2008 Woodie Awards
A 'Wicked'ly wonderful time
Donald Woodard
Issue date: 12/16/05 Section: Tempo
- Page 1 of 1
Everyone knows the story of the Wizard of Oz. The major characters like the Wizard of Oz, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, the Wicked Witch of the West and the story of the little girl named Dorothy from Kansas who arrives in Oz via a house caught in the middle of a tornado is all a part of classic American cinema and literature.
What audiences never learn is the story behind the characters that inhabit Oz. The play Wicked, which is presently playing on Broadway in Chicago, attempts to tell the story of the main characters of Oz and how things became complicated by the time Dorothy has her unexpectant visit.
Wicked centers around two main characters Glinda, the Good Witch of the East (Kate Reinders) and Elphaba (Ana Gastyer of SNL fame), the Wicked Witch of the West The play takes you through the fictional land of Oz before the two have become their more infamous selves. It leads the viewer through the world according to Elphaba and Glinda who are mere high school students throughout most of the play.
The story of Oz is beautifully done, tying all characters from the original version to the characters and times of the play Wicked. Any questions that you may have had when watching the original Wizard of Oz will be answered as audiences learn why central characters of the original are so important, including the back stories and transformations of the Cowardly Lion and what happened to make him so Cowardly, the true story behind the Tin Man and his obvious lack of heart, how, when, and why the scarecrow lost his brain, how exactly those devious monkey's gained the power to fly, and the truth behind the not so Wicked Witch of the West and the not so Good Witch of the East. The play also develops new characters that are central to the story well enough that the viewer forgets all about the tales from the original and truly sees the world of Oz in a new light.
The sheer popularity of the play has never been seen in the history of theater. The play has been performed in front of countless numbers of sold out crowds in both New York and Chicago (running at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts since April 29th of this year) and is still featured in cities across the country. It has already topped 110 million in record sales since its opening night in New York two years ago. There is also talk that it will become the flagship show for Broadway in Chicago very similar to the way that Cats was in New York.
The play features production by one of the best staffs in the business. It was written by Winnie Holzman, who garnered much acclaim for her work on several projects in both Television and theater including Emmy nominations for My So Called Life and Thirty Something.
Directing the play is Joe Mantello, a man of growing status in the theater world due to Tony Awards for his work on both Assassins and Take Me Out. Also, included in the production staff of the play, is Stephen Schwartz who contributed the music and lyrics for the play and multi-Tony Award winner Tony Cilento on musical staging.
Tickets are on sale at the Ford Center for Performing Arts, which is located on the corner of State and Randolph in Chicago or through Ticketmaster.
The play is a must see. Whether you are a fan of the theater, it is guranteed to entertain you.
What audiences never learn is the story behind the characters that inhabit Oz. The play Wicked, which is presently playing on Broadway in Chicago, attempts to tell the story of the main characters of Oz and how things became complicated by the time Dorothy has her unexpectant visit.
Wicked centers around two main characters Glinda, the Good Witch of the East (Kate Reinders) and Elphaba (Ana Gastyer of SNL fame), the Wicked Witch of the West The play takes you through the fictional land of Oz before the two have become their more infamous selves. It leads the viewer through the world according to Elphaba and Glinda who are mere high school students throughout most of the play.
The story of Oz is beautifully done, tying all characters from the original version to the characters and times of the play Wicked. Any questions that you may have had when watching the original Wizard of Oz will be answered as audiences learn why central characters of the original are so important, including the back stories and transformations of the Cowardly Lion and what happened to make him so Cowardly, the true story behind the Tin Man and his obvious lack of heart, how, when, and why the scarecrow lost his brain, how exactly those devious monkey's gained the power to fly, and the truth behind the not so Wicked Witch of the West and the not so Good Witch of the East. The play also develops new characters that are central to the story well enough that the viewer forgets all about the tales from the original and truly sees the world of Oz in a new light.
The sheer popularity of the play has never been seen in the history of theater. The play has been performed in front of countless numbers of sold out crowds in both New York and Chicago (running at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts since April 29th of this year) and is still featured in cities across the country. It has already topped 110 million in record sales since its opening night in New York two years ago. There is also talk that it will become the flagship show for Broadway in Chicago very similar to the way that Cats was in New York.
The play features production by one of the best staffs in the business. It was written by Winnie Holzman, who garnered much acclaim for her work on several projects in both Television and theater including Emmy nominations for My So Called Life and Thirty Something.
Directing the play is Joe Mantello, a man of growing status in the theater world due to Tony Awards for his work on both Assassins and Take Me Out. Also, included in the production staff of the play, is Stephen Schwartz who contributed the music and lyrics for the play and multi-Tony Award winner Tony Cilento on musical staging.
Tickets are on sale at the Ford Center for Performing Arts, which is located on the corner of State and Randolph in Chicago or through Ticketmaster.
The play is a must see. Whether you are a fan of the theater, it is guranteed to entertain you.
