Wicked Question- Problems with it..

[Matteo]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 4:13pm

I'm POSITIVE it's been posted on here before, but I was wondering what is wrong with Wicked? I've seen it 4 times and loved it every time, but most people find something wrong with it...

I'm not asking for fangirls to come and protect it, OR for anyone to bash it.... I just would like to see what people see wrong with it so I can maybe understand it

[lisaatje009]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 4:23pm

What are you talking about? Everyone loves Wicked on this board! It's everybody's favourite show!
Updated On: 8/14/09 at 04:23 PM

[Lumen2]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 4:23pm

It's relatively simple, pop-friendly music mixed with a weak book and even weaker roles, which verge on archetypes. Not to mention Susan Hilferty's costumes are all impact with no substance.

[James885]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 4:26pm

Bad direction
Mediocre and forgettable score with a few gems
Weak book with plot holes and underdeveloped characters.


Take your pick.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 4:33pm

I actually am of the opinion that Act 1 is pretty strong and ends gloriously. Then Act 2 comes along filled with more plot holes than the Bible, and the ending, probably the biggest cheat I have ever seen in all of fiction and a huge slap in the face to the source material (Maguire, Baum, and the MGM film all included), seals its fate as a mediocre show despite its strengths.

[Matteo]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 4:36pm

What plot holes? i guess I'm just kinda confused.. :/

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 4:37pm

I've seen it 4 times and loved it every time, but most people find something wrong with it...

Lots of people fawned over Light in the Piazza, but I didn't get it. That's a difference of opinion, and it can happen to you too.

[Matteo]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 4:40pm

The last 2 times i've gone I've specifically looked for the faults that people see, and can simply not find them.... If I realized what they were, I would definitely understand it.

[TreyKenyon]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 4:41pm

Like everyone has said, overall, its a pretty mediocre show (this from a person who's seen it three times and enjoyed it every time). However, IMO it has quite a few moments that work really well (the last minute and a half of Defying Gravity for example). The reason Wicked remains the show to see is because it "wow's" a good percentage of the people who see it (myself included). But if you take away Elphaba's three songs and Popular; you've got one bland show lol

[Lumen2]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 4:44pm

Boq turning into the Tin Man...wtf was that?

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 4:45pm

All of the transformations of characters into well-known characters from Wizard of Oz made absolutely no sense. Boq made no sense, but Fiyero made even less...

[James885]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 4:55pm

Scarywarhol, you made some very good points. I think the way the ending was handled was awful and it ranks up along Rent in the category of biggest cop-out endings. The cheap Wizard of Oz references in the second act were grating and the whole oppression of the animals subplot was introduced in the first act and then never developed or resolved in the second act.

Posted: 8/14/09 at 5:00pm

The only problem with Wicked is that the theater is not big enough to hold all the people who want to see it and the money truck that drives away from the theater every day is going to wear it's tires out soon.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 5:01pm

James, I had actually COMPLETELY forgotten about the whole oppressed animals subplot! They really dropped the ball on that, as well, good point.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 5:13pm

Not everyone agrees with me, but I think they kind of copped out by making Elphaba the victim the entire time, instead of keeping her truly bad and simply fleshing her out so we understand her better.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 5:15pm

Yes it was my understanding that the little cub becomes the Cowardly Lion and that the laws regarding animals will be reversed with Glinda in power, so I dont think it is completely dropped.

[BroadwayBound115]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 6:52pm

I'm pretty sure Fiyero turns into the scarecrow in the book by Maguire. I can't remember if its true for Boq or the Lion Cub, but Fiyero is definitely the scarecrow. So blame the not making sense on Maguire not Holzman

[BwayTday]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 7:06pm

^^^^I am pretty sure that fiyero.....

SPOILERS***************************



dies

[James885]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 7:42pm

^^^
Yes in the book Fiyero dies and Elphaba travels out west to his castle (later to become her castle) and meets his wife, who's not in the musical. He does not become the scarecrow.

Updated On: 8/14/09 at 07:42 PM

[winston89]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 7:47pm

Wicked is a great sugarcoated musical version of an adult novel. Therefor, there are to be a bunch of holes in the story. I'm sure that had they actually did a musical of a direct adaptation it then would have come out a little bit better. Instead they were forced to change the story around so that one that was geared more towards adults, would be on that is more geared towards the entire family.

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 8:00pm

I'm a Wicked fan and have seen it 12 times. However it some have some major flaws: book, lyrics, chorography, and direction. What keeps me coming back is that despite its flaws, I was moved by the story. Also I like seeing different people's takes on the characters.

[Miss Galinda]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 10:57am

I agree with Elphaba3. Wicked won't go down as a Phantom of the Opera type show in the history books, but it does have a moving story and broad appeal.

And no, I'm not a "fangirl" as you guys call them. I'm a serious Oz collector who's followed the show since the day it was announced. In all, I think the main reason people on this board don't like the show is because it's popular. AND those same people probably know all the words to the song of the same name, but just don't want to admit it. Kinda like those same people who still have Spicegirls or NSync or Hanson hidden on their iPods but won't admit it

[SNAFU]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 11:05am

In the book Boq is a Munchkin whose community has sort of a agriculture based cult which hints at the creation of the scarecrow. The Tin Man is created when The Wicked Witch of The East, who is angry at a woodsman's spurned love, enchants his axe to cut off his various limbs and head which he gets replaced by a tinsmith (this was taken from Baum's original description of how the Tin Man can to being)

[dramarama2]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 11:13am

The problem I have is the score. You have big bold operatic numbers like No One Mourns and No Good Deed, then horrific pop tunes like Dancing Through Life. Then theres numbers like Defying Gravity and As Long As You're mine that try (and mostly fail) to fuse the two genres together. And as always with Schwartz, if you can't think of a lyric, make words up or repeat them till it's painful.
As for Winnie's book. It's pretty unimaginative. The 'jokes' only fly when the actors do them right, and there is too much exposition. Every thing is explained in pretty much in simple English.
And the finale. The only problem I have with it is it's overly dramatic musically, but the staging is bland.

Reading my comments, I have been very critical, but I do myself find the show quite entertaining, I've seen it twice and it's thrilling, but when I analyze and get to the knitty gritty, it is flawed.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 11:16am

Yes it is like a Twinkie, a bunch of crap rolled together but when you actually crave it, it tastes pretty damned good. Afterward you feel guilty.


ETA. I despise Winnie's book solely for "The artichoke is steamed!" line. TV sitcom writing at it's worst!

Updated On: 8/15/09 at 11:16 AM