Why do people hate Wicked?- Page 4

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 3:11pm

The lyrics confuse the crap out of me, though. "I'd sooner buy defying gravity." What?

"I'd sooner buy defying gravity" is a direct reference to the preceding line, "It comes at much to high a cost".

And the first time I heard "Look at her, she's wicked! GET HER!" I laughed.

I never understood why people have such a problem with it. As I've said before, it's a classic mob scene. Sondheim wrote, "More hot pies! More hot! More pies! More!" Hammerstein wrote, "The vittles we et were good. You bet!" Broadway is filled with awkward chorus lyrics, some far worse than the ones in Wicked.

So serious haters, keep you comments to yourself, please. Some people really really enjoy this. But, everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

But only express them if they are the same as yours? What?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 4:12pm

The show completely misses the point of the source novel (the wicked one is good, the good one is evil) and, oh yeah,

IT CHEATS ON THE ENDING

Winnie Holzman, thou art a hack. An undeservedly wealthy, wealthy hack.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 4:16pm

I enjoy the show for what it is, but yeah, it totally strays from the novel, which I consider something of a masterpiece.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 4:24pm

To ignore the central conceit of the novel because you have a powerhouse playing Glinda is pretty unforgivable.

[angelxschunard]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 5:12pm

Matt, you've said the Sondheim thing before. We get it! That line makes me laugh because it's just so basic. It reminds me of what I tell my dog when my brother is being a douche. "Get him, Delilah! Get him!" The line is funny to me.

And I hated the book! I picked it up and got to the third chapter before I had to put it down. It was the most boring piece of crap I have ever NOT read in my life. I was bored to tears. That was the reason I saw the musical in the first place. I was like, "If they could make a musical out of THAT, then God love 'em. It must be amazing." I'm considering picking it up again and trying to get through it. I was young when I tried to read it and I wasn't really into it back then.

[Trainwreck]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 5:18pm

Most people I know who have read the NOVEL (whether they've seen the musical or not) have told me it's really awful. Never read it myself, but I know a surprising amount of people who have.

Some of the posts on the first couple of pages confuse me because I can't understand if people are talking about the BOOK or the NOVEL when they say "book". It seems to be both.

[FutureElphieEtc222]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 5:21pm

I'm sorry guys I totally didn't mean it that way at all. Actually, I'm not really sure what I meant. What my fatal attempt at a post was trying to say was it's all opinion. Really. Sorry I realize that didn't make any sense at all, sorry. I really didn't mean it that way and I apologize. I'm not really sure what I was actually trying to say:) So sorry!

[Daniel2]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 6:27pm

Generally on this site when people refer to "the book" it's probably the script of the musical.

[Soaring29]

Posted: 3/27/20 at 8:12am

I don't hate the show personally- it has a special place in my heart as it was one of the earliest contemporary shows that I discovered and enjoyed. I listened to the cast album again and again not out of obsession but out of observation, learning the show that way. One thing that I don't like about the cast album is that it cuts too much dialogue out not to mention the Wicked Witch of the East song. I think the show has a good message to it and it hits its mark reasonably well. But it is definitely vapid with a really thinly developed book. It is pretty generic in terms of character depth and general plot. The novel obviously has a lot more depth to the characters that I think the musical could have used more. It feels like it was written for the purpose of being a hit rather than to actually have a thought provoking story. The novel itself is dull with a lot of wasted moments along with too many characters but there is enough meat there to create a great story out of it, really because it is such a fantastic concept to tell the story of how the Wicked Witch of the West was actually good and she was best friends with Glinda . But it feels like Holzman and Schwartz only wanted to appeal to audiences who merely want to be entertained and oversimplified the material.

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 3/27/20 at 12:52pm

They’ve messed around with the show so much (and recycled too many cast members) that the show isn’t what it was the first five years. Last time I went I was more annoyed than anything, because it isn’t the same quality.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 3/27/20 at 1:13pm

It's like Musical Theater 101, it's basic. Most people move past it and want to see more adult things, that's all. I don't hate it, I enjoyed it for exactly what it is. Loved the book though, deeply. 

[tmdonahue]

Posted: 3/27/20 at 1:56pm

chacun à son goût

I truly disliked it--I've disliked everything Stephen Schwartz has written that I've seen*, btw--but what makes me crazy is if I'd been offered to invest in it, I would have passed it up.  Under the theory that people don't throw money away at things they don't like, I'm forced the say the show is pretty good.  Billion of dollars good.

Note that I'm 67 so new Broadway musicals are mostly not written for my demographic.

* I missed the big flops cause I don't live in NYC and didn't have an opportunity to see "Rags" or "The Magic Show" or "The Baker's Wife" and I don't go to cartoon movies.