You all think you know the story of the Wizard of Oz, well think again. Based on Gregory McGuire’s 1995 novel Wicked, which chronicled the lives of the three witches of OZ, most notably the Wicked Witch of the West, the musical Wicked is a magical production. Unfortunately I don’t have names of the principal actors because I was snubbed of a playbill as I entered the Academy of Music. Not only was I snubbed of a playbill but I wasn’t even directed to my seat. Upon finding my seat I find it occupied by a rather large woman, upon asking her if the section happened to be F she exclaimed that she was in X. Figuring she meant the row, I told her she was in row W; she replied that the usher had sat her here because it was X. In all my lovely snarkiness I explained that although I had just learned the alphabet that day, the letter on her chair clearly was a W. After some huffing and puffing she moved.

I sat down to be greeted by a large pillar in my line of sight but well although the tickets were $62.75 they were a gift and I wasn’t going to complain about my obstructed view (besides the tickets said obstructed view on them). I could deal with the pole, slightly annoying but at least workable, I had more problems with the giant headed sleeper in front of who kept dozing off blocking the stage. Anyway I resigned myself to a visually impaired performance. The doors shut, the lights went down and the music started. The munchkins singing about how the witch was dead and then Glinda was to appear….. she didn’t though. Her bubble malfunctioned and a 20-minute delay ensued with the show starting from the top and Glinda appearing out of the floor instead of the sky. From that point on the show went on as scheduled.

For those that are not familiar with McGuire’s novel and only with the Wizard of Oz movie or the L. Frank Baum novel, the wicked witches have names. Glinda, the Good Witch, was originally named Galinda, The Wicked Witch of the East (you know the one who had the house dropped on her), was named Nessarose and the Wicked Witch of the West (the green one) was Elphaba (named for Baum’s initials). All three of the witches went to school together with Elphaba being an outcast due to her green skin, yet Elphaba shows a high aptitude for sorcery and is trained by the head of her school Shiz University. Elphaba mistakes a joke as a sign of friendship from Galinda and the two become friends, with Galinda proclaiming that she will make Elphaba “Popular” although not quite as popular as her. After freeing a lion cub (the Cowardly lion) the two travel to Oz to meet the Wizard where Elphaba declares war on the Wizard and well the rest kind of progresses as you know it.

The show has some twists on both McGuire’s and Baum’s material attempting to tie everything together. While it doesn’t work out in the context of the source material it works in it’s own right and is never dull throughout. The acting and singing was spectacular, with Elphaba shining, especially during the first act’s closing number as she soars above the stage with her broom in hand. The sets are outstanding, especially for a traveling production and certainly looks top notch. While McGuire’s source material is slightly raunchy at times, the stage show is completely family friendly. I believe the show is completely sold out for it’s run here in Philadelphia but it will be returning in the Summer of 2007. If you are a fan of The Wizard of Oz at all you owe it to yourself to try and catch a show of Wicked.