What The Phantom of the Opera and
Les Misérables were to my generation, Wicked became to the next. See for
yourself what all the uproar is about — or revisit this reinvention of Oz
yourself, when the national tour of Wicked returns to the Hobby Center for the
Performing Arts June 30 through July 25.
This triple-Tony-winning musical
arose from the best-selling 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire, adapted to the stage
by composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin) and book writer Winnie
Holzman (My So-Called Life, Thirtysomething). Forget about Dorothy and Toto.
This is the story of the Wicked Witch of the West herself, and it’s up to you
to decide whether the adjective is apt. Maguire dubbed the green-skinned one Elphaba
and delved not only into her past but also into her defining friendship with
her ever “Popular” roommate, Glinda. In many ways the musical is more family
friendly than the novel, but all the characters and themes are here, as well as
some surprise twists from Maguire’s original plot.
Wicked flies back to Houston thanks
to the Gexa Energy Broadway Across America series. Tickets start at $39 each,
through broadwayacrossamerica.com/houston or ticketmaster.com/wicked. Intrigued
by the whole concept? Visit wickedthemusical.com for more about “The Untold
Story of the Witches of Oz.”
And in case you’d like to take more
than a program home with you, watch for two related coffee-table books: the
antiqued-looking Wicked: The Grimmerie (Hyperion) and the graphically rich
Wicked The Musical: A Pop-Up Compendium of Splendiferous Delight and
Thrillifying Intrigue (DK Publishing). And, of course, there’s always Gregory
Maguire’s original, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,
or the sequel, Son of a Witch: Volume Two in the Wicked Years (both by Harper).
All are available through local booksellers and online at amazon.com. The
coffee-table books are often in the Hobby Center’s gift shop, too. And who knows what Emerald City treasures you'll find at the gift kiosk in the lobby...
Image: Donna Vivino as Elphaba and Chandra Lee Schwartz as Galinda in the national tour of Wicked. Photo by Joan Marcus.