‘Wicked’ as lovable and provocative as ever in Bay Area return.
Hit musical born in the Bay Area returns to cast its magic spell
If everything we knew is a lie, the secret has been out for quite some time now. The hit Broadway musical “Wicked,” which Broadway San Jose has brought to the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts for a few weeks, famously upturns the story of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and its many sequels and adaptations (especially the famous 1939 movie), from the point of view of the much misunderstood Wicked Witch of the West. It’s pretty rare that a touring musical pops through Broadway San Jose for more than a few days, but “Wicked” isn’t just any musical. It’s not just a smash hit that’s propelled several performers to stardom, but it has strong Bay Area roots. “Wicked” premiered at the Curran theater in San Francisco in 2003 before heading off to Broadway that year, where it’s been running ever since. For that matter, this second national “Munchkinland” tour now in San Jose has been on the road for 10 years itself. And to borrow the title of one of its best songs, hoo boy is it “Popular,” enough so that it wouldn’t be all that surprising if some youngsters know this version better than the source material it’s subverting. With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (“Pippin,” “Godspell”) and libretto by Winnie Holzman (creator of TV’s “My So-Called Life”), “Wicked” is based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire, who followed it up with a steady stream of sequels and other revisionist histories of characters from fairy tales and children’s classics. It’s easy to see the appeal. “Wicked” is an awfully engaging story with fun characters and plenty of humor, even if most of the traditional “good guys” are disturbingly sinister here. The design is dynamic with a lot of steampunk touches, especially Eugene Lee’s terrific clockwork set that’s dominated, for no particular reason aside from looking cool, by a mechanical dragon atop the faux proscenium. Susan Hilferty’s costumes add a fine touch of the fanciful and the grotesque, combined with the towering architecture of Tom Watson’s hair and wig design. Even though the show runs nearly three hours, Broadway director Joe Mantello’s production is lively, with some vibrant musical staging by Wayne Cilento. Schwartz’s songs are fairly bland with a few exceptions, such as Glinda’s bubbly “Popular” and the Wizard’s cabaret-style “Wonderful,” but they’re delivered with considerable gusto, especially our heroine’s big number “Defying Gravity.” The orchestra, a mix of touring and local musicians conducted by Adam B. McDonald, does a fine job navigating the often plodding score. Mariand Torres has a powerful voice and a sympathetic air of introversion as “Wicked Witch” Elphaba (her name is inspired by Baum’s initials), a green-skinned misfit with a natural aptitude for magic, generally shunned by her peers. Erin Mackey proves an excellent foil for her as Glinda, her perky, popular and superficial natural opposite and unlikely friend. The whole ballgame depends on those two strong performances, and Torres and Mackey certainly come through. Jason Graae is also a standout as the duplicitously amiable and folksy Wizard. Curt Hansen is amusingly preening as self-absorbed rich wastrel Fiyero. DJ Plunkett quietly wallows in self-pity as lovelorn Munchkin Boq, well-matched with the melancholy Amanda Fallon Smith as Elphaba’s sister in a wheelchair, Nessarose. Sharon Sachs brings a fair amount of flair to the role of malapropism-spouting university headmistress Madame Morrible, and Tom Flynn carries tragic gravitas as kindly professor Doctor Dillamond, a goat in an Oz increasingly unfriendly to animals. This is a distinctly grim and cynical Oz, its corruption barely concealed by the scapegoating of manufactured enemies. In that sense, there’s something stirring about watching it again today as a parable of resistance.