An excellent show - until you read the book (Wicked The Musical)

Member Name: DancingCopper

Product:	Wicked The Musical
Date:	30/10/08 (422 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Does everything a West End / Broadway show should do

Disadvantages: Sells out the original novel

Wicked is a musical that tells the story of The Wizard of Oz from the Wicked Witch of the West's point of view. The musical production was first staged in 2003 and has been a fixture in the West End and on Broadway ever since. Based on Gregory Maguire's excellent novel, much has been changed to create a simpler narrative.

The show begins just after Dorothy has soaked the Wicked Witch, thus destroying her. The Good Witch of the North, Galinda, celebrates with the citizens of Oz, but we are taken back to the beginning of the Wicked Witch's story.

At birth the witch, named Elphaba, has a difficult life ahead of her. Not only is she from the rustic backwater of Muchkinland, she is green and unable to come into contact with water. She earns a place at Shiz University and travels there with her sister, Nessarose, who is confined to a wheel chair. At Shiz, Elphaba encounters Galinda for the first time.

Galinda, or Glinda as she chooses to be known, takes a dislike to Elphaba. She has the bearing and obsession with popularity that a stereotypical prom-queen might have and initially revels in watching Elphaba suffer.

Elphaba is more interested in her studies, and responds positively to the tutelage of Doctor Dillamond, one of few animals teaching at Shiz. There is a growing movement against animal equality which Elphaba finds repellent.

Following a ball arranged by a dashing, regal student called Fiyero, Glinda's harsh treatment of Elphaba softens, and the two become enthused by the study of magic. With guidance from Madame Morrible, Elphaba in particular displays a rare gift.

This gift brings Elphaba into contact and then conflict with the Wizard of Oz. She is forced to flee the life just as she had begun to find her place in the Oz world.

The play shows us the origins of the key characters from The Wizard of Oz: the cowardly lion, the tin man and the scarecrow. We also see the evolution of the flying monkeys.

We remain entirely sympathetic to Elphaba, witnessing the assassination of her character by the Wizard and his cronies. We are taken through a series of twists, right up to the end of the story, beyond the Wicked Witch's destruction.

Wicked, as a production, makes full use of the resources available to the modern theatre. The set design and special effects are the best you will see in a conventional performance space. The music and lyrics have wit, warmth and passion, enabling the perfomers to use their full range. The costumes are magnificent and the shear magnificence of the production is thrilling.

But, I have a problem with the play. A simple problem. I read the book.

Maguire's novel was extraordinary. He'd turned the camp wonderland of Oz into a political, grubby, deceitful, adult world. The layers of spin and manipulation, the issues that were debated in its pages, were spell-binding. Ideas of national prejudice, discrimination, and the thin line between heroics and terrorism were laid down for the reader to ponder.

The musical, I found, was almost completely airbrushed. I accept the plot and subplots of the novel would have been impossible to communicate in a 2 hour, 30 minute show. When you try, you end up with a disaster like The Lord of the Rings. But all the jagged edges of the plot and the characters had been knocked off. Issues I felt were fundamental to the credibility of the story were ignored or adapted to create something farcical when you compared it to the novel. I found the resolution of the story at the end of the stage show insulting. See the show then read the book and you'll know what I mean.

While I have admiration for the stage production, I couldn't like it. The novel kept me glued to its pages, an emotional roller-coaster. The stage show was merely a demonstration of what a West End theatre can produce - diverse and effective songs, incredible visual and aural effects, and a mesmeric experience for the audience. But, to me, it was like a 'Stepford' show - all of that magnificence, but it had lost its soul.

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Tenuous Link

Macbeth - Wicked

Three witches play a central role in Macbeth. In Wicked, the Wicked Witches of the West and East, as well as the Good Witch of the North, are the focal characters in the story.

Summary: The real story of the Wicked Witch of the West - except it's watered down