Wicked - A review, and a tangent

Wicked is a musical about the Wicked Witch of the West (Elphaba) and the Good Witch of the North (Glinda). It’s basically about how the two of them went to school together before The Wizard of Oz, and it provides a look at their lives before, during, and after the events of the movie.

When I first saw commercials for the show, I thought it was the dumbest thing ever. I specifically remember thinking, “Wow, that’s stupid. I didn’t even like the Wizard of Oz, why on earth would I go see that?” But as the years rolled by I kept hearing how great it was. An episode of Glee finally spurred me to see the show.
From what I had gleaned from commercials, I went into the theatre assuming everything was opposite. So basically, I thought the wicked witch was good, and everyone else was bad, but I slowly came to the realization that I was wrong. The story delves into the friendship between Glinda and Elphaba, as well as how they evolve into their titles as Glinda the Good witch and the Wicked Witch of the West. The show also delves into the Wicked Witch of the East storyline, showing how she grew to became evil...but was she truly evil, or was there justification for her actions? Muahahaha, shades of grey and stuff.

 

I LOVE WICKED. When I like something I tend to obsess over it, and Wicked is no exception. At this point I’m almost certain I have the play memorized. I’ve seen it six times and I plan on seeing it many more.

The thing is, I feel like I have to be objective for those who haven’t seen it. Just because I like it doesn’t mean it’s any good. So to be completely honest, Wicked is like a Disney movie on stage. That’s how it felt to me the first time I saw it. The lyrics, the storyline, just everything about it reminded me of a corny Disney movie. To be fair, the second act is more serious than the first, which sort of pushes it past a children's story. Act two is darker, which would normally mean I like it better, but for some reason I prefer act one. That’s probably because of the song Defying Gravity.

The first time I heard of Defying Gravity was in high school during a musical. I was in the pit orchestra for Seussical the Musical (which is amazing by the way; the show practically sold out every performance, it was pretty impressive) and one of the characters paused and sang a line from Wicked. At the time I didn’t get the joke, but now that I’ve seen it I understand it. It’s clearly one of the best songs in the show. I thought it was the perfect way to end act one. I don’t want to spoil it, but there’s a cool effect at the end of that song that always gets me smiling.

My favorite song in the show is No Good Deed. That's the song where Elphaba finally transforms from Elphaba to the Wicked Witch of the West. It's powerful, it's slightly heartbreaking, and I love it.

I feel like I have an obligation to say this. *Takes deep breath* The show isn’t that well written. *Exhales* Some of the lines are just cringe worthy. Everything is predictable. In practically every scene I was going down a mental checklist. Song about how much they hate each other? Check. Love song? Check. Turning evil song? Checkamundo. It was extremely easy to follow. That isn’t necessarily bad, but the predictableness is a definite drawback. By the way, does anyone else just make up words, like predictableness? I do it all the time, but that annoying red squiggly line drives me nuts. The thing is, I don’t want to save it to my computer because I’m afraid in the future I will assume it’s a real word because the line is gone. Grrr.

Anyway, back on topic. I first saw it in London, and let me tell you, the cast was AMAZING. My friend loved Glinda, while I love Elphaba. I guess I can relate to her character more than I can to Glinda. Glinda is funny, but—

Oh! That reminds me. I had no idea Glinda was such a prominent character. I was actually annoyed by how often the show focused on her. As it turns out, Stephen Schwartz has a thing for Glinda, so even though the show is supposed to focus on Elphaba, he gave Glinda more time on stage that, personally, I don’t think should have been given. The book (which I have read; I’ll review it another day) focused on Elphaba, but the show focuses on both witches.

And let me just say, I was lucky to have gotten the cast I saw, because otherwise I would have hated certain characters. A week later and I would have had a completely different cast (I just happened to go a few days before there was a huge cast change). I mean, the other Glinda was nice, but the first was better. And if I had seen the show in the United States, I would have hated her character, because the American Glindas have no spark whatsoever. Dianne Pilkington, the woman I saw first in London, was bubbly, energetic, and just a delight to watch. The American Glindas, however, had no personality. Their portrayals were just flat. I couldn’t believe they ruined such a good character. I have no idea what they’re thinking, but they just suck, and they need to either liven it up or get a new job, because they’re horrible at this one.

That might seem a little harsh, but when you’re paying hundreds of dollars to see a performance, you expect the best. It’s not like wasting money on a bad movie. Losing ten dollars isn’t anything compared to hundreds.So, in closing,

TL;DR – Wicked isn’t the best written show out there, but the songs are catchy and dammit, I love it. ABSOLUTELY GO SEE IT. (You might have to save up money for a while so you can afford a good ticket, but it’s worth it). Also, Miley Cyrus and Twilight suck.

 Peace y’all.

Kelara <3

EDIT as of November 2nd 2011 - I want to retract my statement about both American Glindas that I've seen sucking. I recently saw Katie Rose Clark's final performance (on Broadway) and she was amazing (which I have also updated in my review of the former Broadway cast). Chandra Schwartz, however, remains terrible in my mind.