Wicked

"Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes and leap
It's time to try defying gravity
I think I'll try defying gravity
And you can't pull me down."
--Elphaba, Wicked

"Are people born wicked? Or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?"
--Glinda the Good, Wicked



Ever since I can remember, I have been going downtown to the Aranoff to see musicals and plays acted out for me. My uncle Randy is a huge fan of the theater and always had an extra ticket or two, so it didn't take long for me to become enamored with the stage. I've been collecting Playbills for years, and last Christmas Uncle Randy got me a special Playbill album to put my collection in. I am very pleased to say that I am getting some great use out of it.

As a wedding gift, Uncle Randy and Aunt Becky gave Kyle and me their tickets to see "Wicked" at the Aranoff last night, the hit Broadway musical I've been dying to see since I was in high school. For those of you who've been living under a rock sheltered from the theater geeks of the world, "Wicked" is the untold story of the witches of Oz, and follows Elphaba (the so-called "wicked witch") and Galinda (later "Glinda," or "Glinda the Good") as they grudgingly share a dorm room in college and eventually become best friends. Born green but good, and with powers she can't fully understand or control, Elphaba dreams of meeting her hero, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. When she finally does, she realizes he actually has no magic of his own and is blinding the people of Oz with mirrors and lights, and a corrupt government intent on forever silencing (literally) the once independent and coherent animals. Elphaba vows to fight the wizard, who spreads rumors of her "wickedness" throughout Oz to easily discredit her claims.

I really loved this play. The leading ladies were phenomenal as both actresses and singers. The set was much more intricate than I expected it to be, and the music has basically been stuck in my head for the last 24 hours (and I'm not sick of it yet, so that should tell you something).

I'm going to sidebar a little bit here. Everyone knows the story of "The Wizard of Oz," but I'm starting to think there are more layers to it than we realize. Let me explain.

Kyle read this thing online a while back that argued that Glinda the Good is actually one of the most diabolical villains in movie history. And when you really think about the story, you can kind of see it. She shows up when Dorothy's house lands on the wicked witch's sister (I won't refer to her as "Elphaba" here because I'm strictly talking about The Wizard of Oz, in which she has no name). She credits Dorothy for this fully and gives her the ruby slippers. The wicked witch then conveniently shows up and gets really pissed off at Dorothy. And who can blame her, those shoes should belong to next of kin, if you ask me. So the witch is understandably upset, and Glinda just lets it happen to Dorothy, even though she's the one who stole the shoes, and probably even caused the twister to land on the sister. Ooh, nice rhyme.

Glinda then tells Dorothy to follow the yellow brick road, which Dorothy does. And she goes through all the trouble with the guards and the trees and the witch and the monkeys and finally gets to the wizard and then, ONLY THEN, does Glinda decide to tell Dorothy how to get home. Turns out she had the answer on her feet the whole time. Is it a coincidence that two witches died under Glinda's watch, leaving her to rule Oz as the only witch in the land? Maybe. But probably not.

Here's another thing. One of the most popular lines in the movie, and in the entire world of cinema, to be honest, is "There's no place like home." It's what everyone remembers about the movie, but it doesn't really fit the story.

Home is a desolate dust bowl in the middle of Kansas where the nasty old lady next door is trying to kill your dog. Whereas Oz is...technicolor. And it has it's problems, what with the fighting trees and flying monkeys, but you make friends who help you realize that whatever you want to be, you already are.

Have you ever watched a movie you haven't seen since you were like six and realize you really had no idea what was going on when you saw it the first time? It blows your freaking mind.