lot when I get off the luggage cart. I'm like, I finish all my big diaphragm singing and then I'm like, and burp.

[36:44] Sarah O'Connor: But for me it's a start to find gravity.

[36:46] Laura Pick: Yes, I know. I can smell it sometimes.

[36:49] Sarah O'Connor: You literally watched me burp at the start of the show.

[36:51] Laura Pick: Oh, yeah. It just came out of her and I obviously knew it happened and I was trying to be all like sad and sad. And I was just like, no spoilers.

[37:01] Sarah O'Connor: That's why I had a Knocko.

[37:03] Laura Pick: Oh my God. So funny. I was like, okay. But yeah. Oh my God. She starts at the end, which is like really exhausting at a two o'clock matinee. But generally the team that I have in the room with me are good crack. I generally play some music on a double show day. Maybe a Saturday we'll do a little boogie.

[37:21] Sarah O'Connor: A dance party.

[37:22] Laura Pick: I do like a dance party and then I'll see everyone down on the ground and then I'll kind of like move around with people. People come to my bubble to have a quick visit and then I fly off. And LX, we have a dance that I do when I get to the top of the bubble. And the Wicked of the West is dead. Boom. And then I do a little dance and then I prep. And except for the few times where I've panicked because I put hand cream on too late and I'm a bit worried about the watch. I'm clumsy enough as it is, but I have had one or two instances where it was nearly bye bye. But yeah, I think we do quite a lot of dancing.

[37:56] Sarah O'Connor: I actually do. You don't know this, but I do to the end of the opening. So that's kind of when I just get down and I do like full on dance routines for Megan, Simeon, Donna and James and the crew. Like I just because I just love making them laugh. And like I just do something really silly. But while it was like no one mourns the Wicked.

[38:19] Laura Pick: But we have a whole dance routine before our

[38:22] Sarah O'Connor: Good news.

[38:23] Laura Pick: What's it called? With our bows? We have a dance routine at the end of the show as well.

[38:26] Sarah O'Connor: Yeah, which will have to be filmed before the end.

[38:28] Laura Pick: We're professional dancers really is what we're saying.

[38:31] Sarah O'Connor: I've never had any professional dance training.

[38:33] Laura Pick: Because I have and I still can't dance.

[38:35] Sarah O'Connor: Stop. I have ballet every day at half eight and I just never again. Delete.

[38:39] Laura Pick: So you're having a really terrible time is what you're telling everybody.

[38:41] Sarah O'Connor: We actually really hate each other.

[38:43] Laura Pick: We can't stand us. What was that laugh? It's because I'm lying down and it's pushing all the air out. No, we have a great time. I think, yeah, you have to. You can't start the show feeling all meh because otherwise it's going to be a long night for us and for the 2000 people watching, you know. But there's a lot of things we do that will, you know, kind of upstage acting, I'll call it, that we do with each other as in all of the cast to keep each other, you know, entered.

[39:11] Sarah O'Connor: High on life, high on life, buzzing on certain drinks.

[39:14] Laura Pick: One thing I would definitely say about this tour and these people is that it's just not getting stale.

[39:20] Sarah O'Connor: Like it's not like as tired as you can be. Like this has been a long stint here in Dublin. Like on the eighth week, it's the longest we've done. But still, like there's still a lot of buzz and a lot of energy and like joy.

[39:34] Laura Pick: Yeah.

[39:35] Sarah O'Connor: People are really,

[39:36] Laura Pick: But like it is.

[39:36] Sarah O'Connor: No, people are just, they still love their job, which is really, really nice. There's nothing worse than getting towards the end of the contract. You look over and someone's just not giving their beans anymore. It's really boring to see that. And so I think it's really nice that we have that because considering no one has their home comforts and their partners or their dogs or whatever, you know, it's really nice that because we're each other's family, but the casting team know what they're doing and they set us up with a good lot, I think. So we're lucky.

[40:00] William J Connolly: And for you, Laura, do you feel beautiful in the green?

[40:06] Laura Pick: I actually feel more beautiful green than I do as myself. And I feel like when Sarah says to me in Popular, I'm a selfie, you're beautiful. I'm like, no, no. I love pictures of me in green. I love like, I love the green. I think it's really, really, really great. Especially up to the contour.

[40:24] Laura Pick: I think most people look good in the green. Like it's strong.

[40:28] Sarah O'Connor: I want to try it.

[40:30] Laura Pick: Have you never tried it?

[40:31] Sarah O'Connor: No, I want one of the girls to stick it on me. It'd be so fun. Just for the just for the crack. You know, I'd love to know I look like green.

[40:38] Laura Pick: I'll do it.

[40:39] Sarah O'Connor: Okay.

[40:40] Laura Pick: I've seen them do it enough. I'll do it. We'll video it.

[40:42] Sarah O'Connor: Okay, we'll stick that on a video.

[40:44] Laura Pick: Hey, we're living together for the next.

[40:46] Sarah O'Connor: Yeah, like next to the venues.

