What is some background information on wicked the musical?

Answer 1

The musical Wicked is based upon a novel of the same name, which might be described as a revisionist history of the land of Oz. It shows that while the movie we all know and love has depicted the Wicked Witch of the West as the villain of the story, it was really the Wizard of Oz who was the villain, and the supposedly Wicked Witch of the West who was the heroine, much misunderstood. On the whole, it is a rather dark story, no longer a lighthearted tale for children.

Answer 2

Wicked is based on a Gregory McGuire book of the same name. Stephen Schwartz acquired the stage rights in 1998 after meeting with McGuire. Working with Winnie Holzman, Schwartz took a year to develop the plot. The book, lyrics and score were then written through a series of developmental readings.

Answer 3

Wicked is about the witches of Oz before Dorothy arrives.

The play begins with Glinda confirming the death of the wicked witch. She then explains how Elphaba's(Wicked witch of the west) mother cheated on her husband, the governor of Munchkinland, with a traveling merchant who kept drinking "Green elixir". Elphaba's mother then gives birth to a green baby and her father hates it. Then Glinda is about to leave, when someone asks if Glinda and Elphaba were friends. Glinda replies that they were friends in college, and a flashback starts.

Now at Shiz University, Galinda is popular and very ditzy. She is gloating about having her own room. Elphaba is there too, but people are creeped out by her green skin. Nessarose, Elphaba's disabled sister, is there as well. Just as they enter, Nessa's father gives Nessa a pair of silver jeweled shoes, but he only tells Elphaba to watch after Nessa. The head of Shiz appears and Galinda tells her she applied to her sorcery seminar, but Morrible doesn't seem to care. Instead she goes over to Nessa and tells her that she is rooming with her. This upsets Elphaba. Meanwhile, Galinda is saying to a group of friends how she doesn't think Morrible read her essay. She raises her hand to ask a question, just as Morrible asks the students who will room with Elphaba. Morrible gets mixed up and thinks Galinda is offing to room with Elphaba. Elphaba gets mad that she cannot room with Nessa, and pulls her sisters wheel chair to her from across the room. Morrible is impressed and invites Elphaba to join her seminar and that if she does good, she can meet the Wizard. Elphaba has always wanted to meet the Wizard.

In history class, the teacher Doctor Dilamond, who is a goat, is teaching when he turns over the blackboard to show in big letters, "Animals should be seen, not heard" He dismisses the class, but Elphaba stays. There, he explains that all the animals are regressing and becoming not able to talk. Elphaba now wants to go to the Wizard to let him know of the trouble with the animals.

On campus, a new boy named Fiyero arrives. He is a Winkie Prince, and has gotten kicked out of every school he has attended. He describes himself as brainless. Galinda falls for him, but Elphaba hates him. He plans a big party for the school to attend. Boq, a munchkin, asks Galinda to go with him, because he has a major crush on her. Galinda wants to go wth Fiyero, so she tells Boq to go ask Nessa. He does. Nessa believes that Boq is the one and that they were made for each other. Nessa wants to do something nice for Galinda, because she was the one who set them up. So Elphaba goes to Galinda to tell her, but ends up getting a very pointy black hat to wear to the party from Galinda.

At the party, everyone is having fun. Morrible shows up and tells Galinda that she is in her seminar now. He roommate requested she she put her in. Elphaba shows up to the dance with the hat on, and begins dancing terribly while everyone stares at her. Galinda, feeling bad for Elphaba having embarrassed her, joins that dance. Soon everyone is dancing.

After the party, the girls go back to their room. Galinda is excited about Elphaba's first party. She nicknames her Elphie. Then Galinda suggests they tell each other a secret. Galinda reveals that her and Fiyero are getting married, but he doesn't know it yet. Then Galinda notices the green bottle Elphaba sleeps with under her pillow and asks about it. Elphaba tells her the bottle was her mothers. After Nessa was born, her mother died. To prevent Nessa from being green, their father made their mother chew milkflower all the time. The Milkflower killed her mother and made Nessa come to soon with her legs tangled up. Elphaba thinks Nessa is the way she is becuase of her. Galinda tells her its not. Then, Galinda decites to make- over Elphie and teach her to be popular.

Back in history, Elphie runs into Fiyero and does what Galinda told her to do. Fiyero says she was been Galindafiyed. Dr. Dilimond walks in and says it is his last day as a teacher. He has been replaced with someone else. A scientist walks in and displays a new device to keep animals from talking. It's a cage. In it is a terrified lion cub. Elphaba tells Fiyero they should do something about it. She gets mad, and shows off her powers again. She and Fiyero run off with the lion cub. Fiyero goes to release it somewhere safe, and the two of them realize they kind of like each other. After Elphie admits her love for him to herself, Morribe appears and tells Elphie she was been invited to go see the Wizard in the Emerald City.

At the train station, everyone says goodbye. Galinda seems the most upset. She says that she doesn't even know Fiyero anymore. He has changed, but she still loves him. Fiyero then shows up to give Elphie flowers and say goodbye. They talk a bit about Dilamind, and, caught up in the moment, Galinda changes her name to Glinda, because Dilamind always pronounced it that way. Without the A. Nessa and Boq say goodbye too. Elphie then invites Glinda to the Emerald City to see the Wizard with her.

