Wicked:

A musical based on a book, based on a film, based on a book

Wicked is one of my favourite musicals. It tells the story of Elphaba, a misunderstood green girl who ends up becoming the notorious Wicked Witch of the West and forms an unlikely friendship with the fabulous Galinda, the Good Witch of the North.

Many people know that Wicked is based on the famous 1939 film starring Judy Garland as Dorothy. But not many people know that ‘The Wizard of Oz’ film is based on a 1900 book written by L. Frank Baum, entitled ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’.

There are some differences between the original film and the original book. For example, the main difference is that Dorothy’s famous ruby slippers were in fact, silver. Also in the novel, there were Good Witches of both the North and the South. However in both the film and the musical, Glinda is merged as both the good witches. When Dorothy and her band of merry men as we shall put it, went to see the wizard in Emerald City, Dorothy saw the Wizard as a big head, the Tin Man saw a ‘terrible beast’, the Scarecrow saw a lovely lady and the Cowardly Lion saw a ball of fire.

Most of the plot stays the same and although I haven’t read the novel, I believe it to be quite accurate. I must get my hands on it though. The film’s ending is probably the only ending which I will allow to end on ‘it was all a dream’, because it is such a classic and it cannot be ruined by clichés.

Based on both the film and novel, Gregory Maguire wrote ‘Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West’, he wrote a risqué novel on the friendship as the two witches, having Dorothy’s story as a sub-plot. Again, I’d like to remind you that Maguire’s novel is not suitable for children. If you were looking for a clean novel, he does not deliver! Although I still enjoyed it.

It is the first novel of four, titles including; Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men and Out of Oz. I haven’t read the rest, so if you have read them, please let me know what you thought of them.

I just wanted to add a little bit of information as to how Maguire came up with the name of Elphaba, seen as she doesn’t have a name in either the book or film. Instead, he took Baum’s initials (L-F-B) to create the phonic name of ‘Elphaba’. Pretty cool right?!

Anyway, the plot tells the story of how Elphaba becomes an activist for the Animals, especially for Doctor Dillamond, her biology teacher. Boq, a munchkin, also becomes heavily involved and makes friends with Elphaba so he can talk to Galinda, as she is Elphaba’s roommate.

The narrative is long and I’m unable to put it into too fewer words. But Fiyero is a prince who seduces Elphaba, there is no connection between him and Galinda. When Dr. Dillamond dies, Galinda changes her name to Glinda, as a way of commemoration as he always mispronounced her name.

So, with all that Stephen Schwartz created the musical we all know and love, with a more PG approach to delight both young and old.

The story is simplified, with Boq becoming a love interest to Elphaba’s sister, Nessa and a pestering crush to Glinda. Fiyero is the initial love interest to Glinda, but after helping Elphaba with Animal rights, he starts to fall in love with her too. Elphaba already loves him (cue: I’m not that girl).

Schwartz managed to create a masterpiece of a musical, with Idina Menzel as Elphaba and Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda. It incorporates the magic and the wonder of Oz and all of the songs are so meaningful. Defying Gravity has got to be the best closing number for Act 1 ever.

Now, Wicked and the Wizard of Oz’s stories aren’t limited to just four interpretations. Another film, Oz the Great and Powerful, tells the story of how the wizard became ‘the Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ and even Wicked is set for the big screen in 2021!

So it seems like Baum created a masterpiece which just keeps getting rewritten into something more and more magical. I wonder what is next for Oz and its inhabitants.

Till next time biscuit breakers!