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Storyline: Glinda, who would ever be
known as “The Good Witch” as a result of the movie “The Wizard of Oz,” and
Elphaba, who would be known as “The Wicked Witch of the West” were, in fact,
college roommates in their youth. How that came to be, why Elphaba was
green, what the Wizard’s reign was like and how other characters from that
famous story/movie came to be a tin man, a lion and a scarecrow, is the
basis for this musical extravaganza staged as only Broadway could present
it.
Just
who is the top billed star is hard to say, for Kristin Chenoweth’s name is
farthest to the left while Idina Menzel’s is higher up. But it is Menzel
that has the more intriguing role and she makes the most of it. The show
starts strong with Chenoweth’s opening number (“No One Mourns the Wicked”)
but seems to settle into a too-lengthy period of exposition to explain the
complicated plot line to the audience. It comes back to life with Menzel’s
thrilling rendition of “The Wizard and I.” With that number she seems to
establish herself and her role as the real driver of the evening’s delights.
Names listed in the program below the title include some very well known
people doing some very good work. Joel Grey, as the Wizard, is “Wonderful”
in the song of that name. Carole Shelley is a delight as the evil Madame
Morrible. William Youmans is touching as a goat loosing his career as a
college professor and his ability to speak as a result of an evil plot. And
Norbert Leo Butz is, as he most often is, impressively distinct and
convincing in his vocals, especially “As Long As You’re Mine.”
This
score, by Stephen Schwartz sounds very much like something we would expect
from the composer/lyricist of Godspell and Pippin who
collaborated on songs for “Pocahontas” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”
They are folk-rock flavored pieces with a tendency to lushness in the
melody, pop influence in the rhythms and spirituality in the lyrics. All of
this works well for this show. Once upon a time it was also necessary to
assess whether any “hits” would emerge from a show, but it has been a long
time since Broadway shows generated hit songs - now it seems the other way
around. These numbers do have the virtue of making effective scenes for the
show and provide the cast with opportunities to shine - opportunities never
wasted by this particularly splendid cast.
Book by Winnie Holzman.
Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Directed by Joe Mantello. Musical
staging by Wayne Cilento. Music Direction by Stephen Oremus. Design: Eugene
Lee (set) Susan Hilferty (costumes) Tom Watson (hair and wigs) Alex
Lacamoire and Stephen Oremus (music arrangements) James Lynn Abbott (dance
arrangements) William David Brohn (orchestrations) Paul Rubin/ZFX, Inc
(flying effects) Kenneth Posner (lights) Elaine J. McCarthy (projections)
Tony Meola (sound). Cast: Norbert Leo Butz, Christy Candler, Kristen
Chenoweth, Michelle Federer, Christopher Fitzgerald, Joel Grey, Manuel
Herrera, Sean McCourt, Idina Menzel, Jan Neuberger, Carole Shelley, William
Youmans. |
