Last weekend I travelled to Sydney with Elly Spiteri and Annie Spiteri to watch Wicked at the Lyric Theatre in Sydney
(and if you haven’t heard the news, Wicked is coming to the Regent Theatre in Melbourne next March)
Next to Hamilton, Wicked is my all-time favourite musical, and a great example of how a fantasy story reflects life.
Wicked covers such a broad range of themes such as bullying, friendship, diversity, politics, animal welfare, corrupt leaders, propaganda, and terrorism, but the most key messages - there is always two sides to every story.
For years Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz) has been portrayed as the most-evil of evil characters who terrorized Oz.
Wicked gives a completely different perspective on who in the story is really the not-so-good characters.
Best described by the Wizard himself when Elphaba challenges his integrity:
“Elphaba, where I'm from, we believe all sorts of things that aren't true. We call it "history”
A man's called a traitor or liberator, A rich man's a thief or philanthropist
Is one a crusader or ruthless invader? It's all in which label is able to persist
There are precious few at ease, With moral ambiguities
So we act as though they don't exist”
Spoiler alert: In Wicked, Elphaba’s crusade is to save the animals who are being victimized by the Wizard.
Interesting fact: Margaret Hamilton, who played the original Wicked Witch in Wizard of Oz was a strong animal activist!
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