Wicked the musical

A colorful prequel to the MGM classic The Wizard of Oz, Wicked recounts the story of the improbable friendship between the Witches of Oz, two young women who first meet as rival students at Shiz University: the effervescent and ever-popular Glinda, and a passionate green-skinned girl named Elphaba.

Act I opens with the Ozians elated at the news that the Wicked Witch of the West is dead. However, they quickly learn of her father’s resentment of her and her green skin in favor of her younger sister, Nessarose.  Not only preferred by their father, Nessarose is taken under headmistress Madame Morrible’s wing, leaving Elphaba and Glinda as roommates. The girls bicker constantly at first; however, it’s not long before they develop a fondness for each other, first in their bonding after a school party, and later finding common ground in their concern for the sentient Animals who are being discriminated against.

During a fateful meeting with the Wizard of Oz, the girls discover that he has no magical powers. Worse, as Elphaba learns when a spell is performed on the Wizard’s monkey servant, he supports the suppression of Animals. Elphaba and Glinda’s friendship reaches a turning point: Elphaba’s refusal to cover up the Wizard’s fraud sees her discredited as the “Wicked Witch of the West” in order to prevent the truth about the Wizard from coming out, while Glinda’s desire for status leads her to become a spokesperson for the Wizard’s regime.

As Act II opens several years later, Elphaba tries to no avail to convince Nessarose, who is now Governor of Munchkinland, to side with her against the Wizard. After Elphaba refuses once more to support the corrupt Wizard, Glinda devises a plan to lure her into a trap, for she knows Elphaba will always come to her sister’s rescue. After Elphaba narrowly escapes Glinda at the site where Dorothy’s house has landed on Nessarose, Elphaba’s lover, Fiyero, is tortured at Glinda’s behest into revealing her whereabouts.

Elphaba, meanwhile, has resolved to live up to her reputation as a wicked witch. She wastes no time in capturing Dorothy, refusing to release the girl until she surrenders the precious ruby slippers, a gift to Nessarose from their father and all that remains of her sister. As an angry mob sets out to murder the Witch and rescue Dorothy, Glinda travels to the castle where Elphaba is hiding to warn her. After witnessing Dorothy dousing the Witch, Glinda travels back to the Emerald City to confer with the Wizard. The Wizard’s shocking revelation to Glinda finally helps her to see her friend’s position in a new light. Will Glinda earn her name as a good witch by fighting back against the Wizard’s injustices?

With an award-winning score that includes “Popular,” “Defying Gravity” and “No Good Deed,” Wicked is a mesmerizing tale of the power of camaraderie in the face of adversity. Time Magazine raves, “if every musical had the brain, the heart, and the courage of Wicked, Broadway really would be a magical place.”