Not since ‘The Phantom of The Opera’ has there been a musical as successful as ‘Wicked.’
Aside from its spectacle and songs, the production’s success can also be attributed to its themes of animal rights, questioning those in power, and always striving to do what is right.
The musical was spawned from Gregory Maguire’s novel ‘Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,’ and re-envisions the events portrayed in L. Frank Baum’s timeless classic ‘The Wizard of Oz.’
The stage production connects with audiences through its accessible music, story and characters and is a better, tighter story than Gregory Maguire’s novel, which composer Stephen Schwartz and author Winnie Holzman rewrote so it works on multiple levels.
You certainly see where your money is in this marvelously staged show; lavishly wrapped in wonder, wit, suspense and spectacle.
The reason for the enduring popularity of Oz is that while Dorothy insisted there’s no place like home and yearned to head back to the dusty fields of rural Kansas, most of us want to be swept up into the magical world of flying monkeys, witches, wizards and wonder. In an economy with high unemployment, ridiculous credit card interest rates and rising gas prices, we long for some escapism with good reason.
‘Wicked’ serves as a prequel to the ‘Wizard of Oz,’ but turns the story on its head.
It is the story of two witches, Elphaba, the unfortunate girl with the green skin, and the beautiful blonde and bubbly Glinda. These main characters meet at a school called Shiz. They grow up together and become rivals in a love triangle vying for the attention of the handsome Fiyero.
When Elphaba and Glinda move to the Emerald City and meet the deceitful Wizard, they find themselves drawn even further apart.
They differ in their stands toward the Wizard’s regime and his policy of taking speech away from the intelligent animals of Oz.
The Wizard believes in ‘The Big Lie’ and he practices what he preaches, making everyone believe that the show’s heroine, the Wicked Witch of the West, is evil. Glinda becomes known as the Good Witch of the North.
Jenn Gambatese brings a perky likeability to the petty schemer Glinda. With a beautiful singing voice, she has the gift of natural comedy, knowing exactly where to change a facial expression, vocal inflection, or body gesture to generate a laugh.
Alison Luff shines as the shy but assertive, sharp-tongued green girl. Her deadpan delivery as Elphaba is the perfect foil to Gambatese’s bouncy effervescent Glinda. She thrills the audience with a powerful ‘Defying Gravity,’ and her ‘Wizard and I’ is a showstopper as well.
Curt Hansen’s Fiyero is a compelling as a suitor who threatens to come between the witches. But, as the Wizard, John Davidson is more the slick-talking Kansas salesman turned great pretender than the dangerously charming despot with menacing allure.
A well-honed chorus plays multiple parts with ease, whisking in and out of intricate eye-popping costumes as they whirl through their dance numbers.
Eugene Lee’s intricately detailed sets, Susan Hilferty’s whimsically off-kilter costumes, and Tom Watson’s fanciful wigs still provoke gasps from the crowd, and Kenneth Posner’s fantastic lighting effects ratchet up the drama for the witches, animals and denizens of Oz.
Some minor flaws persist; the body mic amplification is inconsistent which sort-circuits some of the best lines and Lyrics in the show and the last scenes slow to a snail’s pace.
Glinda’s beau Fiyero asserts that ‘life’s more painless for the brainless,’ but here we see a lavish musical that manages to be both populist and intelligent at the same time.
Wicked continues at the Academy of Music, Broad and Locust streets in Philadelphia through August 4, 2013. Tickets: $40 – $175. Information: 215-731-3333.
