Call me sad but I could never get too thrilled for Dorothy when she won out over the Wicked Witch of the West. Those sad little feet sticking out from under the cabin never told the whole story and there had to be more to her than that awful cackle. What motivated her? What strange combination of birth and social environment brought her to this sad end?
I really enjoyed Gregory Maguire’s acclaimed 1995 novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West because it took me back to the land of Oz, and filled a gap for me with its parallel universe to the familiar origina written by L. Frank Baum and first published as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900.
So imagine my pleasure when I went online and ordered my Wicked tickets. Wicked is to Maguire’s book what The Wizard of OZ was to Baum’s. My Wicked tickets, when they arrived in the mail, proved to be anything but wicked tickets. Rather they were Wicked tickets to a whole new world of magic, mystery and music that recaptured my childhood wonderment before the Wizard of Oz crushed it in favor of dreary Kansas.
My Wicked tickets would let me in to the incredible untold story of a fantasy friendship between two girls who first meet at Shiz University. Shades of Harry Potter and Billy Bunter I know but the age-old literary device of separating youngsters from the adult world works for me. My Wicked tickets introduced me to the beautiful, blonde and very popular Glinda and the complex, misunderstood and bright green girl, Elphaba.
My Wicked tickets let me follow these witches through an encounter with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and on to where their friendship reaches a separation point and their lives take very different paths. Glinda’s real world obsession with celebrity sees her seduced by power while Elphaba’s ‘true grit’ to remain true to herself, and to her peer group, will have surprising and disturbing consequences for her future which we know is waiting for her at the end of the rainbow. Their surreal adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfill their ultimate roles as Glinda The Good and Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West.
The advanced publicity that came with my Wicked tickets described the musical as ‘a rich and triumphant feat of imagination and allegory’, Gregory Maguire’s brilliant work ofimagination has been critically acclaimed. The entertainment press say ‘while weaving a seductive web of fantasy and fun, Maguire also manages to score serious points about the nature of being an outsider in our society’. I say, my Wicked tickets finally resolved some unfinished business from the Wizard of Oz.
Wicked lives up to its billing as a spectacle. It has won many awards as a stage adaptation, with music & lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and has become the most spellbinding and popular new musical in years. I definitely agree with the Evening Standard that Wicked tickets will pay you back with ‘a remarkable kaleidoscope of magical shocks, surprises and sensations, Wicked works like a dream.’
Lina Smith
http://www.articlesbase.com/sports-and-fitness-articles/wicked-tickets-to-a-new-world-747439.html
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