2/14/2008 - West Side Leader
     

Show tells story of how wicked witch became wicked (or did she?)

Katie Rose Clarke (Glinda), left, and Carmen Cusack (Elphaba) star in “Wicked.”

Photo: Joan Marcus

This production, on stage now at Playhouse Square’s State Theatre, is the story that tells us what happened in Oz before Dorothy and the other characters from “The Wizard of Oz” happened on the scene.

The play is based on the 1995 novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” by Gregory Maguire. The script for the music version was written by Stephen Schwartz (music and lyrics) and Winnie Holzman (book).

L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) wrote “The Wizard of Oz” before Maguire wrote “Wicked.” In the novel, Maguire attempts to explain why the Wicked Witch is wicked.

Schwartz is known for contributing music and/or lyrics to “Godspell,” “Pippin” and “Working.” He has received three Academy Awards for his film work.

Holzman wrote for “thirtysomething,” “Once and Again,” and “‘Til There Was You.”

The story begins with the birth of Elphaba (Carmen Cusack). The baby is born green — a light frog green. The parents are so upset with this strange looking child that the father leaves. With a new husband, the mother learns she is expecting a child and takes herbs to assure the child will not be born green. Unfortunately, the baby, Nessarose (Deedee Magno Hall), is born with legs that will not support her when she attempts to walk.

The two daughters are sent to a boarding school, where Elphaba is to care for Nessarose.

Madame Morrible (Alma Cuervo) is the head of the school and shuffles the room assignments. Finally, Elphaba and Nessarose are separated.

Elphaba is to share a room with Glinda (Katie Rose Clarke). From this moment on the two women are friends and enemies. Elphaba becomes the wicked witch and Glinda the good witch.

Elphaba blames some of her problems on being green and the fact she doesn’t know the identity of her father.

At the boarding school, Elphaba launches a campaign to keep animals as teachers. One of the best teachers in the school is Dr. Dillamond (Tom Flynn), a goat and a good teacher. Except for an occasional “baaaa,” he is a normal (yet unusual looking) teacher. Dillamond is humiliated when he discovers the words “animals should be seen and not heard,” scrawled on the blackboard in his classroom.

Both women have the power to cast magic spells and both want to meet the Wizard of Oz. A major plot of the play is their journey to see the Wizard. Elphaba is unhappy that the flying monkeys are in cages and launches an animal-rights campaign to free the flying monkeys.

In another scene, The Wizard of Oz says, “The best way to bring folks together is to give them a really good enemy.”

These lines and others should make any political wannabe stop and think. This show is political enough to get many of us to vote for “Wicked” and the wonderfully wicked Good Witch and the woefully kind Wicked Witch.

The literary allusions to the Baum novel and the movie will please most audience members. In a political scene, when Glinda gains power, she stands on a podium with hands raised, reminding theatergoers of Evita’s traditional stance when she sings “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.”

Of course, any good story has a love interest. Fiyero (Cliffton Hall) has played many of the male ingénue roles — in “Grease” (Danny), “Oklahoma” (Will) and “Master Class” (Tony).

Hall manages to win both of the witches. Glinda expects men to fall for her. She always gets her way. But when Fiyero falls for the green Elphaba, Glinda seeks revenge.

As “Wicked” moves toward the end of its story, hints of “The Wizard of Oz” move across the stage. For example, Glinda makes a reference to “That little girl and her dog, DoDo.”

The cast is excellent. The voices are glorious. But unfortunately, the orchestra is too loud and the delivery of some of the lyrics gets lost between the stage and the audience.

Eugene Lee (settings) received the Tony Award for the Broadway set for “Wicked.” He also designed the set of this touring production of “Wicked,” which was the same set for this show when it played in Cleveland two years ago.

Susan Hilferty (costumes) designed the stylized Victorian costumes for the Broadway production of “Wicked.” Hilferty designed the costumes for this touring production, too, and for the previous tour through Cleveland.

On opening night, the State Theatre was filled almost to capacity. This popular production will play through March 9. For tickets, call (800) 766-6048.

David Ritchey has a Ph.D. in communications and is a professor of communications at The University of Akron. He is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association.

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