Who is Wicked?

While my daughter GW and I were in LA a couple of weeks ago we went to see Wicked:The Untold Story of The Witches of Oz at the Pantages Theater. It happened that John Rubenstein was performing his last night in his role as The Wizard of Oz. John directed my brother Geoff Cowan's play Top Secret: The Battle For The Pentagon Papers, so we got to go back stage after the show, which you can imagine was great for all of us, but what a super birthday present for my ten year old daughter. 

GW and John Rubenstein backstage at the Pantages Theater, LA. 2008. GW is a huge polar bear supporter and raises money for The World Wildlife Fund.

I adored the book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maquire when it first came out in 1995. The show didn't disappoint. We've been listening to the score non stop since we came home. One of the biggest hits of the show is the song Popular. Sung by Kristin Chenewith in the orginal cast album, the lyrics are hauntingly true right now. Not strange since Wicked is political satire. Among other things.

In Wicked the truth is that the Wicked Witch isn't wicked. She's green, she's different and she's a political agitator. Galinda, her roommate at school, starts off being narcissistic, vain, shallow and not particularly good. Through her friendship with Alphaba (the wicked witch) she is redeemed. The villian, however, is The Wizard. Under his dictatorship he has silenced the Animals - the animals who have the power of speech and rational thought. And he is winning. Why? Because the people of Oz don't understand what he is doing. Remember, "Pay No Attention To the Man Behind The Curtain" in the movie? Pay attention only to the illusion - Oz The Mighty. Don't notice that in fact he is a calculating, manipulative, small minded, evil human. (not in the film or the original books, but in Wicked.)

Galinda, the blond, narcissistic, aristocratic ditz, sings to Alphaba:

When I see depressing creatures
With unprepossessing features
I remind them on their own behalf
To think of
Celebrated heads of state or
Specially great communicators.
Did they have brains or knowledge?
Don't make me laugh!

They were popular! Please -
It's all about popular!
It's not about aptitude
It's the way you're viewed
So it's very shrewd to be
Very very popular
Like me!

Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz

Is this what we're seeing with Sarah Impalem' and John McShame? You bet! Including silencing The Animals - human and otherwise. In Wicked the witches defeated evil. Here, it's up to us.