At the Wizard, Elphie tests her powers on a monkey by reading from a book of spells no one could before and giving him wings, but it is revealed that a bunch of monkey's were turned winged monkey's. The Wizard and Morrible want to use them as spies. Realizing that the Wizard and Morrible were behind the whole animal controversy, Elphie runs away with the spell book. Morrible tells the town there is a "Wicked Witch" on the loose and other lies.

Act two begins months later. Fiyero is the captain of the guards, determined to find Elphie, Morrible is press secretary, and Glinda is a big public figure now. Glinda surprises Fiyero with an engagement, which he accepts. Then, they tell the people to stop worrying about the Witch and just celebrate. Fiyero takes Glinda aside and tells her he can't stand hearing these lies about Elphie. Glinda agrees, but assures him that Elphie doesn't want to be found. Fiyero also confirmed he will marry Glinda.

Elphie revisits her house to see her father. There, she finds Nessa, still in a wheelchair. Elphie tells her she needs fathers help, but Nessa says father died of shame when he heard what Elphie did, so Nessa is the governor now. Nessa also says that Elphie goes around helping animals and not her sister. That's when Elphie realizes she can help Nessa. She takes out her spell book and casts a spell. Nessa's feet begin to burn. She lifts up her skirt to reveal the sliver shoes her father gave her are now red. Nessa gets up from her chair and walks. She calls Boq, who is acting like her servant, in. She hides, and Boq comes in to find Elphie. He tells her what Nessa is doing. She stripped the Munchkins of their rights. She is a ruthless ruler, which earned her the name the Wicked Witch Of The East. Nessa appears in her chair and explains she did it so Boq would stay with her. Then she reveals she can walk. Boq admits that he is leaving and his heart belongs to Glinda. Nessa gets mad, and grabs Elphie's spell book and casts a spell. Boq feels his heart shrinking and falls in Nessa's chair. Elphie casts another spell to bring Boq back, but he wakes up being made out of tin. He runs out of the house in terror.

Elphaba goes back to the Wizard to try can stop him, but he convinces Elphie to join him and have everyone in Oz love her. She agrees, but only if he lets the winged monkey's go. After he does it, Elphie notices one more under a sheet. The Wizard tells Elphie not to pull it, but she does. Under it, it reveals Dr. Dilamond. All he is doing is Baing like a goat. Elphie denies joining the Wizard. Dilamond runs away, and the guards, including Fiyero, run it. Glinda comes in as well, and Fiyero tells her he loves Elphaba not her. They run away. Glidna is heartbroken. She reveals that Elphie is attached to her sister and if she were in danger, Elphie would come running and they would catch her. The Wizard offers Glinda a drink from his green bottle, but she refuses. Glinda leaves, and Morrible, having her special power be weather, creates a tornado.

Elphie and Fiyero run into a forest and admit their love for each other. Elphie has a feeling Nessa is in trouble. She sees a house in the sky, but Fiyero see's nothing. Elphie is about to run, but Fiyero stops her. He wants go along, but she says it is too dangerous. Fiyero tells Elphie she can hide in his family's castle. There are trap doors and everything perfect for hiding. Elphie agrees to go and runs off.

In Munchkinland, Glinda is seen giving directions to someone off stage. She then picks up some flowers and mourns Nessa. Elphaba appears and claims she wanted something to remember Nessa by, and all she had were the shoes. Glinda and Elphaba get into a cat fight, but it is broken up by the guards. Elphie realizes this was a set up. Fiyero comes in to save the day, saying if they do not let Elphie go, he will kill Glinda. They let Elphie go, and she runs away. The guards punish Fiyero by putting him on a post in a cornfield and beating him up until he told them where Elphie went. Elphie believes she let Fiyero die, so she casts a spell to heal him and make him never die or feel pain.

Meanwhile, the townsfolk put together a mob to kill the witch. Boq, i.e the Tin Man, says Elphie turned him tin, and make the cowardly lion scared by letting him go from his cage when he was young. He said if she never did that, he wold have learned to fight his own battles. But they are lies. The townsfolk go to kill the witch. Elphaba is in her castle, holding Dorothy captive until she gets the shoes. Glinda appears and warns Elphaba of the trouble. Then, Elphaba's monkey, Chistery, hands her a note saying Fiyro had died. She gives up. Then she and Glinda say their last goodbyes, and reveal that the two of them changed each others lives. They would not be the same without each other. Elphie tells Glinda not to try and clear her name. From behind a curtain, you can see the scene of the witch melting. Chistery pulls the curtain back, and all that is left is black robes, a hat, and a green bottle. Glinda picks up the green bottle and is shocked.

Back at the Wizard's, it is revealed that Dorothy and the gang have been there and get what they wanted. Glinda comes in and says she has only seen one other bottle like this(green one) in her life and it was here at the Wizards. She said that the bottle was Elphaba's mothers. The Wizard realizes that Elpahba was his daughter. Glinda is so upset, she tells the Wizard to leave Oz and never return. She also commands that Morrible be arrested.

The scarecrow walks on and bends down, opens a trap door, and Elphaba comes out. She has not died, but hid inside a trap door instead. Fiyero(The scarecrow) and Elphie plan to run away together. While the two prepare to leave, Glinda is telling the town about how she will be Glinda the Good and try to help next time there is a big problem. Elphie and Fiyero are about to leave, but Elphie says she wish Glinda could know she is alive. Fiyero tells her she can't, not if they want to be safe. They leave oz, and the town continues to celebrate the death of the witch.

Sorry if this was long. A lot happens in this musical lol. :) It's a fantastic musical though. There are more scenes and stuff I left out because they aren't that important.