Wicked
But let’s face it: if the only magic lady encountered by Kansas farm girl Dorothy Gale when she was transported by cyclone to Oz had been Billie Burke’s airy-fairy Glinda, The Wizard of Oz would not be the classic it is. The MGM musical greatly expands the witch’s presence, and Hamilton’s character is genuinely frightening. But we identify with her too–with her anger at the squeaky-voiced Munchkins and at the child who stumbles into her world and kills her sister (with a house yet). It’s a wicked wish, but we’ve all wanted to cast a spell on those who’ve wronged us. Audiences need villains to externalize the destructive instincts they fear in themselves–villains to be ritually vanquished so everyone else can go back to being good.
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Baum was wrong when he wrote in the introduction to his novel that “the modern child gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident.” Children now as then thrill to what he calls “horrible and blood-curdling incident.” But Wicked does fulfill his wish to eliminate fairy-tale stereotypes. Rather than being melted by a bucket of water, Elphaba learns from the mistakes she makes while clumsily wielding her magic. Wicked’s sympathetic, human, altogether enchanting witch demonstrates that people can be forgiven instead of simply punished for the terrible powers they carry within.
Where: Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph
