Wicked Songs: Dancing Through Life

Wicked is a story that studies the evolution of characters. Characteristics displayed at the beginning of the musical are either enhanced or removed as the deeper layers of the characters are revealed. In the case of some, whimsical follies turn into morbid flaws, in the case of others the whimsical follies remain there, but become more transparent to reveal the deeper person on the inside. And, in the case of some, the character is so deeply complex that we are not sure where the flaws end and the strength of character begins. All this is told through the songs of the musical. And no character is more charming at the beginning than that of Fiyero, whose devil-may-care attitude on life h as gotten him in a great deal of trouble in the past.

As the character is introduced during the beginning scenes of the first act, we discover a boy who simply wants to have fun. He sings:

“Dancing through life
Skimming the surface
Gliding where the turf is smooth
Life’s more painless
For the brainless
Why think too hard?”

And we wonder if this young man actually has much of anything upstairs, until we realize that in order for him to actually philosophize about these things he must actually have at least a few brain cells that rub together. But what happens to Fiyero later on in the story? If you do not already know then don’t look here, get Wicked tickets and find out! This is a fantastic musical that has been the hottest topic on Broadway for the past year, and is still growing in popularity.

Posted in Uncategorized on February 24, 2009

Leave a comment