We are all familiar with the story of The Wizard of Oz. The story of Dorothy who was brought in the mysterious land of Oz when a tornado flew their house in Kansas. In Oz, Dorothy met the wizard who promised to bring her back to Kansas if she can kill the Wicked Witch. Dorothy with her dog, Toto, and some friends she met - the Tinman, the Lion and the Scarecrow - went on a journey to find the witch and try to catch her so that she can go back home. In the end, Dorothy killed the witch by throwing a bucket of water.
The wizard of Oz has his own story as well. Last year, the movie Oz The Great and Powerful was released. it was a movie about how the wizard was brought to Oz. The wizard is just an ordinary man with no powers however he was able to trick the people of Oz that he was the prophesied hero.
Have you ever wondered about the story of the wicked witch of the west? The witch that was killed by Dorothy. Everyone has his own story to tell and the wicked witch of the west of course has her own story. In 1995, Gregory Maguire wrote the book Wicked which is a parallel story of L. Frank Baum's novel The Wizard of Oz. In Wicked, the witch of the west has a name. Her name was Elphaba. Gregory Maguire took the name from the initial of the L. Frank Baum.
Aside from being a book, the Wicked is a renowned Broadway musical. After I read the book, I promised myself to watch Wicked whenever opportunity comes. Luckily, the Australian group that is performing Wicked came into Manila. Wicked is being shown at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) since January 22, 2014. Fanatics even wear costumes on its gala night.
The theater was awesome! They had lots of special effects to ensure the viewers will really feel the enchantment of Oz. There are smokes and the changing of lights go well with every scene. I was so concentrated in watching the show that I didn't notice that the first scene before the break was already one hour and half. The last song before the break was Defying Gravity. After the song was performed I tried to stopped myself from already giving it a standing ovation.
Every song receives an big applause from the audience but it was the Defying Gravity performance which received a loud applause from the audience. The feeling was unexplained especially when Elphaba started to elevate herself while singing.
The most favorite character aside from Elphaba was Glinda. The friend of Elphaba who was at first dislike her. Glinda has a shallow and self-centered personality. Even if with this character you will love how the actress delivered it on stage. Glinda has lots of funny antics that makes the crowd smile and laugh. But this antics are what I call intellectual humor.
Jemma Rix plays the role of Elphaba while Suzie Mathers plays the role of Glinda. Both has very good and powerful voice that it seems that they can reach the high notes without any difficulty. As expected, the audience gave the cast of Wicked a standing ovation and a long and loud applause.
I was surprised that a lot of Filipino watched Wicked. Me and my sister was very complacent that we did not bough tickets ahead of time thinking that only few will watch it. But I was surprised that seats almost went out and they even extended the show until March 9.
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