Getting Down to the Roots of Wicked

Wicked is no doubt one of the hottest shows on Broadway, it rivals the ever-popular “Phantom of the Opera,” and millions of people flock to see the story unfold onstage every year.  But what’s behind the story of these two witches from Oz, what’s between the lines?  In an interview with theage.com.au, creator of the story, Gregory Maguire opens up as to what “Wicked” is all about.  Maguire penned the novel in 1995 and he says that he wrote it in response to his shock at the powerful propaganda employed in the lead-up to the first Gulf War.  The show doesn’t cover all of the story’s original political corruption and detail, but it’s fair to say that it follows the written word pretty closely.

He says that he choose to update L. Frank Baum’s classic tale, “The Wizard of Oz” because, “after Hitler, the Wicked Witch of the West is close second among scary archetypes to Americans.  I settled on Wicked to explore themes of personal and political morality and then, as a novel, it had a snowballing momentum of its own.”  Wicked does an excellent job of exploring the ongoing war between good and evil, themes that are not only present in a fantasy story but are just as real in the world that we are living in today.  See Wicked and observe for yourself the inner message to this interesting story.  You can purchase your pair of Wicked tickets from Stubhub.com.

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