The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz

Whew! Christmas time, university stuff and work kept me really busy the last days and weeks. Unfortunately I did not have the time I wanted to have for posting, so I hope you are not that mad with me. But there are still some thoughts in my head that I want to write down. Earlier I wrote an entry dealing with the Elizabeth musical. I already stated that I adore musicals. I really adore them. So I want to use the following two entries to pay attention to two of my favourites: Wicked and Tanz der Vampire (I refer to its original German title, because it was adapted later to the English Broadway version). For now, I'd like to start with Wicked :)

source: vegassolo.com

Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz

 

Wicked (full title: Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz) is a musical based on the novel by Gregory Maguire (Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West),the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The musical is told from the perspective of the witches of the Land of Oz; its plot begins before and continues after Dorothy's arrival in Oz from Kansas. Wicked tells the story of two unlikely friends, Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Glinda (the Good Witch of the North), who struggle through opposing personalities and viewpoints, rivalry over the same love-interest and the reactions to the Wizard's corrupt government. No matter what Elphaba strifes for, everything ends up in a pretty bad way.

 

Wicked is the musical I have seen the most often. When it was in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, I guess I watched it like... five times. And I never grew tired of it. I just love the songs (and I am still singing them on long car trips with a friend of mine - she sings Elphaba's parts, I do Glinda's) no matter how often I listen to them. One of my favourite songs is "Heißgeliebt" (Popular). It's a rather funny song, that shows the first superficial friendship between Elphaba und Glinda growing deeper. If you are interested, you should definitely also check out "Gutes Tun" (No good deed) and "Frei und schwerelos" (Defying gravity). There are so many emotional and simply wonderful songs that are definitely worth listening to.  

 

 

What I like about this muscial, too, are the costumes. Glinda wears really nice and fairylike dresses, always full of glitter and glimmer - while Elphaba's clothes are plain and black. Elphaba is the complete opposite of Glinda in every way, nevertheless they become best friends - overcoming a grave conflict. One day - in case I have too much money and too much free time - I want to make one of her dresses. For sure. Even though I have not the slightest clue, when I should wear a dress like this...

Glina in the opening scene, appearing on stage surrounded by bubbles.
source: images.fanpop.com

Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West.
source: cdn.londonandpartners.com

Glinda and Elphaba on their trip to the emerald city.
source: 4.bp.blogspot.com

Have anyone of you seen Wicked? What do you think about it? Let me know! =)

 

Love,

J.