Rooting for the Bad Girl

In March 2006, The Philadelphia Inquirer deemed Wicked one of the ‘Great American Musicals” of our time, a “maverick,” not only for its spectacular scenery and costumes but for its storyline as well. Without looking too deep into the plot, the basic theme that Howard Shapiro of the Inquirer staff says is that there are always two sides to a story. The show, which was set to open for a two and a half week run that April, sold out its tickets immediately.

Though today the story is even more well known, with international venues eating up the play and Gregory Maguire’s series expanding to almost four fables, audiences around the globe still can’t seem to get enough of the green girl and her bubble-floating friend. What makes this success seem even more un-natural is that the story Wicked is based off of, “The Wizard of Oz,” has cycled through generations of families for decades, retelling the same story over and over - the Wicked Witch of the West threatens to destroy Dorothy and her friends, until good resides over evil. Yet in this musical, audience’s find themselves siding with the once ‘bad’ girl of the familiar story in a turn of fate. And yet people eat it up - and continue to do so, making Wicked one of the most wildly successful musicals in a long time.

Get Wicked tickets via StubHub.

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