Jeanna de Waal and Christine Dwyer (photo credit: Joan Marcus)
WICKED, THROUGH AND THOUGH
Brush up on your Frank L. Baum and watch the power
joel fishbane
Brush up on your Frank L. Baum before going to see Wicked, the Broadway sensation which has just rolled into Montreal. After taking New York by storm a few years back, the show is enjoying a healthy afterlife, with its own rabid fanbase and a pop-infused score that has become standard fare for musical theatre auditions across the land. The touring company has proved to be in fine shape to show Montrealers what the fuss is about: this Wicked remains a splashy, sensational and effective production of a generally powerful piece of musical theatre.
The show’s clever plot serves as prequel (and interquel, if you want to get specific) to The Wizard of Oz, delivering a behind-the-scenes look at the Wicked Witch of the West and the politics of the Emerald City. It’s the years before Dorothy Gale hit the Yellow Brick Road and young Elphaba (Christine Dwyer) is sent to Shiz University, where she meets the pompous Glinda (Jeanna de Waal) before raising the ire of the Wizard after she becomes a political activist hell-bent on securing equality for the Animals of Oz (and yes, that’s Animals with a capital A).
