Green skin, a black dress and hat, the evil cackle, and don’t forget the broom. The iconic villain from The Wizard of Oz (1939), directed by Victor Flemming, has more to offer than being the Wicked Witch of the West.
Traveling back into time, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum was initially published on May 17, 1900. This children’s novel was the first series that stars a Kansas farm girl named Dorothy Gale and her trusty dog, Toto. The audience follows Dorothy as she soars through worlds in a tornado, gains a new pair of shoes, and travels through Oz as she makes friends with a scarecrow, a tin man, and a cowardly lion on her way to see the wizard.
A few decades later, MGM created this book into the technicolor 1939 film that blew fans away. During this time, movies were in black and white, but when Dorothy, played by Judy Garland, ended up in the colorful world of Oz, fans regarded the use of technicolor as a technical marvel that no one had seen before. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Special Effects. They won Best Original Song for “Over the Rainbow” and Best Original Score.
A few more decades later, Universal Pictures re-created this story and renamed it The Wiz (1978), directed by Sidney Lumet. Lead actress Diana Ross plays Dorothy Gale, her jaw dropping castmates include Michael Jackson (Scarecrow), Nipsey Russell (Tin Man), and Mabel King (Wicked Witch). The discernible difference between this 70’s film and the 30’s film is that Dorothy’s loveable friends all get new songs, whereas, in the original, they all sing a different version of the same song. This film also featured an all-Black cast, a breakthrough for this musical production.
Throughout the plot, Dorothy is constantly being harassed by this green witch, who the people of Oz call the Wicked Witch of the West. Evil music follows her everywhere she goes on her magical flying broom. Her henchmen are monkeys with wings, and she resides in an evil tower. How much more evil could you get? In her perfect opposition is the bubbly Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, donned in a puffy pink dress and sparkly crown and wand. She travels by bubble and guides Dorothy down the yellow brick road to escape from the Wicked Witch.
Ultimately, the Wicked Witch is defeated with a pail of water (apparently, she is so evil that pure water can melt her), and Dorothy travels back home with her new sparkly shoes by clicking her heels twice.
But there’s more than meets the eye on this yellow brick road.
In 1995, Gregory Maguire’s “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” detailed the origin story behind the world of Oz. Fun fact: The Wicked Witch of the West didn’t have a name in the children’s books or movies, but Maguire fixed this by taking the initials of the original author, L. Frank Baum, and created the name Elphaba (read El-pha-ba).
To avoid any spoilers, I won’t detail too far into the storyline of Wicked; all you need to know is this story is about the relationship between Elphaba and Gah-linda (yes, you need to have the harsh Gah sound). This prequel is set years before Dorothy shows up, but for those Toto fans out there, don’t worry, you can catch a glimpse of these two characters towards the end of Wicked.
In 2003, screenwriter Winnie Holzman wrote the adaptation that would help Maguire’s story dance its way into the stage life, and with help from Stephen Schwartz, the man who wrote the music and lyrics, Wicked the Musical was born. I doubt that these two creators understood how pop-ular this musical would be at the time, but after the first performance on October 8th, 2003, this show quickly became the most swankified show in town. The original cast included the lovely Idina Menzel as Elphaba and Kristen Chenoweth as Glinda.
Just this last year, the show celebrated its 20th anniversary, and in April of 2023, it became the fourth longest-running Broadway show. On the Main Stem stage in Broadway NYC, 46 actresses have played Elphaba, and 37 have played Glinda. Notably, one of the most remarkable firsts is Louise Dearman, who had the opportunity to play both Elphaba and Glinda on stage and has been the only actress to play both witches in any production of Wicked full-time.
This prequel is powerful and offers many takeaways that viewers should pay attention to. The songs are very catchy and allow the cast to show their unique talent. Another fun fact is that the role of Elphaba is so demanding that a few Elphabas have needed throat surgery following their Broadway run.
We also can’t forget the 2013 Sam Raimi film of Oz the Great and Powerful. According to the lore, this movie is a very loose adaptation of what actually happened in Oz. Still, the fact that Mila Kunis played the Wicked Witch and Michelle Williams as Glinda the Good made up for the “prequel” that details the Wizard’s journey into this enchanting world.
That said, I am excited to see the movie adaptation of the musical on November 22, 2024. I remember watching a bootleg recording of the musical on YouTube when I was 13. I learned all the songs and annoyed my mother to all ends by belting out “The Wizard and I” and “Popular” at random moments. Apparently, this wore her down enough that she surprised me with tickets to see Wicked live on the ASU Gamage stage. All I can say is I know I’m who I am today because I got to see this musical live and because I cherish every stunning voice I hear sing these fantastic songs.
Though it may not be one short day till I get to see the Emerald City on the big screen, you can bet I’ll sit idly to prepare for the hypnotic voices we will hear from Cynthia Erivo, who will star as Elphaba, and Ariana Grande-Butera, who will gah-lindafy audiences.
So, if you care to find me, I will be defying gravity and my Spotify limit by listening to these songs over and over again for the umpteenth time. One could say that these songs have changed me for good.