Wicked

Hello & Welcome to Monstrous Musicals. Admittedly, I’m playing fast & loose with this title as some of these musicals may not seem appropriate but the core idea here is quite simple, starting today and every Monday throughout the month of October, I’ll be taking a look at musicals that I feel are fitting for this time of year. Today’s musical for example takes the classic Oz character of The Wicked Witch and puts a new spin on here and shows what happens when society decides to paint someone as a monster. This is Wicked.







No One Mourns the Wicked

You have no idea; how many times I had to listen to this song to try and figure out I wanted to say. As I was stumped by this one. But the more I listen to this one, Glinda (originally played by Kristen Chenoweth) seemed to be putting on an act and telling them what they wanted to hear.

As her fellow Ozians were so blinded by their hatred for the Witch, that no one could feel any sympathy for the Witch. None of them realize that all of Oz cast Elphaba (The Wicked Witch) (originally played by Indina Menzel) into this role that she did not want. She only took up the mantle to give Oz, The Wicked Witch, which they claimed her to be. Oh, that’s not to say that she didn’t have people that cared for her such as Glinda, who were her best friend and her love, Fiyero, who eventually becomes The Scarecrow but most everyone else that crossed her path despised poor Elphie. Why even from birth, she was an outcast, the first thing her father said upon the sight of his newborn daughter was



Take It Away Take It Away.







He was horrified by the sight that lay before him. Of course, this can all be traced back to the one night stand that his wife had with The Wizard as his green elixir.

Dear Old Shiz

I like this song and we really feel for the students’ allegiance to Shiz. The university, that they all attend and this is where we are introduced to the rest of the cast including Galinda, who is that? Well, that’s Glinda in her younger state but she went by a different name and was a bit of an airhead and a diva. Short, simple and to the point.



The Wizard and I

This song is one that could very much be classified as an “I Want” song, as we hear Elphaba sing about her dream of working with The Wizard and how she finally won’t be judged just based on her looks. I feel so happy for her and that joy comes through quite well. And that comes through so well onstage.

In many respects listening to this song and knowing what happens is almost in a way, tragic foreshadowing. Especially, when Elphie sings of a day that Oz will celebrate her. Well, that happened but not in the way, she probably wanted. Oh, and the lady you heard at the beginning was Madame Morrible, (originally played by Carole Shelly) the headmistress of Shiz and one of the antagonists.

And well, let’s just say that she uses Elphaba because of her sorcery powers and even tricks poor Elphie into using them in front of The Wizard, which leads to the creation of the flying monkeys. Though this comes much later.





What Is This Feeling?












Again, I love this number and the best way is to say that it’s a “Play It Again” type song. After you listen to it once, you just have to hear it again and the great detail that Elphie and Galinda go into about how much they loathe is so much fun. This is easily one of the best duets in the entire show; of course these two get the best numbers in the entire show. And I also think how in your face, the actresses get really sell this number. Just look.

Something Bad





That is Doctor Dillamond (originally played by William Youmans)  and he is a goat that teaches History at Shiz.  Something to keep in mind with Wicked is that is that there is a difference between Animals and animals.

The former have the ability to speak and talk and interact with other humans.   And in this song, Dr. Dillamond is expressing his fears of Animals losing their abilities to be able  to talk and it does eventually happen to the doctor as Elphie does come across him at one point and he had been turned into a regular non-speaking goat as a prisoner because he was arrested and removed from Shiz for teaching anit-Wizard material.   Seeing what happened to Doctor Dillamond is what truly sets Elphaba on the path to becoming The Wicked Witch of The West.







Dancing Through Life







This is easily one of my favorite songs from the show.  It gives all of the major characters that we will be following throughout the play time to shine from Fiyero (originally played by Norbert Leo Butz), Galinda, Elphaba,  Nessarose (originally played by Michelle Federer),  Boq (originally played by  Christopher Fitzgerald)  each time to shine.     I feel that this show truly shows how shallow Fiyero and Galinda are at this point,   let's start with Galinda.   The two big factors here, are Boq, the Munchkin boy that has a crush on her is not given the time of day by her and is instead pawned off on to Nessa, which leads to a long and unhappy relationship.  By the way, Boq becomes The Tin Woodsman.  And then the hat, that Galinda gives to Elphie is indeed the iconic hat.  She received it as a gift and thought it was ugly and decided to fake a nice gesture and give to Elphie.  But at the same time, Galinda is starting to see that is more to Elphaba and that she was to quick to judge her later on in this song and this does start the road to them becoming friends.   And Galinda even at one point kinda stands up for Elphie as pictured below with her badly dancing.

Popular





Something that I think sometimes gets overlooked referring to Wicked is Galinda's transformation into Glinda.  And in reality, this song is the first step in that, her offering her help to Elphaba to make her popular. It's a sweet song of how showing a friend is willing to help her new found friend climb the social ladder.

I'm Not That Girl






This is easily in my opinion of the saddest songs in the play. In it, we hear Elphaba sing of how she can't be with Fiyero because he is in love with Galinda and  comes to her truth that they were not meant to be.  In this song,  we hear Elphie sing of how she feels that she is always in the shadow of her closest friend and how that painful that truly is.   Something like about this number us that it is the way, it was staged in the production I saw with Elphaba singing overhead.



One Short Day







I love this song and it is nice to have a fun  song after I'm Not That Girl but the fun songs are about get far and few in between.   So, enjoy it!   We get to experience The Emerald City with Elphaba and Glinda.  It's a lot of fun to hear but I swear that when the Emerald City appeared onstage I was blinded by all of the green.  I needed sunglasses.

