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WICKED

2/23/2011

 
Picture
Director Joe Mantello brings his stage production of WICKED, based on Gegory Maguire's best selling book, to the Queen Elizabeth theatre for the month of June.
WICKED is the untold story of the witches of Oz “long before Dorothy dropped in.”
Two girls, Elphaba (Anne Brummel) and Glinda (Natalie Daradich) one gregarious, gifted, and green, and the other, pretty, petty, and popular, form an unlikely friendship on their journey to becoming the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda the Good.

It is a story of friendship and redemption blending humour with the journey towards understanding right and wrong, freedom and suppression, good and evil.

The elaborate set lit up with an enormous dragon that stretched the length of the stage, and Glinda the Good gliding down in an enormous silver bubble.
It's present day, the wicked witch has been melted (not a spoiler if you've seen The Wizard of Oz) and Glinda has some questions to answer.

We jump back in time to how Glinda and Elphaba first met, further back to before either of them was born, then slowly forward to present day: moving through schools, the Emerald City, the palace of the Wizard of Oz, and the rebel's hideaway.
Brummel and Daradich are captivating and hilarious in their portrayals of Elphaba and Glinda and fully deserved the standing ovation they got at the end of the show.

The stage design is elaborate and beautiful with large mechanical props, flying monkeys dangling from wires, alternating indoor and outdoor sets of schools, dorms, parks, and dungeons.

The costumes are intricate, layered and expanded with shapes and textures that stand out brilliantly from the backgrounds.

With flying monkeys, wizards and witchcraft, talking goats, a little romance and the beautiful voices of Brummel and Daradich: this show has a little bit of something for everyone.

The musical WICKED holds little semblance to Maguire's book Some of the basic plot points are there but it's not as politically charged, the main premiss is different, the characters are a lot lighter, and the relationships and histories have been altered or mixed.
It's a new story but a good one just the same.

WICKED features music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippen, Pocahontas, The Prince of Egypt) and is the winner of 35 awards, including a Grammy Award and three Tony Awards.

WICKED is a must see for the whole family and will run until June 26.
check out their web site

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