Sorry to steal the quote from the famous amphibious philosopher, but I couldn't think of a better title. M* and I had the opportunity to see Wicked, a musical "prequel" to the Wizard of Oz. Normally, I thought musicals were simple, light entertainment. Nothing to make you think, nothing to push the boundaries, nothing but a nice, warm and fuzzy story sung with show tunes. This is probably why I was so impressed with Wicked. It had it's joyous moments, but many sad, nuanced and intelligent moments that made me respect musicals a great deal more. This was the first musical I found truly satisfying.
Wicked, based on a book by Gregory Maguire, offers a more sympathetic view of the Wicked Witch of the West. She was the basic run-of-the-mill the evil villain in Wizard of Oz, but the musical gives an explanation how she came to be. Did she have parents? A childhood? How did she grow up? She even was given a name in the musical (Elphaba). The musical serves as a little biography of that misunderstood green woman.
(Spoiler Alert! Plot details ahead.)
I was surprised at how well the musical worked on so many levels. M* really enjoyed Glinda's character where we watched her grow up from being a ditzy blonde (a la Clueless) to being the polished Good Witch of the North. I was taken by the unfortunate upbringing of Elphaba and her struggle to do what's right (perhaps I'm a sucker for sad stories). But I'm sure others would be taken with the token love story, while others would relate to the musical's statements on governments that rule by fear.
Despite the fact that the songs were rather generic (with the exception of "Popular" and "Defying gravity"), and that the second act was much weaker than the first, the underlying story was more than strong enough to compensate. All in all, I was much more statistfied by this musical than Rent or Phantom of the Opera. Highly recommended.
