how to go
What: The musical “Wicked”
When: Feb. 17-March 7
Where: Schuster Center, Second and Main streets, Dayton
Tickets: $46-$125
Call: (937) 228-3630, toll free at (888) 228-3630 or online at www.ticketcenterstage.com
On one hand, it has taken forever for “Wicked” to get here.
On the other, so what? It remains the biggest and the best Broadway musical around, based on people’s choice.
Time is definitely relative. For proof of that, consider the Wicked Witch of the West.
Dorothy’s pending demise abruptly became the witch’s as the final grains of sand began to course through the cinched center of the hourglass in the 1939 movie classic “The Wizard of Oz.”
“I’m melting,” the villainous one cried in a quavering voice, and was gone.
Or so it seemed.
That moment, it’s now clear, was only her beginning.
Her resurgence began with the 1995 publication of Gregory Maguire’s novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.”
The backstory that emerged then inspired the musical that seemingly everyone still wants to see.
Seven years since the Broadway opening, the hourglass will still be more than half full when “Wicked” opens Wednesday, Feb. 17, for the first time in Dayton.
The show is still soaring elsewhere as well.
On Jan. 3, for the third time since late November 2009, the Broadway production smashed the previously unprecedented $2 million barrier in one-week ticket receipts. Remember, it did that in its seventh year.
During the same week, its three other North American companies broke theater records in San Francisco, Providence R.I., and Schenectady, N.Y., bringing the overall one-week gross to $7.06 million.
Local box office records are all but assured.
Such is the power of a dual coming-of-age story about the lives of Glinda and Elphaba before they become the contrasting good and evil witches we met in “The Wizard of Oz” and thought we knew. We only knew a partial story.
“Wicked” shows us the wicked one, Elphaba, began as a misunderstood green-skinned young woman who meant well, but quickly got stuck with the label “wicked” because she was different.
Glinda, her pretty, snooty, popular, blonde, busybody socialite of a roommate, wasn’t always the sweet and bubbly woman who could make us smile with two little words like “Toto, too!” She became a better person, thanks to Elphaba.
As the two sing so compellingly in “Wicked,” each “is changed for good” by their association.
“Wicked” serves as a prequel to “The Wizard of Oz.” The two meet at college before their witch careers begin, detest each other at first, but grow to care for one other before their lives take different directions.
Although it’s no fairy tale, the musical is much lighter than Maguire’s novel, a sprawling, dark and quirky tale with many more characters.
Here’s a bit more you might want to know before you go.
Key characters, creators and a couple of places
Stephen Schwartz. Composer, lyricist and the driving force behind a musical that had personal significance for him.
His Broadway successes (“Godspell” and “Pippin”) were long behind him. His Broadway disappointments and frustrations were still painful memories. His Hollywood composing career was going great. But he was drawn back to writing for the stage by a story that touched him personally.
Inducted Jan. 26 into the American Theater Hall of Fame, he will be in Dayton on March 1 to help judge the Human Race Theatre Company’s scholarship competition that bears his name.
His musical inspirations for songs in “Wicked” included: Beethoven, Bernstein, Hindemith, Rachmaninoff, vaudeville soft-shoe, Asian folk music, the folk group The Weavers, Sting, bubblegum pop and musical theater.
Gregory McGuire. Novelist. In 2005, he came out with a sequel, “Son of a Witch.”
Elphaba Thropp. The green girl who grows up to be the “wicked” witch. (Maguire fashioned her name by pronouncing the initials of “Wizard of Oz” originator L. Frank Baum — El Fa Ba.
Glinda. Beautiful and sure of it. So sure of it, she believes she can fix her new roommate with a makeover. Hence, the song “Popular.”
Fiyero. The Winkie prince engaged to Glinda who falls for Elphaba.
Nessarose. Sister of Elphaba. Confined to a wheelchair. Some very famous shoes help her walk.
Shiz. The university in northern Oz where Elphaba and Glinda come to study and end up in the same dorm.
Boq. A Munchkin who’s hot for Glinda, but is loved by Nessarose.
Dr. Dillamond. A goat and biology professor. Once an integral and respected faction of Oz culture, animals like him have been discredited and squeezed into oblivion since the Wizard assumed power.
Madame Morrible. The Shiz U. headmistress.
The Wizard. A fake with traits of Benito Mussolini.
Winnie Holzman. “Wicked” librettist. Previously a television writer for series including “My So Called Life.”
Marc Platt. Film, television and theater producer.
He was in a partnership to develop a movie version of Maguire’s novel, but wasn’t pleased with the screenplay when Schwartz approached him about dropping that and backing a stage musical instead.
At the time, he was president of production for Universal Pictures. He had helmed releases including “Dances With Wolves,” “Philadelphia” and “Sleepless in Seattle.” He soon left Universal to start his own company, Marc Platt Productions, taking the “Wicked” project with him. Has also produced the “Legally Blonde” films, the current release “Nine” and the TV series “Empire Falls.”
He has said there will be a film version of “Wicked.” Another screen project may be a new version of “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
According to Platt, the creators of “Wicked” are still perfecting the script.
“We meet every few weeks to go over the material. Just a few weeks ago, we decided to give the Wizard an additional line clarifying how the green witch uses her powers to create wings for the monkeys,” he said. “It may sound like a small change, but it requires going into all eight companies. The object is to deliver the same exhilarating experience to the audience every night.”
Scorecard
“Wicked” lost out to “Avenue Q” for the 2004 Tony Award, but that’s pretty much been its only flight delay. It has sold more than $1.7 billion in tickets and been seen by more than 21 million people around the world. It is currently the 20th longest-running show in Broadway history.
Next chances to see it nearby
March 31-April 18 at the Stranahan Theater in Toledo.
July 28-Aug. 29 at the Ohio Theater in Columbus.
It could be years before it returns to the Schuster Center.
Can you still get in? Maybe.
If you don’t have one of the approximately 50,000 tickets available for the three-week run, you may still be able to land one without pawning your ruby slippers, broom or pet monkey.
If seats are available, there is a possibility Ticket Center Stage could hold a lottery before each performance for up to 20 tickets priced at $25. For information, see www.ticketcenterstage.
Some scattered tickets remain in all sections and price categories. The 2 p.m. matinee on Feb. 18 has the best remaining selection of best seats (sections A and B). At $88 and $81, they are cheaper than the same seats at weekend shows.
The Downtown Dayton Partnership has posted a special page on its Web site listing restaurants, hotels and “Wicked”-related specials offered by merchants.
Shiz apprentices
More than 100 area students from 10 schools are participating in the Victoria Theatre Association’s “Changed for Good” education project. For judging, they will submit 10-minute plays that re-imagine a classic story from a new perspective and explore themes similar to those developed in “Wicked.” The winning plays will be produced by Sinclair Community College March 5-7 in the Mathile Theatre of the Schuster Center. VTA education and outreach manager David Brush is supervising.
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