2005 Year in Review

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Is The Wicked wickedly good?

Lately I’ve been thinking, maybe I just don’t like Musicals. But I remember I liked them at one time. Didn’t I rave about Cats last summer? With that kind of dread, yet hopefulness, I headed into Chicago to see The Wicked because everyone was raving about it. My hopefulness exceeded all expectations and now my all-time favorite show is a Musical.

The Wicked was the best all-around production I’ve ever been to. The set was incredible, lighting was spectacular, costumes were fabulous, and the singing was breathtaking.

If you haven’t heard of The Wicked, the simplest explanation is: “it’s the Wizard of Oz from the Wicked Witches point of view”. Elphaba, born green, wasn’t always wicked; but she was always stared at, ostracized by her peers, and disliked by her father. That didn’t change when she and her handicapped sister Nessarose head off to college.

Elphaba rooms with the most popular girl in school, Glinda (pronounced Ga-linda). You may remember her as the Good Witch. At first, they have only loathing for each other, but later Glinda takes Elphaba on as a project to make her "popular, but not as popular as me".

Like the original Oz, there are many lessons learned. We learn not to judge someone by the color of his or her skin (green) or the color of his or her hair (blonde). The powerful and popular aren’t always good; and the ugly and scary aren’t always bad. Nothing is as it seems-

There are plenty of subplots, twists, and turns, to lead us to the true history of the Wizard of Oz. We find out about her sister the Wicked Witch of the East, the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion. The truth behind the Wizard of Oz and all it’s characters are revealed. So if you are a fan of Oz (and who isn’t?) you should see The Wicked.

We find out the unpopular have hopes and dreams like everyone else. Elphaba dreams of meeting the Wizard, "The Wizard and I, …Yes, what a pair we’ll be," she sings. But sometimes you need to be careful what you wish for.

The first act, like most shows, sets the scene for the second act. Some light-hearted comedy comes from Glenda’s Popular act. Her skipping and comedic physical moves had the audience chuckling. But throughout the first act the songs foreshadow what is in store for the characters. Elphaba sings, "I’ve had a vision…someday there’ll be a celebration throughout Oz that’s all to do with me!" This is a very obvious foreshadowing, but there are smaller less obvious clues to watch for.

If a genie appeared with three wishes for me, my first wish would be to sing like Stephanie J. Block, who plays Elphaba. At the end of the first act the song Defying Gravity increases intensity as she flies upward. At intermission we all looked at each other speechless and our mouths shaped with the word wow. The intensity and seriousness remains throughout the second act as the plot unravels with all the secrets revealed. I saw many patrons leaving the theater wiping tears, not from sadness, but because of the power and passion of it.

If you are interested in seeing The Wicked tickets are available at Ticketmaster. This production will be in Chicago through September 25, 2005. The performance is at the Ford Center/Oriental Theater near Marshal Fields. For more information, go to broadwayinchicago. Click on Planning your trip for maps and parking directions. Buy or borrow the CD in advance to be familiar with the songs and afterward you’re sure to want to hear it again and again. The songs will be playing in your head for days.

Watch this column for reviews of Timber Lake Playhouse beginning soon.

by Barb Benson, theCity1.com
May 26, 2005