The Road To The Broadway Hit Musical “Wicked”

Like most other Broadway shows, “Wicked,” the hit musical based on characters from “The Wizard of Oz,” has been on the sidelines for over a year.

But last month, the national touring company of “Wicked” reopened in Dallas. The costumes are out of storage; The good witch, Allison Bailey, recovered her crown; The Evil Witch, Talia Suskauer, got a nasty shade of green; and the fans came out in force… even those who had seen him many times before.

At the start of the first act, the sold-out crowd was jubilant. “It’s good to see me, isn’t it?” Said Glinda, the good witch, to massive cheers. And by the time the curtain fell, it was hard to say who was happier, the audience or the cast.

Since opening “Wicked” in 2003, it has been viewed by over 60 million people worldwide and grossed over $ 5 billion. The show is 18 years old, but somehow it still feels new.

L. Frank Baum first published “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” in 1900, hailed at the time as a happy children’s novel. But in the 1939 film adaptation of MGM, joy often came out the door. Of course, there was Glinda the Good Witch, but the other witch – the one with the bigger part – was skinny, mean, and Technicolor green.

“I’m going to have you my pretty, and your little dog too! Ha ha ha ha ha !!!”

Correspondent Tracy Smith asked, “In the movie, all you hear about the Wicked Witch of the West is that she’s mean, mean, mean, but that’s it.”

“You are absolutely right,” said author Gregory Maguire. “Actually, Wicked is part of her name, the Wicked Witch of the West. She has a capital W. She has no first Name. She doesn’t have a story, which means no one can say I was wrong! “

Maguire is the author of the novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West”, on which the musical is based. He told her this story: who knew she was a maid with glasses? And that she and Glinda were once roommates?

Maguire also gave it a name: Elphaba. It is based on the letters LFB, the initials of the original author “Oz” L. Frank Baum.

“Once I got it, I thought, ‘Whenever her name is spoken or sung, I take my hat off to the original person who created her, Lyman Frank Baum,” Maguire said.

The story caught the attention of legendary songwriter Stephen Schwartz, the man who wrote the music and lyrics for a few other Broadway shows, including “Godspell” and “Pippin” – and he thought “Wicked” would work, too. like a musical.

Smith asked Schwartz, “I know these are all your babies, but do you have a favorite number?

“I do, but I’m not going to say what it is!” ” he’s laughing.

But Schwartz loves the song “Popular”, and he knew he wanted actress Kristin Chenoweth to sing it. She recalled: “Stephen Schwartz said, ‘I have that part. It’s a song, you come in and you kill it. Just come for the reading. It’s with you in mind. I can’t hear anyone else. “

“I walked in and sang ‘Popular’ for the first time. And I said ‘I’m in. I’m in!’

Chenoweth became the series’ original good witch, Glinda; and the title role of the Wicked Witch went to Broadway veteran Idina Menzel, who initially said she was a little shaky.

“I’ve always been afraid of getting fired,” Menzel said. “They rewrote things all the time, and I wasn’t good at cold reads, so I couldn’t always deliver the new lines perfectly. Just like a crazy little student with my loose-leaf script and ripping pages. And Kristin was so beautiful and so Glinda. Like, just perfection. She was always fair, her first sight of everything was so funny and so fair. And I was just the opposite. I just felt like a big mess. “

But by opening night, she had channeled all of that self-doubt into what would be a winning Tony character.

“Wicked”, which opened right after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, is about questioning authority – what is right and what is wrong – but it has also become a beacon for anyone who does not fit in. not in the conventional mold.

Chenonweth said, “We live in a society that is so critical. And I’m at the heart of this industry. I judge myself harshly. And I have to remember, ‘No, no. This is how you are put together. ‘”

Smith asked, “And this show strikes a chord with these people, ‘Hey, is it okay if this is how you got together’?”

“In fact, it can be wonderful,” Chenoweth replied.

The turning point of the series comes when two unlikely friends have to say goodbye to each other. Lyricist Stephen Schwartz wanted words to be right, so he asked his daughter, Jessica for help: “I went to Jess with a yellow tampon in my hand and said, ‘I want you to imagine that you’re never going to see your friend Sara again, and you have a chance to tell her what she means to you. How about you? ‘”

I heard
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bring something we need to learn
And we are led
To those who help us grow the most
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well i don’t know if i believe it’s true
But I know that I am who I am today
Because i knew you

To this day, both women say this song has a special place in their hearts.

Menzel said: “It’s always a wonderful time for both of us to be able to look back and know that we’ve been changed for good.”

North American touring company “Wicked” has been working on it for over a month, but in two days the show will finally reopen on Broadway. For the fans – and for “Wicked” author Gregory Maguire – it can’t come soon enough.

Smith asked, “Personally, when you see them come back, how do you think you will feel? “

“I’ll be in the audience the first night the lights go on and the monkeys come down their ropes and the whole saga will start again,” Maguire said. “And I suspect I’m going to put three or four wads of Kleenex in my pockets, because we still need this story. We’re not done with it.”

“Wicked” returns to Broadway on September 14th. Watch a preview:

For more information:

Story produced by John D’Amelio. Publisher: Ed Givnish.

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