I can't speak for everyone, but
Wicked is a problematic show. Mind you, this is coming from someone who really enjoyed it, but it did take me some time to warm up to it.
Some of the problems that I see with it (again, this is coming from someone who does like the show. Also bear in mind that it's just my opinion:
1. The music is less than spectacular at times. Both of the Wizard's songs are so damn boring and repetitive, for example.
2. The lyrics. Many are cliche-ridden. For example, in "Defying Gravity" (which itself is a cliched expression), could Schwartz really think of no other rhyme in the final verse but "I'm flying high"?
Or "Finally for this one night/I'm about to have a fun night." It repeats what Nessarose just said to Elphaba, and it's a horrible horrible lyric.
"Nothing matters, but knowing nothing matters/" What does that even mean? Whether or not it ties into the next line ("It's just life, so keep dancing through"), it's a fragmented thought that is never finished and makes no sense.
3. With all the trouble they went through come up with Ozified expressions and words("Confusifying," "definish"), methinks Winnie and Stevie often forgot that they were creating a different world. Why, for example, does Elphaba sing "Heaven knows" in "I'm not that Girl"? Does Oz have the same Judeo-Christian concept of heaven and hell that we do? Most likely not (certainly not in the source material), so it's a jarring use of a word that really doesn't fit within the context of the show.
3. The book (Maguire's not the book of the musical) made a valiant effort to adhere to the Oz we knew from the original Baum book and the movie. The musical steers itself quite off-course in Act Two, most notably with he origins of The Scarecrow and the Tin Man, most notably with the Scarecrow. In both Baum's book and the film, the Scarecrow is appointed the Wizard's successor. I wish the stage production had stayed more true to the established "facts" of Oz that were originally laid out in the original book and movie.
***SPOILER ALERT***
4. The ending. It's a cop-out and, as someone (I forget who) pointed out on this board, the show is robbed of a lot of poignancy by having Elphaba live.
***END SPOILER***
As for the fans being the cause of so much backlash, I just have to shrug at that. Rabid, monolithic fans of any show should give you pause, and I don't think the Wicked-heads (is that the expression) are any worse than some other show's fans.
As I said, I can't speak for everyone and this list is by no means comprehensive, but these are some of the flaws I found within the show, and that's from someone who still think it's pretty damn entertaining. It just appears that a lot of it has been constructed in a slip-shod manner, and that's a shame. It could have been ten times better than it actually is.
(Edited to add a Spoiler Alert)
"How do you like THAT 'misanthropic panache,' Mr. Goldstone?" - PalJoey
Updated On: 6/16/05 at 07:34 PM
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