Wicked at Orpheum Theater!
Howdy Folks!
Recently, I got the chance to see Wicked live at the Orpheum Theater, and it was a total blast.
I went into Wicked almost completely blind, and I think that honestly made it better for my viewing experience. I knew the basic premise and, obviously, who the Wicked Witch was (or who i thought she was), but I didn't know the story or most of the music. That led to a bunch of moments where I'd suddenly recognize a song and think, "Wait... this is where that's from."
The first time that happened was "What Is This Feeling?". It took me right back to my theater days, hearing people sing it over and over without ever knowing what musical it came from. Seeing it in context was surprisingly satisfying. I also never really bought that Elphaba and Glinda hated each other. The chemistry was there almost immediately. Maybe that's because the audience already knows where the story is going, but it always felt more like two people who were destined to become friends than two people who genuinely couldn't stand each other. But it was fun and cheeky!
That became even more obvious during the dance scene later, when Glinda gave her the infamous black pointed hat. Glinda could have let Elphaba stand there and be laughed at, but instead she joined her. It was a small moment, but it's the first time their friendship felt completely believable, and of course flourished from that point on
Around the same time, the show introduced the storyline that ended up grabbing me the most: Dr. Dillamond and the Animals losing their voices and their place in society. I honestly expected that to become the main conflict, especially because I just didn’t know the story. Instead, the musical shifts back toward Elphaba, Glinda, and eventually Fiyero. I don't necessarily think that's a bad choice, but I definitely left wanting more from that side of the world. Oz suddenly felt much bigger than just the main cast, and I wanted to spend more time in it, and explore what is actually happening outside of these three characters.
Later, Fiyero's introduction and the lion cub scene mostly felt like stepping stones toward the bigger moments. My immediate reaction to the cub was assuming that it was a callback to the cowardly lion, and then the story kept moving. I was still waiting for the plot to really hit its stride, and it did feel like this was kind of how it was going the whole time, just a slow build.
However, that allowed me to pay keen attention to the production in the background more, and that made "One Short Day" really fun to watch. I'd just seen The Wiz at the Orpheum not long before this, so getting two totally different versions of Oz within a few weeks or so was something I wasn't expecting. Wicked's Emerald City leans into machinery and art deco styling, while The Wiz takes the world in a completely different direction, and more vibrant. Seeing both made me appreciate how flexible Oz really is as a setting!
Once the Wizard finally arrived, I was all in. I was excited to see how they spun him, because, at the end of the day, he's just a fraud with good marketing. I was curious how Wicked would handle him, and the giant mechanical Wizard head immediately sold me. It was loud, and intimidating, and probably my favorite technical effect in the entire production. Genuinely wish i could know about how that one was made for the set!
Defying Gravity was the next major part for me, after this whole twisted reveal with the Wizard being, well, not who he was expected to be, of course! It was a great solo, giving Elphaba the space to stop running from being the villain, and rather own and accept that she has to be that for change to actually happen, viva la resistance and all. Instead of reacting and trying t o change what’s happened, she’s actively taking control and moving forward. Super powerful song.
Act Two sped things up in a way I wasn't quite ready for. It felt like the show suddenly decided it had a lot of ground to cover and just started running. We pick back up with Elphaba in hiding after the Wizard tries to bring her back into the fold, and that whole scene where he shows her what's really behind the curtain hit different than I expected. Meanwhile, back in Munchkinland, Nessarose has taken over as ruler after their father's death, and she's using the shoes Elphaba enchanted for her to walk as a way of controlling Boq, refusing to let him leave her. Boq's whole arc still didn't sit right with me here. He'd spent the entire first act clearly wanting Glinda and only ever begrudgingly stuck with Nessarose, so watching Nessarose's grip on him tighten felt like the show skipped a few steps to get us here. When Nessarose's spell to keep him starts literally hardening his heart, Elphaba steps in to save his life by turning him fully into tin, and instead of being grateful, he comes out of it hating her for it. Nessarose is the one who actually did this to him, but somehow Elphaba's the one left holding all his anger, and that swap never felt earned to me.
Then Dorothy's house drops out of the sky and kills Nessarose, which happens so fast I almost missed it. Seeing Madame Morrible revealed as the one who conjured the storm all along really cemented the idea that Elphaba was never going to be let back into Oz's good graces, especially once we later learn that same storm may have gotten him to the point of capture by the guard, and subsequent beating (honestly this point i kind of forgot how exactly he gets captured again other than him pointing a gun at the Wizard). Dorothy ends up with the shoes, not because she takes them from Nessarose directly, but because they're just left behind, and that's what actually pulls Elphaba back into the story. She isn't chasing Dorothy out of villainy, she just wants the last piece of her sister back.
From there, it spiraled fast, straight into the mob scene, the threat of water, and Elphaba faking her own death with Fiyero's help to escape. Fiyero himself turned out to be a more interesting character than I expected. The jock-turned-hero arc can feel worn out, but the love triangle gives it enough edge that I was never fully sure he and Elphaba were making the right call, or whether they were just leaving more hurt in their wake without realizing it.
Which brings me to the ending, the part that's stuck with me the most. Fiyero turns out to have become the Scarecrow, which brought up an earlier moment where I'd caught myself wondering where he'd disappeared to while Boq and the Cowardly Lion were busy rallying the crowd against Elphaba, and where I thought “So who’s the scarecrow then?”. It's a clever twist that ties everything back into the world we already know. But what really got me is that Elphaba and Fiyero choose to let Glinda go on believing Elphaba actually died. They never tell her the truth, and I kept thinking they easily could have, that it might have all worked out fine if they had. Instead, Glinda's left to manage the crowd and play her part in Oz's political theater while quietly mourning a friend she doesn't know is still alive, which somehow hit harder than if Elphaba had actually died.
By the end, this had turned into one massive tragedy, and there's a moment where I genuinely wondered if we'd get some kind of happy ending after all. That was never really in the cards for anyone. My only real complaint is that there's clearly so much more story left untold here that the ending feels a little cut off, like we're being left wondering what happens next for everyone involved. Still, visually and musically, it was a spectacular way to close the show.
Overall, again, as someone who went into this completely blind, this was an awesome show, and I’m definitely going to be taking the time to watch the movies and see more of the world, and maybe even pick up the books! Have they done Wicked 2 yet for musicals?! I’ll have to wwait and see, I suppose!
