Wicked returned to Columbus this week 15 years after it debuted in Ohio’s capital. While the now-classic musical may be more familiar to fans than it was in 2007, Wicked still captures all the magic of Oz.
Playing to a crowded house on Thursday night, the touring cast delivered on fans expectations. Flying monkeys, munchkins, animal professors and the great and terrible Oz all aid in transporting the audience to a land far from any midwestern state – be it Kansas or Ohio. But it’s the black-and-pink dichotomy between lead actresses - Jennafer Newberry as Glinda and Lissa deGuzman as Elphaba – that really steals the show.
The show takes root from a 1995 novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory Maguire that aims to fill in the blanks of the original villain from L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, published in 1900 and made into an iconic film in 1939.
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In Wicked, the witch is given a name – Elphaba – and a backstory that opens her to more generous interpretations. Want to know how the Witch of the East wound up under Dorothy’s house? Or why the Witch of the West left the tin man, lion and scarecrow in their states at the start of the original story? The answers are here.
At the Columbus tour stops, the high-rising stage setup fills much of the Ohio Theatre’s space. That accommodates Glinda’s floating bubble, climbing monkeys and one of the musical’s most stunning moments when Elphaba first learns to defy gravity with her broomstick amid a kaleidoscope of lights.
The two leads deliver strong performances. deGuzman’s Elphaba plays as a clearly uncomfortable social outcast while Newberry fully sells the disgustingly sweet range of Glinda’s character. The love interest of the two ladies, gets a hunky Disney prince treatment from Jordan Litz – a former Walt Disney World performer, along with Newberry.
Wicked runs through June 5 at the Ohio Theatre. Purchase tickets and find more information here.
Cameron Carr is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at ccarr@cityscenemediagroup.com.
