To talk about Wicked

 (I have only heard Wicked on cd and seen clips on youtube, but that doesn’t stop me from reviewing.) Anyway… 

Wicked is a musical and I love it. It’s about the “wicked witch of the west” Elphaba and her friend G(a)linda and their friendship foremostly, but the romance, courtesy of Fiyero, is important too. Most important is probably the theme of good and evil and how it’s mixed with a lot of grey. All the characters are so developed and that’s part of the beauty. I can relate to Elphaba and I think most people can, because everyone feels at some point in their life that they’re different and everyone is. Elphaba, because of her green-ness, myself, because of my naturalness. I’m totally myself all the way and I think that makes me unique, because most people adapt more to others expectations. I stay myself! Glinda is a nice character too and one can see her growth from a sophisticated and vain girl, to a wise and loving woman. They are so real to you, Elphie and Glinda. I enjoy that.

But I’ll continue on. One of the many reasons as to why I love Wicked is the music. From the powerful beginning and to the very last note, the score is beautiful and many of the songs are magnificent. And the thing about Wicked is that every single song is important to the plot and that is great. Even a song like “Something bad” and “March of the Witch Hunters” couldn’t be cut, because they are important for the story. My favorite song in Wicked is “I’m not that girl”, which Elphaba sings when she realizes that she’s in love with Fiyero and knows that she isn’t ‘that girl’ (though she will be later on in the play). This song is so beautiful and true for so many. Most have experienced that feeling, that knowledge that they’re not the one and that is a sad experience. That is just the thing to sing about. “Popular” is another great song and Kristin Chenoweth sings it very well. It actually took me some listenings to get used to her voice, but now I really like it. It can be both operatic and poppy and that is unique. Chenoweths voice is so charming and I also like it a lot in “For Good”, a great song about how a friendship can change you. That is so true, I wouldn’t be the same without my friends. Idina Menzel portrays Elphaba and sings beautifully in all her songs. Defying Gravity is especially wonderful and that is also kind of the crescendo-moment of the show. It’s important to defy gravity, take a chance and leap. It’s such a powerful melody and Idina hits those notes with such astounding power. The musical has other charming songs as the enjoyable “Dancing through life” which I like because I’m doing just that. I’m dancing through life, though I’m not literally dancing, but metaphorically! And the schools really teach the wrong lessons, because it’s so rooted in reality and knowledge and I personally think that creativity and emotion is much more important. Teach a person history and chemistry and he or she can be an intellectual jerk, but teach a person to love and it doesn’t matter if he or she isn’t intellectual, because love is more important really. “No good deed” is beautiful because it appeals to a deeprooted insecurity in some that makes one question him- or herself: ‘Am I actually a good person or am I a bad person and all my good deeds not so good after all?’ That is a philosophical question and since most things can be misinterpreted and misunderstood it speaks a truth, kind of. The other songs are great also.

I haven’t talked that much about the plot and that is because it’s not always that easy to have a synopsis to things and I don’t want to tell more about the plot than I’ve already mentioned. But what I can say is that Wicked makes you see the “Wizard of Oz” from a new perspective and that is cool. Wicked is based on a book by the way, Gregory Maguire’s “The life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West”, a great book with a long title. The book is not an easy read, but it’s worth it and incredibly wellwritten. I prefer the musical personally, though. I just do.

But I’m finishing this thing now and if anyone reads it ever, feel free to comment 🙂