Yeah, like what Elphie and Glinda are wearing.



A Sentimental Man







This is the Wizard (originally played by Joel Grey), you are hearing there singing about how he always wanted to be a father.  Interesting!   This song is okay but it's too short but it does give a line that is mentioned next in the greatest song from this play.


Defying Gravity








This is the song, where everything really comes together and Elphaba dies and The Wicked Witch is born.  Elphaba throws away her old life because of how she is viewed and realizes that the only one, she can trust is herself because everyone  views her as The Wicked Witch. So, she gives them what they see. And this is where the two friends path part and they go their own ways.   This is easily one of the most popular songs from the show and it is not hard to see why, with how powerful the emotion is.  You truly feel the weight and emotion and know that Elphaba and Glinda mean every word, they are singing.





Thank Goodness







This is the opening of Act II  and  I think the two best things to describe this song are by taking a look at the two different portions.  First off,   you can feel the faking of Glinda and Fiyero's relationship.  As they really don't love each other and this is where we really start to notice the hatred Oz has for The Wicked Witch.  As they start spreading rumors such as water will melt her.  That doesn't actually work and also take notice that Fiyero still has feelings for Elphaba.  I feel the best way to describe this relationship is to say that it's one sided.   Also by this point, Fiyero is Captain of the Guard and he spends most of his time searching for Elphie.  And by the by,  even though you do not hear it in the song, Glinda can't stand what is being said but Fiyero calls her out as saying she loves the spotlight that is given to her as it feeds her ego.  And he is partially right and if you just hear how upset, he gets when they talk about Elphie, it's clear that he has feelings for her.



Wonderful








This song is a take it or leave it.  I mean, it is nice to have The Wizard's backstory explained and I like that Elphaba calls him out by pointing out that he lied and the vaudevillian nature of the song does fit The Wizard but I really don't care for it that much but it does work with him trying to sell himself as being wonderful and say that he bought into the hype from Oz but I say leave it.



I'm Not That Girl (Reprise)







I enjoy a good reprise and I think this is a good companion piece to the original number as now, we hear about how Glinda realizes that Fiyero doesn't love her and wishes to be with Elphaba, something that'll come with a price for our poor friend.


As Long as Your'e Mine







This number isn't bad and is a good love song and  I saw someone say on the Wicked Wiki that the background music almost adds a sense of forbidden love, which works because they both know that their love may not last with Elphaba being labelled a fugitive.     The atmosphere that is captured for this number works quite well in selling you that these two truly care for each other.

No Good Deed






This is often cited as the most powerful song from the show and it is not hard to see why.   Elphaba thinks that Fiyero is dead and comes to her realization that everything she does will end up hurting the ones, she loves.  As she reads a spell from the Grimmerie,   her spell book that gets into  trouble.



March of The Witch Hunters







This song really culminates in showing how much Oz has come to hate The Witch.   That is The Tin Woodsman, you are hearing.  He was Boq,  the Munchkin boy that loved Galinda.   Recall,  how I mentioned that he ended up in an unhappy relationship with Nessarose.   Well,  when he revealed his love for Galinda,  Nessa used a spell to make him heartless.  And to try and save him,   Elphie used a spell that could make it to where, he would be able to live without a heart.  Leading him to become The Tin Woodsman.   Boq was made to become Nessa's servant as she became the ruler of all of Munchkinland and he could only see what Elphaba did to try and save him as a curse.

For Good





It's funny but this is the very first song I ever heard from Wicked long before I owned the soundtrack or saw the musical.  And this is what led to me falling in love with this show and having to find the rest of the music.  It was this one song,  I heard it on either Today or Good Morning America.  Some morning show and I was taken aback by the raw and beautiful nature of this song.  This is a song of friendship showing how much these two meant to each other and how they have helped define who they are.  You may recall that last year I made a video for the site using this song.  Well that is because I consider each and everyone of you  a friend or sometimes something more such as an adorable little sister or an awesome big brother.   This song lets the beautiful nature of it speak for itself.   This is the perfect song to close out on.





Favorite/Least Favorite



Yeah,  I'm stealing this from Paw. But hey, he's not the only musical reviewer around. Though, he is one of my favorite reviewers around.  I'm going to give you my favorite & least favorite songs from the show.  Starting with Favorite.  Hmm, that's tough for this show as there are so many great songs but if  I had to choose,  I'd go with For Good & Defying Gravity as my two favorites from the show.  I believe that these two numbers really showcase the friendship between Elphie and Glinda quite well.  And shows how, they'll always be there for each other.  As for Least Favorite,  I have to go with Wonderful.  It's not a bad song and there aren't any bad songs in this show but that is just forgettable.



My Final Thoughts






I hope that this music gave you a taste of why I love this musical.  This musical is one of the most acclaimed musicals that has come out in a long time and it is not hard to see why with the music as it is very strong and the emotion is so real.  If this show comes near you, see it.   And I just hope that the rumored upcoming film adaption that is supposedly being worked on by Universal Studios captures the raw emotion of the musical.  They need to find the right director and cast for it to work.  But as for the musical,   this currently stands as my second favorite theater going experience after Newsies. Which up until I saw Newsies,  I considered this the greatest show that I'd ever seen.   And that is high praise and it more then earned that.   Join me next week as we go from one of the greatest musicals to one that is meh but not terrible.  Join me next time as I look at...

The Addams Family