Christopher Gray has a wizard time at the hit musical starring witches from the land of Oz

Theatregoers from as far away as Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds are making tracks for Milton Keynes Theatre at present following its significant coup in scoring a five-week run of the hit musical Wicked. This cult show, as it has steadily become, has been packing in the punters at London’s Apollo Victoria for the past five years; now its special magic — and that is, of course, the appropriate word — is being shown in a dazzling new touring production.

As is generally known, Wicked tells the back-story to The Wizard of Oz. It therefore has obvious appeal to anyone — that really means almost everyone — familiar with this classic of the silver screen, even those (myself included) who are not especially friends of Dorothy, whom sensible folk are likely to consider a horribly syrupy creation.

The plot dwells principally on the characters of the good witch Glinda and her green-skinned rival Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. Winnie Holzman’s book, which is based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, does a fine job of showing how the two — sworn enemies initially at Shiz University, an academy reminiscent of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts — come to be firm friends.

Driving on the story, too, are a series of belting numbers (music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz) which show off the first-class voices of the two young stars, Emily Tierney as Glinda and Nikki Davis-Jones as Elphaba.

The two could scarcely be more different in temperament. Glinda is at the outset everything a dumb blonde is expected to be, a spoilt airhead obsessed by fickle fashion. Elphaba, by contrast, is the least popular girl around, despite her intelligence and good sense. Initially, she is admired only by her younger sister Nessarose (Carina Gillespie) and Shiz’s head Madame Morrible who, as played by Marilyn Cutts, bears a distracting resemblance to Barbara Cartland.

Later her tender-hearted decency wins over the handsome Prince Flyero (Liam Doyle) who had at first seemed destined to favour the more obvious charms of Glinda. By this time, the Wizard of Oz (Dale Rapley) has been revealed as the organiser — among much other villainy — of a monstrous plot to rob the animals of their power of speech. Thwarting him (and sidekick Morrible) supplies the later dramatic impetus for this exciting story, which advances at cracking speed under director Joe Mantello, with some eye-popping special effects (and utterly brilliant dancing) on the way. As I said, real magic.

Wicked
Milton Keynes Theatre
Until March 8
0844 8717652, atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes