No one mourns the ‘Wicked’

MANILA, Philippines - I’ve seen the musical Wicked three times   with three different Broadway casts, including Smash’s Megan Hilty who played Glinda before she hit the big leagues. All three times, I mustered a good, cathartic cry, especially in showstoppers like Defying Gravity, an anthem for the theater-loving millennial that culminates the definitive first act and sees Elphaba in flight for the first time (literally, she flies onstage!) and putting those flying monkeys to shame. And then, there’s the tear-jerking duet “For Good” towards the end of the second act where the two witches (read: bitches who eventually become best friends) bid each other their emotional farewell.

While the musical never won the Tony for “Best Musical” as it was up against Avenue Q the year it was nominated, it won the hearts of Broadway and non-Broadway babies the world over, playing sold-out venues in the West End and theaters around the world (The Japanese version of Wicked is a trip on YouTube).

Imagine my excitement when it was leaked by Broadway World Philippines that the megalith musical was finally coming to our shores - moving mechanical dragon on proscenium, Swarovski-encrusted costumes, flying machine, and all. The enablers: Lunchbox Theatrical Productions (the group behind C.A.T.S. and Phantom of the Opera), David Atkins Enterprises, 105.9 Radio High, and Concertus in association with WICKED Worldwide.

Based on the groundbreaking novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked is the wonderful re-imagining of the stories and characters by L. Frank Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” It is the untold tale of the Witches of Oz, long before Dorothy drops in from Kansas and stirs things up with her ruby slippers.

Where the Wicked Witch of the West is a magically-inclined crusader for animal rights, Glinda the Good is a know-it-all whose popularity may possibly exceed that of One Direction’s, and the Wizard is not who you expected him to be, Wicked features a breathtaking musical score by Stephen Schwartz (composer of Godspell and Pippin) and production value that will make you turn green with envy – pun intended. Picture this: 200 costumes designed by Tony Award winner Susan Hilferty, a set by Tony Award winner Eugene Lee that features a myriad of moving parts and flying effects, basically standards by which musicals are done in the 21^st century, as mentioned by Julie Andrews in the documentary “Broadway: The American Musical.”

Wicked is that gem of a musical that harkens back to the grandiose spectacles of the Ziegfeld Follies yet moves forward with modernity but keeps to the mind the brain, heart, and courage that kept us spellbound in our youth.

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Wicked will be shown at the CCP Main Theater, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City and will open January 22, 2014 for a limited season only. For tickets, call Ticketworld at 891-9999 and visit www.wickedthemusical.com.ph or www.facebook.com/wickedmanila.