Wicked (musical)

[cahn]

So, I might have watched it. I quite enjoyed it -- it's sort of this last decade's Les Mis, isn't it? with the smoke and the dancing and special effects and big chorus numbers and pop wholesome faux-deep message? And I'm a total sucker for friendships, so there's that. (It is hilarious to me that the love interest seems really rather like an afterthought tacked on.) Also, was Elphaba supposed to be the heroine? Because it seemed quite clear that Galinda was way more interesting, even though she got no solos. Elphaba really didn't have nearly as much of a character arc. (But hey, I also find "Thank Goodness" a much more interesting song, character-wise, than "Defying Gravity" -- it's so interesting to hear Galinda sing "I couldn't be happier!" with the layers of, well, unhappiness -- so there's that.)

But... is it just me, or does this whole musical make no sense? That is, huge sections of the plot seem to have been shoehorned into place in ways that are just... incoherent and random.

-It makes no sense to me that Elphaba has two tickets to the Emerald City and she gives one to Galinda (sorry, "it's Glinda now!") instead of to her sister, given what we've seen so far up to that point regarding their relationships. Unless the Emerald City is really, like, disabled-inaccessible or something. But there was no explanation of why she'd pick Glinda over her sister, when she's never done so before.

The rest of Act 1 I was mostly okay with. Act 2... was when things really started falling apart.

-So it's this big deal how Elphaba is the only one who can perform magic out of the book, and then Nessarose, on her first try, can do it? Sure, she might have mispronounced it, but clearly she's got potential, yeah? So... uh?

-Elphaba is missing for a long time, and then suddenly she shows up... at the Wizard's palace. Um, what? Why? I guess to set the monkeys free? Why then? Why randomly after she's had this showdown with her sister? Very confusing.

-Elphaba and Fiyero get to sing this song which, if I understand correctly, boils down to, "Hey, this relationship might fall apart immediately, but at least we had hot sex in the meantime." Which, um. I guess is a perfectly valid lifestyle choice! But not quite what I expected from their characters, nor does it seem to bear any resemblance to what they say in the dialogue.

-Fiyero is presumed dead... and suddenly Elphaba becomes the Wicked Witch of the West? Complete with personality change! Maybe it's just the actress I saw, but it was weird and jarring. And then she changes right back when she learns Fiyero is alive, just in time to have a touching duet with Glinda. (Which I love, but still.) I got a bit of whiplash there. It's another reason I like Glinda's arc better; it's much more gradual.

-Elphaba insists that Glinda not tell everyone the whole story because... because why? Well, because then the Wicked Witch wouldn't be wicked like in the original Baum, and then we couldn't have "No One Mourns the Wicked" as a song, I guess? Really it's a giant chunk of canon-compliance shoehorning; honestly, this is the part of the musical that makes the least sense. Glinda is basically the only power left in Oz (how it happens that Morrible and the Wizard bow to her will just because she figures out they are corrupt, I have no idea, especially since Morrible has magic and Glinda doesn't really; that's another issue) so why would they, as Elphaba claims, turn against her? And even if they would now, why not tell Oz later? Just. Does Not Make Sense.

-Glinda gets the book of spells. Which she can't read. I guess we saw from Nessarose's example that maybe this doesn't matter, but still... what?

-Fiyero and Elphaba agree they can never come back to Oz and Glinda can't know they're alive... why? Is the fear that Glinda will one day totally do a personality change thing like Elphaba did? I think it's really just for canon compliance, and so that Glinda can have her little song of pathos at the end, although I think it would be equally as sad (though differently) if she did know Elphaba was alive, but would not see her for years (if ever).

Comments

[ase]

When I saw the SF production last summer, I felt like Elphaba was better played than when you saw it, but the plot only makes opera sense: maximum emotion, minimum logic. Also, I don't love the soundtrack the way I loved Rent or Chess. (Chess is a terrible musical with a great soundtrack.) There's a few songs I like a lot, like "Defying Gravity" and, well, Elphaba and Fiyero's duet, for classic dramatic irony! But I like musicals for music and Wicked did better with fancy staging.

[cahn]

Honestly, in retrospect I think I was totally maligning the actress, who was quite good. Really the problem is the writing, in which we have to be sympathetic to Elphaba pretty much the whole time, including the ending, but she still has to be the Wicked Witch of the West who is not sympathetic, which leads to this kind of psychotic break... The actress I saw did do a good job of making you see that the seeds were there the whole time, but still it's a bit much for me when she suddenly has to turn back into Sympathetic!Elphaba once she realizes Fiyero is alive.

the plot only makes opera sense: maximum emotion, minimum logic.

Hee, I love the phrase "opera sense." So true! And if I think about it as an opera I feel much more okay about it (probably because most of the operas I know have far worse logic...)

Hm. Maybe I will look up Chess. I didn't love Rent, I think because I was far too old when I heard the soundtrack, so instead of "Oh wow how cool," my reaction was more like, "What losers!" (My friend who has pretty much exactly the same taste I do in music/musicals loves Rent, because she actually got to it at the appropriate time.) I love the Wicked soundtrack, because it's got Chenoweth, and I must confess I really love "For Good," but I've got a lot of baggage there with duets and singing and female friendship and friendships changing lives and so on, and it rather blatantly pushes all those buttons.

[ase]

Wicked makes zero sense, except maybe as a big Elphaba/Glinda BFF/love story. I read the book, I watched the musical, I have no idea what Broadway was thinking when they adapted Maguire's book. However, Idina Menzel got another hit musical out of it, so I am willing to roll with it. And the musical hits a lot of women-friendship buttons, which is great, but also frustrating that it's so unusual.

Chess is, by most reports, not a great musical; I love the soundtrack anyway. The American recording is sometimes considered stronger, but I love the British soundtrack on the strength of first exposure and "Nobody's Side". "Rent" came to me at about the right time to be uncritical, even if my loyalties are with Bennie. I can still love "La Vie Boheme" and "No Day But Today" most days.

[cahn]

And the musical hits a lot of women-friendship buttons, which is great, but also frustrating that it's so unusual.

YES. For this alone I would like it. Well, those bits, anyway. (There are certainly quite a lot of parts/characters I found actively boring.)

Yeah, my sympathies are with Bennie (if you couldn't guess...)