Wicked - possible spoiler

[puppetman2]

Posted: 4/10/08 at 4:54pm

I'm half way through the novel "Wicked" is based on. I was wondering how they handle the Elphaba - Fiyero love affair. In the book he has a wife and 3 children but stays in the Emerald City having a hot and heavy affair with Elphaba. There are over 50 pages of them discussing "evil". Is any of this covered in the musical?

[nitsua]

Posted: 4/10/08 at 5:02pm

Nothing in the novel is covered in the musical.

In the musical, Glinda and Fiyero get married.

Sarima, her sisters and children, and Nanny aren't in the novel. Neither are Mother Yackle, Liir, Turtle Heart or Shell.

The musical's a travesty compared to the greatness of the novel.

[TWSFan4Ever]

Posted: 4/10/08 at 5:08pm

Actually, Glinda and Fiyero never get married in the musical, only engaged. Fiyero then ends up with Elphaba. At no point is Fiyero married to someone else or anything.

Posted: 4/10/08 at 5:09pm

In the Musical, no one has sex with a Tiger, either.

[Adam Chris]

Posted: 4/10/08 at 5:33pm

mmmm, no. The novel is not great. The book tries too hard to be significant. It felt (at least to me) like the author was trying too hard to impress.
It had some good spots but otherwise left me bored.

And yeah, what's with the animal sex? Updated On: 4/10/08 at 05:33 PM

[puppetman2]

Posted: 4/10/08 at 5:41pm

Sarima, her sisters and children, and Nanny aren't in the novel

nitsua - do you mean not in the musical as they are definitely mentioned in the book

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 4/10/08 at 5:44pm

I agree that the novel tries too too hard to be "significant" and "important" at times: it's one of those stories you don't really appreciate until you finish it and start thinking about everything that happened.

But once you do...

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 4/10/08 at 5:56pm

Why don't I remember the tiger sex?

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 4/10/08 at 5:58pm

Oh God, the Tiger sex... the scene that had NO POINT WHATSOEVER.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 4/10/08 at 5:59pm

The Tiger Sex was in the chapter about the visit to the Philosophy Club. Very, very bizarre.

[Mythus]

Posted: 4/10/08 at 6:00pm

I believe it was in the chapter when they went to that club in the Emerald City? I think. I read the book a long while ago.

Possible spoiler...Soylent Green is Elphaba.

[puppetman2]

Posted: 4/10/08 at 6:01pm

The tiger sex was in that weird night club when the guy was tied under the Animal tiger. It was at the end of the SHIZ segment of the book.

[bwayguy22089]

Posted: 4/10/08 at 7:49pm

All that I know is that during As Long as You're Mine (if the cast coupling is done right), it is like watching 3 minutes of hot sex lol. The few times I saw the show, both actors were great at showing their chemistry and passion during this song. It's intense lol.

[lfae]

Posted: 4/12/08 at 5:38am

I beg to differ about the Tiger sex having no point. Elphaba caring for Tibbett in the mauntery was the catalyst for her leaving it for Kiamo Ko - he woke her up, made her remember herself. And it's more interesting to have an already written reason behind why Tibbett would be there, ie. the Tiger sex, rather than him just popping up and then being given a vague backstory. At least, in my opinion. At the time, the Tiger sex is a bit whoa, wtf? But then when you read on...it becomes apparent why it was mentioned.

[winston89]

Posted: 4/12/08 at 11:57am

Basically to answer the OP's question Fiyero and Elphaba are already together when As Long As Your Mine comes along. There isn't any affair of any kind and Fiyero just has the hots for the green girl.

[puppetman2]

Posted: 4/12/08 at 9:00pm

What a difference in the book and musical. Fiyero and Elphabe have a hot and heavy relationship and he is killed in her place.
It is later stated that Liir is his son.

Posted: 4/12/08 at 9:05pm

Winston I beg to differ. While you don't see any "Action" I think it's absurd to think Fiyero & Elphaba aren't "DOING IT!"

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 4/12/08 at 11:51pm

What a difference in the book and musical. Fiyero and Elphabe have a hot and heavy relationship and he is killed in her place.

Yeah. And he had diarrhea at the same time. What a horrible way to go.

[winston89]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 1:15am

JoeKv99,

Touche.


But Puppetman. You just have to realize that the show is a sugarcoated version of the novel. If the show was more truthful to the novel then it wouldn't have the legions of 12 year old fan girls.

[puppetman2]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 12:31pm

I am simply amazed that a hit musical was made from such dark and unpleasant material. Elfaba is not a nice person at all, just the way she treats her son really upsets me. But her whole character is just very unpleasant, She has to be more sypathetic in the musical.

[nitsua]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 12:38pm

She never believes Liir is Fiyero's son. Maguire doesn't say either way.

Until Son of a Witch, anyway.

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 1:08pm

Elfaba is not a nice person at all, just the way she treats her son really upsets me. But her whole character is just very unpleasant, She has to be more sypathetic in the musical.

I do think that, if translated straight from the novel, Elphaba would be a character more appropriate to opera.

But she made the novel so fascinating! To me, the whole conceit behind the novel was "The Witch may have been misunderstood, but what does that mean?" Just because she wasn't necessarily "wicked" doesn't mean that she was a pleasant person to be around.

And one of my favorite scenes is after Liir (her son) is discovered in the fishwell, almost dead, and how Elphaba reacts to the situation. She panics, she can't be helpful, Nanny tells her "Oh, you're just like your Mother in a crisis." That was FASCINATING to me!

[Mealz1042]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 4:34pm

I loved the novel until i was almost halfway through it then i just got bored with it. It was just too much, I don't know.

What I don't get is who in their right mind read that book and thought "oh hey, let's turn this into a broadway show!" ??