Wicked: Another Side of The Wizard of Oz Story
The award winning musical Wicked is currently being shown in both America and London. The award winning musical with lyrics and music by Stephen Schwartz is loosely based on the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by award winning author Gregory McGuire. The musical and book are told corresponding to the 1939 L. Frank Baum classic, The Wizard of Oz. The musical and book include many of the same characters as the beloved movie and give a background of the characters that the author did not provide.
Wicked recently celebrated its eighth anniversary on October 30, 2011 and is presently the 17th longest running show on Broadway in history. Wicked has been performed more than 3006 times. In January of 2011 it achieved a rare feat by having the Broadway show, London show and both national touring companies break the record for highest weekly gross ever.
Wicked tells the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West and her sister Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. The story tells of their relationship growing up, their parents, opposite personalities, their time spent at witch school, rivalry over a shared love, the Wizard’s corrupt government policies and Elphaba’s eventual fall from grace. The story takes place before Dorothy’s arrival in Oz and continues through the witch’s childhood up through adulthood. It contains mentions several events from the 1939 movie tying the story lines together seamlessly.
The international performance of Wicked opened in London’s West End at the Apollo Victoria Theatre on September 27, 2006. The show stared the original lead of Indina Menzel as Elphaba and musical greats such as Helen Dallimore as Glenda, Miriam Margolves as Madame Morrible and Adam Garcia as Fivero.
The London version of Wicked, the Musical was slightly altered to better appeal to a British audience. Slight changes were made to the dialogue, choreography and special effects. Wicked is currently still being shown at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in the West End District on Wilton Road near the Victoria Station in the city of Westminster. The theatre first opened its doors and was a cinema and variety theatre. It began its transformation into a theater for musicals with its first number being The Sound of Music shown in 1981. The Apollo Victoria Theatre was designed by the architects Ernest Wamsley Lewis and William Edward Trent in 1929 and features 2 identical facades that face Wilton and Vauxhall Bridge Roads.
About the Author
Roo Sadegi is an online critic who spends much of his time reviewing up and coming West End shows.
Madame Alexander My First Baby
