The world of showbiz has well and truly got Wicked fever as the premiere of the film adaptation of Stephen Schwartz’s musical edges nearer. Wicked is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz and tells the story of The Wicked Witch of the West (Elphaba) and Glinda the Good before the events of the original story. Our home Wales Millenium Centre has spent the last few weeks lit up green as they welcomed the touring production of the musical, and as Wicked approaches the end of its time on Cardiff’s stages, we thought we’d share a few of our favourite prequels from the world of opera and beyond.
If you weren’t aware before watching them, you may not notice that Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro are linked stories as they both stand well as individual operas. They are, in fact, connected and The Barber of Seville acts as a prequel, with the characters of both stories overlapping. The Marriage of Figaro comes to our stages this Spring 2025 Season, and our returning production is full of humour, Mozart’s music and all the elements of classic opera.
The Phantom of the Opera and Love Never Dies
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera is a beloved musical that tells the story of a disfigured musical genius who haunts the Paris opera house, and in the follow-up musical Love Never Dies, Phantom escapes to New York to start a new life. If you’re a fan of The Phantom of the Opera, there’s no need to worry about a trip to a WNO production- our venues don’t have phantoms or falling chandeliers (as far as we know!).
Mamma Mia! and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
Mamma Mia! is an ABBA jukebox musical set on a Greek island and is pure feel good. In 2018, fans were treated to a prequel to the story that explores the early life of Donna (the protagonist) leading up to the events of the original musical. If you overlook a few small plot holes, it’s a great prequel that adds depth to the story in a fun musical packed with ABBA’s music and 70s fashion.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Wonka
In 2023, the third film based on the Roald Dahl book was released- a musical prequel that tells Willy Wonka’s origin story before the opening of the chocolate factories that we see in the 1971 and 2001 film adaptations. Just like its predecessors, it contains great musical selections (did you know the original film features the overture from The Marriage of Figaro?) and it’s an explosion of colour, song, great costumes, special effects and chocolate.
The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit
JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit was the first book written in the series, and the films were released after the original trilogy. Some members of WNO Chorus are involved in a project with Volante Opera Productions producing recordings of Paul Corfield Godfrey's Musical Chapters from The Lord of the Rings after the mythology of JRR Tolkien, and Musical Chapters from The Hobbit after the mythology of JRR Tolkien, set for release in 2025 and 2026.
If we’ve put you in the prequel mood, our production of The Marriage of Figaro returns to stages in Wales and England in WNO’s Spring 2025 Season and you can catch Wicked on tour until January.
