I believe that I've somewhere described Wicked as a good musical, but not great as a prequel to The Wizard of Oz. Now that I've actually read the book and reacquainted myself with the movie version, I stand by that. My heart sinks when I see YouTube videos called things like "10 disturbing facts we notice in The Wizard of Oz after seeing Wicked". Please, don't judge the charming classic movie characters by what their alter egos get up to in the musical. Wicked is decidedly not canon – but my, those songs are good.
When I watched the musical in London many years ago now, I didn't have high hopes for it, but I was bowled over when the hit tunes kept coming. Not only were the songs hummable, the lyrics were witty and – towards the end – moving too. Also, the settings were suitably colourful (a far cry from Maguire's dour take on Oz) and, most importantly, the characters were engaging. Well, some of them.
Of the good/redeemable versions of the Wicked Witch I've been discussing, I prefer the stage musical's Elphaba to both Maguire's book version and the rather too goody-two-shoesy Wicked film version. Whereas Maguire's Elphaba was a rebel from the start, and only too glad to have her poor opinion of the Wizard confirmed, the musical's Elphaba is as taken in by the Wizard's glittering reputation as everyone else (and here he actually has a glittering reputation). She may be an outsider, but she wants to belong, and the sweetly optimistic "The Wizard and I", which she sings after having found out that her magic talents might actually make her his right-hand woman in time, is very relatable if you've ever been a fangirl.
She's also impressed by the seductive trappings of Emerald City, which she visits with her by-then best friend Glinda, and at first the meeting with the Wizard goes exactly as she'd dreamed it would. When realisation dawns that he's behind the persecution of talking animals (why is never quite made clear, except with the "everyone needs a common enemy" cliché), it really costs her to give up her dreams (and her friendship with Glinda) to turn against him. It's a compelling character arc, and though it feels rushed when Elphaba turns bad for about five minutes towards the end in order to explain the Dorothy business, it's worth it as it brings us my favourite Wicked song "No Good Deed".
Musical Elphaba, then, is a success. As I mentioned in my previous post, I also like how they handled the Wizard, as someone with enough charm to almost lure Elphaba back to the dark side with his unfeigned enthusiasm over being fêted and openness about not deserving it ("Hey look who's wonderful/some corn-fed hick/who said it might be keen/to build a town of green/and a wonderful road of yellow brick"). Glinda's an enjoyable character too (when she's not annoying). But oh, the rest!
Whereas Maguire at least had the courtesy to read Frank L. Baum's book, I'm pretty sure the creators of Wicked only know the movie version of the Wizard of Oz. It's as if they saw it and said to themselves: "Hey, I wonder what the back stories of the Tinman, and the Scarecrow, and the Lion, and the flying monkeys are?" To which one could reply: "Well, if you read the book, you'd find out most of them." Instead the musical chooses its own path, ignoring not only Baum's novel but to a great extent Maguire's too. Little of what the musical claims about the beloved Oz characters clashes factually with what we're told in the movie version, but psychologically it's all wrong. As any musical producer ought to know, you shouldn't mess with the friends of Dorothy.
The films Wicked and Wicked for Good aren't different enough from the stage musical to merit a separate post. In brief, I found them far too long and padded, but visually appealing, and Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are a joy to listen to as Elphaba and Glinda (it's not always you get top-notch singing in film versions of musicals). The Chinese Whispers effect continues, though. Whereas the creators of Wicked the stage musical don't seem to have read The Wizard of Oz, the creators of the films don't seem to have much knowledge of the musical's supposed inspiration, Maguire's novel. When scenes are added in order to flesh out the story and maybe fix a plot hole or two, the plot moves further and further away from the book Wicked.
What's more, the films forget to make Elphaba the least bit wicked, even towards the end. The fact that "No Good Deed" is actually a villain song is ignored. The shadowy Dorothy is referred to merely as a nuisance. This version of Elphaba is never that many steps away from Joan of Arc status, and it gets wearying. At least the love interests are marginally less drippy than in the stage version, and Jeff Goldblum, even when he's phoning it in, is inspired casting for the Wizard.
You may wonder why I haven't yet brought up Zelena, Once Upon A Time's version of the Wicked Witch. Actually, although I think Zelena is a fun character and I like her more than I should considering what she occasionally puts Rumple through, I don't think the Once writers dug very deeply into Oz lore when creating her. It's all very much "something something green skin flying monkeys broom cackling something". But I can definitely imagine her singing "The Wizard and I".