[40:48] Laura Pick: So yeah, they wish our own like morning coffee podcast.

[40:53] Sarah O'Connor: Oh my god, stop. That's so funny.

[40:54] Laura Pick: Just green.

[40:55] Sarah O'Connor: Our morning coffees are probably silence. So I feel like the podcast.

[41:01] Laura Pick: And they probably wouldn't be in the morning. I'll probably be like one o'clock.

[41:03] Sarah O'Connor: Yeah, an early afternoon greenathon in silence. I'm not sure we're really selling this podcast. It's not silent, which is no, let's move on. You both been so kind with your time. I've just got one final question. This is always my favourite question of the interview. And I'd be intrigued to see how you respond sat next to each other. But we've spoke so much about the impact of this show. And the fact that I think principally above all apart from the fact that it is a fantastic show, there's a great way of responsibility and enjoyment and love that I think now as we've referenced with the different generations, people have experience as an audience member and then have the joy of then, in your cases, getting to actually do it.

But if you think back to the first time that both of you saw Wicked in whatever scenario and situation that it was, if you think back to then and that person, what would that person back then think of the two ladies that have been sat playing these roles full time and actually getting to live out a real dream? What would they think of the two people that have been sat talking to me for the last 45 minutes?

[41:56] Laura Pick: I don't know, I feel like I'm getting upset. I just, I never thought, why am I crying? I never thought it would, like, it was all I ever wanted was to do Elphaba. And I was like, if that's all I ever do, then that's fine. And I still can't believe I'm doing it. And the me then would be like, wow. Yeah, like, you're doing it. And I've done it for such a long time. But it's like, I'm still not bored or tired of it. And I just don't think you know, your body can probably get tired of it. But I feel like I don't think it'll ever get old. Like, I can't wait to finish the tour and like, get the calls to go back in and do it like on a random, on a random Wednesday afternoon in London, like just to do it again.

You know, it's, it was the ultimate goal and the ultimate dream. And I can't believe I get to do it for my job with and all the amazing people I've worked with. Like, I am so grateful to that. I was on YouTube the other day, and my speech came up from when I left London in 2022, early 2022. I was crying. I was watching it again and crying because I still feel exactly the same about that company as I did then. And now I'm going to have all those feelings again when we finish the tour in January about this company and these people that we're working with. So I know I'm saying it more as me now, but I still can't. That younger me literally just wouldn't, could never have dreamt of the journey I would have had with Wicked.

[43:22] Sarah O'Connor: For me, I saw it when I think I was about 14, 15, something like that. And it was the first year or two in Broadway. It was a surprise ticket from my dad when we were on a New York trip. And he knew I loved musicals. He knew I loved Wicked because that's why he got the ticket. But to have had that dream of playing one of these parts at the time, probably would have been Elphaba when I was younger, because it was the even more iconic role, I think, with her being green and with the end of Act One and stuff, you know? To be honest with you, what has happened is so huge in my life. I think it would have even been too big for her to have dreamt even that high. You know, when I was in college, it was just to do anything, be it fringe or creating or working for a house.

And then with my first job, it became to play a part and then it became to originate and then it became specific goals. So I think my goals have moved each time because if I went to the ultimate goal in my head, it would just seem too unbelievable. And I auditioned for this role, for this show, on and off for 11 years. So we know how much hard work it takes to get there. But I think she'd just absolutely be beside herself. I think she'd be jumping up and down with joy. And also, it would be nice to know that I made it to sing it somewhere else outside of the kitchen. I used to sing it in my kitchen all the time. Honestly, I don't think she'd get it. I don't think she'd be able to understand it.

But I think I'd be very proud of myself and just happy and knowing that things like that, actually like dreams, I know it sounds really corny, but dreams can come true. Do you know what I mean? I have the most incredible life with this job. It brought me my husband. It employed me when I wasn't working on stage, when I was a dresser. That's how I met you originally on this show. Wicked has given me so much more than just Glinda. And Glinda is the cherry on the top. And I am obsessed with it. She'd be thrilled. She'd be jumping up and down going, my life's going to be great.

[45:18] William J Connolly: This has been such a pleasure. Thank you so much. Most importantly, above all else, genuinely congratulations. Wednesday was very, very special to be there, obviously to see you afterwards as well, which was wonderful. So thank you so much. Enjoy this journey. I know we joke about how we want to do it, but you actually are genuinely living out both of your dreams and to be in the middle of that, to get to do that and to close this conversation and actually get to go and live that dream is something that I know a lot of people would love to be in your shoes. So the fact that you're aware of it and very appreciative of it through this conversation shines through the most. So thank you so much.

Comparison I always think is the thief of joy. I love that saying so much. I think the fact that you get to go into a show and be yourselves and do your version of it now and you're the vessels that get to do that is probably the ultimate gift. So congratulations once again and thank you so much for your time.

[46:05] William J Connolly: You've been listening to Eleven, the official theatre podcast. Find out more about Eleven at elevenpodcast.com or via the Broadway Podcast Network.