Maybe it’s because she’s green. Maybe it’s the men in leotard pants. Or maybe it’s the house that drops upon the witch’s sister (most people love to see that)…again.
Unless you were the sister under the house, you are quite familiar with the hit Broadway show “Wicked”. A magical, dark yet heart-warming musical about the “untold” story of the Wicked Witch from the West, drawing attention from people all across the globe and are expanding to those who cannot come to it themselves.
No one quite knows the international success behind the hit Broadway show “Wicked” including producer David Stone, "I did have a sense that it would work, but that it would be as successful as it is, not in a million years." With the original show performing 3,259 shows to date as well as celebrating its eighth anniversary this October 30th, making “Wicked” the 14th longest running Broadway show in history, one can wonder how anybody would predict the success in numbers and consistent following.
Gregory Maguire, the original witchery writing author of the book “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West”, spoke with CNN about how he didn’t notice the overall hype for the show, until he saw Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, step out on stage during the opening night in San Francisco.
“Idina Menzel (Elphaba) comes out from backstage, green skin, carrying a carpetbag, she hasn’t spoken, hasn’t sung a word yet, and the audience of 1,700 people go wild in applause for her and I thought to myself…this is gonna work!” Says Maguire laughing, “They love her, and they didn’t even know she could sing yet but they’re so on-her-side.”
Stephen Schwartz, the lyricist, composer, and now ambassador for the musical, “Wicked”, has been traveling the world to various countries to help with productions on the show. Japan, Canada, Australia, Germany, Denmark, Finland, and soon the Netherlands are amongst the countries welcoming “Wicked” with open arms.
Some critics have had mixed reviews about the play, calling the music “largely generic” or the dislike in Glinda’s (the Good Witch of the North) overshadowing personality when placed with Elphaba. However Chris Jones, a theater critic for the Chicago Tribune, sums up the overall success of the show amongst all boundaries and cultures:
“I think that we all feel like we are either the blonde girl…misunderstood. Or the green girl…rejected. ‘Wicked’ found an audience that could totally identify with its two main characters who were on stage all night. And thus they were willing to come back and see it again and again.”
Followers of the book as well as those who’ve seen the play, may find some discrepancies in the ending (will not spoil it, so keep reading) but Gregory Maguire doesn’t mind for the message has the same meaning in the story as it does in the play, attributing to the international message that spans across all languages, and that is to “do good now. Do the best that you can and do no harm now because you may not have a chance to make it up.”
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