Susie Blake: Mad for Morrible

Susie Blake

About the author: Susie Blake played the recurring role of Beverly Unwin in perennial ITV soap Coronation Street for four years. She is also still much loved for her regular appearances in comedienne Victoria Wood’s 1980s TV series, As Seen on TV. Her recent theatre work Noises Off, which subsequently played on tour and at the West End’s Piccadilly Theatre. She also played Mother Lord in the national tour of Ian Talbot’s production of High Society. Previous West End roles include appearances in The Shakespeare Revue for the RSC, Prim, Exclusive Yarns, When Did You Last See Your Trousers?, Snoopy and Tonight at 8.30. Her other stage credits include regular appearances at Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre, where she has appeared in Snake in the Grass, Joking Apart, Virtual Reality, Larkin with Women and All Things Considered. She has also appeared at the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park in The Merry Wives of Windsor and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and at London’s King’s Head in Tales My Lover Told Me, Much Revue About Nothing and Under their Hats. Here, Blake offers glimpses into her thoughts and diary as she began her journey playing Madame Morrible in the West End smash Wicked.

 

After Coronation Street, I jumped into a Christmas musical called Santa Claus. It was great to be singing again and back on stage. Then it was while I was filming a BBC Directors’ Debut called Baby Boom that I got the call: “You’ve been offered Wicked. The part of Madame Morrible.” I’d seen Wicked in New York, when it was still in preview. I went with my cousin Hailey—a perfect ending to a glorious day of shopping for undies, drinking dry martinis in the Rainbow Room at the Rockefeller Center, and then watching this extraordinary, powerful and moving piece, Wicked. We turned to each other and simultaneously said, “Only one part for us—Madame Morrible!”

Susie Blake and Nigel Planer in Wicked

The entry in my diary on 25 January, 2007 reads “I have been offered Morrible in Wicked, so don’t have to panic about the allotment; I’ll be here to water and can oversee Mum’s new bathroom.” Typical actor’s response; little did I realise how demanding the show would be. This is my second experience of a big, American musical. My first was Godspell in 1973, a very different animal but by the same composer: Stephen Schwartz. I was taking over from Miriam Margolyes—a very different actress to me. Her performance was generous, warm and funny. I had read Wicked, the novel by Gregory Maguire, a couple of years ago and again whilst I waited to rehearse, and though the musical is only loosely based on the book, there were some good guidelines and pointers. I also based my character more on one of my headmistresses who was extremely grand, tough and frightening.

Things I remember about the rehearsal: How cold it was in the auditorium; the numbers marked across the front of the stage to aid with positions (never seen that before); the dress rehearsal when I at last got to work with the principals; here I was lead around and about by various actors and performers and my dresser, Davina, who never let me out of her sight; the joy of not doing your own makeup—a new experience for me in the theatre.

Susie Blake in Wicked

The look of the show, especially the costume and wigs, is an integral part of the experience. In fact, I joked that I had more costume fittings than rehearsals—almost true! The intricate details of my four costumes are breathtaking: beaded, pinched and gathered; pleated, frilled and corseted. Quite something. The final costume arrived well after my first performance, and I never had a chance to rehearse in it. The curtain call that night was something of a surprise. I’d been used to charging down stage at quite a lick to take my bow, and I couldn’t in this concoction and minced like a geisha, taking twice as long as I should—I wasn’t the only one on stage laughing—and as for running backward into my position—well, I had a two-foot train.