Flying witches and full circle moments: Morgan Large on life after LIPA

Theatre & Performance Design graduate Morgan Large says the challenge of re-inventing Wicked inspired one of his most innovative designs.

The award-winning set and costume designer recently worked on a new production of the show in São Paulo another word
– which in turn led to an international tour.

As part of our 30th anniversary celebrations, we caught up with Morgan to talk about reimagining one of the world’s most recognisable musicals, the design he’s most proud of, and memories of LIPA.

Recently you've been set and costume Designer for the Wicked International Tour. What was that experience like?

That came about after a producer from Brazil came to see one of my shows playing in the West End, he liked what they saw, and they asked me if I would like to work on a brand-new production of Wicked in São Paulo in 2023. Being such an iconic show, and this before the movies came out, everyone has an image in their minds of what Wicked the show looks like, so it sounded like a daunting prospect. I spoke to the director who was keen to explore the darker themes in the piece, and to really experiment with how else the story can be told. So, for that reason I said yes pretty quickly as I believed we could really shake up the show and give it a real fresh spin.