Dancing through the ‘Wicked’ backstage

MANILA, Philippines - The musical Wicked continues to break records. When we visited the New Zealand production recently, we were told that Wicked has been seen by over 38 million people on Broadway and the West End, and its touring productions have made stops across North America and the rest of the world.

Based on the L. Frank Baum-inspired novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked is the untold story of the witches of Oz.

“Wicked is a story that happens parallel — it’s what you don’t see when you read the book or see the film,” said Jane Ross, Wicked AustralAsia marketing and touring consultant. “What’s been interesting is that you don’t need to be familiar with The Wizard of Oz to really enjoy this show. You can go on the journey regardless.”

Since Wicked’s first show in 2003, it has won numerous awards, among them three Tonys and a Grammy.

In January 2014, Wicked will be brought to the Philippines by Lunchbox Productions, Concertus Manila, David Atkins Enterprises, 105.9 Radio High, and presenters Visa and Smart Infinity. Needless to say, these companies are all working to make sure that this huge undertaking will be a success.

One of the first challenges of the show’s promoters was to get the okay from the Cultural Center of the Philippines to stage it. That challenge hurdled, they are now working to get all the costumes and equipment that goes into making Wicked the great show that it is. An estimated P20 million has been spent to get CCP Wicked-ready.

The production that will be arriving has had successful runs across Australia, has toured in Singapore and Seoul, and is currently running in Auckland, New Zealand.

Wicked New Zealand

“I tour with the production and look after the performers, the crew, the musicians on the ground,” shared Beck Windsor, company manager of Wicked, when we met with her recently in Auckland. “I also am the liaison between the producer and the company when we are on tour.”

Windsor added that when Wicked comes to Manila, it will be part of the show’s 10th anniversary tour.  With pride, she adds that at least two million people have seen the New Zealand production since it started in 2008.

“What you see here is what you would have seen in Broadway or the West End,” she adds.  “Recently, Stephen Schwartz, the composer for the show, was here to watch this production. He actually said that this is one of the best Wicked shows that he has seen.”

Come backstage

This exact same show is what will be staged in Manila in January. Windsor explains that much is needed in terms of costumes, equipment and manpower.

“Basically in this show, we tour with a cast of 33, a crew of 26 and we also bring in six touring musicians,” she says.  “We will hire in local musicians and crew as well.  Every night when we put out this show, there are over 100 people working on stage — and it will be the same in Manila.”

Wicked requires a staggering total of 380 costumes — from the Emerald City outfits to the Shiz University uniforms to Elphaba’s Defying Gravity cloak and Glinda’s 25-kilo bubble dress — all of which will be transported to Manila, not to mention shoes and hats.

“I can’t tell you the actual number of pieces because I have never done that, but there are lots,” quips head of wardrobe Paul Flanagan. “They are generally separated into very specific groups so that when the ensemble gets into their costumes, at the same time they will know what they should be putting on.”

Flanagan says that costume designer Susan Hilferty looked at the era between 1900 and 1920, which is when the original Wizard of Oz novel was written.  “She spent a lot of time in museums, too. Like a jazz player, she took those concepts and kind of twisted them a bit into a design she refers to as ‘twisted Edwardian.’”

But it is only the main characters Glinda and Elphaba who come out from start to end in costumes that define who they are and who they will become.

“As you see, Glinda is dressed almost completely in white and Elphaba is in complete dark blue,” adds Flanagan. “It seems that Susan wanted to give a hint right at the beginning they are already what they are going to become in the end, which is Glinda the good and Elphaba, the wicked witch of the west.”

Glinda is connected to the sky and to the air and to lightness — and so she wears costumes that represent that. Elphaba is more solid and connected to the earth.  

There’s much more to Wicked than the many costumes; they also employ a huge amount of wigs, about 70 in all. Each one was individually made for the cast member who wears it ... out of real human hair. This explains why there was no way we could try on a wig, according to Kellie Ritchie, head of wigs and makeup. “The wigs are hand-knotted. It can take 18 to 40 hours to make one.”

Each wig, each costume and each prop used in the New Zealand production will be transported to Manila for the January run of Wicked.  This means that the company will have to transport 22 40-foot containers that will carry the things they need to transport the Pinoy audience on the journey to Oz.  Included is the Eugene Lee-designed set, which can transform into 54 different scenes and locations.

According to head mechanist Wayne William, his crew usually needs five 24-hour days just to get the set into the theater. This includes Glinda’s mode of transport — the bubble made of burnished aluminum, the dragon and the Oz head.

“Wicked has one of the biggest lighting rigs at the moment,” shares head electrician L’arge Wilson. “We have 360 fixtures, 96 moving lights, little bits of lighting everywhere, LED, two sidelights always on Glinda and Elphaba. Out of the 22 shipping containers, four are devoted to lighting.”

And, yes, my fave prop, the green baby Elphaba that is made of silicone and weighs as much as a newborn baby, plus Elphaba’s multiple brooms and Glinda’s wands, will also be part of the props shipped to Manila.

The good news for local artists is that the company will hire dressers and other crewmembers from Manila. “It’s part of the touring crew’s jobs, when we first arrive in a country, to train the locals who are working on the production,” said Windsor. “It’s the same with our mechanism stage hands, lighting and sound.”

The show will need nine musicians to complete the orchestra and Filipino talents will soon be auditioned.

“We need to look to getting musicians who are experienced in playing in a pit because it can be very different to playing onstage,” adds Windsor. “It’s quite an acquired discipline. We are looking for people who have some experience and who are very talented players. This is a very difficult music score; it’s not a straightforward music score. It’s quite complicated. Some musicians play two or three instruments each and part of learning the show is not just the notes but learning how to swap instruments in a very small space at a very quick pace.”

Wicked is a reinvention of our memories of Oz; it may take place in a parallel reality, but its production, music and spectacle are without parallel.

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Wicked will start its run on Jan. 22, 2014. Ticket prices are: P7,000 (Emerald), P5,800 (A Reserve), P4,500 (B Reserve), P3,500 (C Reserve), P2,250 (B Reserve) and P1,750 (E Reserve). Call Ticketworld at 891-9999 or visit www.ticketworld.com.ph.