Wicked: The story before Dorothy came

Now I know why lagging on a review is a bad thing, my memory of the musical is simply not as fresh. Still, I will try my best to replay the wonderful musical in my head. I saw Wicked three weeks ago on a Friday; the ticket was cheap since it was matinee (it’s about 20 something pounds I believe). The seat was alright, I could still see the stage pretty clearly. I didn’t know what to expect at first, everyone told me it was a really good musical, however, high expectation often leads to disappointment. Fortunately, Wicked turned out to be spectacular, far exceeding my expectation. The stage presentation, costumes, actors, and humorous lines were all executed perfectly. I can’t recall one dull moment. Not only that, the musical did an amazing job in explaining and relating the characters and storyline to the Wizard of Oz. I love how I could feel the actor’s energy and relate to their emotions- like I was a part of them. 

Wicked portrayed Elfaba (the wicked witch of the west) to be good and centered the story based on her life. Audiences are able to see characters from a very different perspective, the good characters from Wizard of Oz usually have an evil or darker side to them. There's a story behind each characters and how they became the way they are. There are more depths to each characters, whether they are good or evil.

The songs were brilliant as well. I loved it when Glinda sang “Popular” to Elfaba. Her singing and movements were both great and entertaining. I couldn’t stop laughing! My favorite song, however, was “Defying Gravity”. The singing was just so powerful and the audience could feel Elfaba's desire to break free from the her surroundings and everyone else.

The second half was more emotional, but I won’t give it away here. It’s a musical worth watching so I truly recommend it. Just be aware that you might be singing the songs constantly for the next three days and annoy the hell out of your friends (or at least I did). 

Rebekah Wu

rmwu@ucdavis.edu