A ‘Wicked’ time on Broadway


By Lauren Varga

With $15 and my Rider I.D. in my back pocket I headed to the Bart Luedeke Center. Tickets for the hit Broadway musical Wicked were to go on sale at 11 a.m. At 10:45 a.m. the line was 23 students deep, and I sighed with relief that I had arrived early.

On Thursday, Jan. 25, students took a trip to New York to see Wicked on Broadway for only $15, courtesy of the Student Entertainment Council (SEC). The price also included transportation to the Big Apple.|

Stop-and-go traffic never seemed so exciting; with every inch forward I was on my way to see my first Broadway show — ever. And what a good show to see for my first experience.

At 7:40 p.m., our bus pulled up in front of Gershwin Theater. With extreme excitement, I made my way into the theater and to my seat. From the worker who scanned my ticket to the usher who showed me to my seat, everyone seemed as ecstatic as myself.

The basis behind Wicked is to give a clear picture of the incidents leading up to the death of Elphaba. The audience also learns of how the tin man, scarecrow and lion came to be. The mini-plots within the main storyline made the performance more interesting and also added a comical twist.

As the lights went down and orchestra music filled the theater, I knew this would be a show to remember. Glinda, otherwise known as the Good Witch, is played by Kendra Kassebaum; her voice is the first the audience hears — and what a voice. Not knowing any of the words or being familiar with the show’s soundtrack can sometimes make it hard to understand lyrics because of a singer’s vocals or because of the loud orchestra music. However, I was impressed with the clarity and sharpness of Kassebaum’s voice.

The actors changed the image of the Wicked Witch during the two-hour show with their first-class performances. The characters were sincere, especially Elphaba, to the point where one felt sorry for the Wicked Witch and was angry with Glinda’s eventual betrayal.

Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, played by Julia Murney, performs with Glinda in multiple duets throughout the show. Their voices mix wonderfully with each other. In fact, the two actresses were so in tune with one another it was hard to differentiate between the two characters at times. But again, the clarity of their vocals and pronunciation of words made it easy for the audience to identify the characters based on the lyrics they sang.

Glinda played the stereotypical blonde as the script directs her to. In fact, during the song “What Is This Feeling?” Elphaba is writing a letter to her parents and describes Glinda as simply, blonde. Glinda continues to round out her “blonde” character by making up her own words and having ditzy moments.
Laughter was not missing from the performance. From Glinda’s “blonde” moments to the comedic differences between her and Elphaba, both actresses ensured the crowd was kept in hysterics. Elphaba’s sarcastic comments also resulted in laughs from the audience. Although their characters are polar opposites, both Elphaba and Glinda have the full package.

Lighting is an important aspect of this show. One thing that stood out was the green spotlight used on Elphaba. The performer was colored in a green make-up but the green spotlight really added to her image. Other lighting helped the audience focus downstage on a soloist, while upstage other performers changed the scenery. Before the audience members knew it, the next scene was before them.

The set design is both unique and creative. The stage is shaped like a clock’s gears while upstage is a board designed as a full clock. The reverse side of the clock panel is the face of Oz, which moves and is incredibly lifelike.

Special effects were very much a part of the show, which helped the audience feel as if it was directly involved with all the action. Flying monkeys soar through the air on strings, Glinda is brought down and raised up in a pendulum, which symbolizes her bubble, and rain falls from the sky, but not literally. It was a special effect — a very good special effect.

Although I paid only $15 to see the performance, I’d pay the going rate for Wicked on Broadway any day. If you haven’t seen it, you should, because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And when SEC sponsors its next trip to Broadway, get in line early so you get a chance to experience the excitement.