An Oz-Picious Occasion

So, as I mentioned several days ago, the touring production of Wicked has been here in Denver for several weeks (and not for the first time). Many people I know have already seen the show at one point or another, and now I've finally joined their ranks.

Wicked is a musical written as backstory and in parallel to The Wizard of Oz, following the Wicked Witch of the West (here named Elphaba) and Glinda the Good as they meet in school, forge an unlikely friendship, and ultimately start on the road that leads to the events of the movie everyone knows so well. It's based rather loosely on a book of the same title by Gregory Maguire, which I read several years ago, prior to the creation of the musical.

The fact that I read that book is what made me rather reluctant to see the musical despite many people raving about it. Put simply, it was a dreadfully boring book. It was more about tone than narrative, and was quite episodic in building up a lengthy backstory for a character that just didn't seem to warrant that kind of exploration. I struggled to get to the end, and I struggle to imagine how there was ever enough interest in it to warrant the two sequels the author has written since.

Wicked comes off far better on the stage than in a book. Though it takes a few settings and ideas from the novel, the musical incarnation of Wicked essentially crafts a new story that's essentially about two things. First, it shows that the Wicked Witch was actually a nice, kind-hearted person. This isn't a story of how a good person turned bad, but how her identity was co-opted and corrupted by others to turn her into a villain. This part of the musical, driven by the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda, is very solid material and forms the backbone of an entertaining show.

But the more the musical unfolds, the more it starts to serve a second master, playing with established tale of The Wizard of Oz. The play stretches mightily to explain too many things to us: why those slippers were so important; where the flying monkeys came from; where the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion all came from; how it is that a powerful Witch could be vulnerable to something as mundane as water; and so on. The first time or two that a connection like this is made in the show, it feels novel. I even heard a few members of the audience gasp as they made the mental connection. But when it happened the sixth, seventh, eighth time, it feel like being clever was more the goal of the storyteller than actually telling the story.

But while the book is mixed, the two main characters are not. Elphaba is a well-written and sympathetic role with plenty of meat for a talented performer to tear into. And Glinda is arguably the even better role in the piece, with both laugh out loud comedic moments and sweet, emotional ones. It's clear that original Broadway performers Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth made an indelible mark on this show, because the cast members of this production were definitely imitating their style (quite distinct, if you've ever seen them perform on say, Glee, the film version of Rent, or The West Wing).

Musically, the show is more solid than most big Broadway hits. There are one or two forgettable clunkers in the mix, but each of the lead women gets multiple show-stoppers that pull laughs, jerk tears, and amaze with power and range. The two most signature songs of the show, "Defying Gravity" and "For Good," are even more potent when seen in their intended context.

While some of the grand contortions kept me from loving this musical as much as it seems many people do, I still have to say that overall, it's a night well spent at the theater. I grade it a B. If you still haven't seen it, you might want to pencil it in. (Or you could hold out for the film adaptation that I've heard may be on the way; you can bet that will come for sure if Rock of Ages does well this summer.)