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Wicked is Unlimited in Kansas City

11/13/2009 12:00:00 AM

    The Broadway Musical Wicked is in Kansas City from November 11 - December 6. This show is recommended for audiences ages 12 and up. This holiday season, treat your spouse to an "early Christmas present" / Date Night, get together with friends for a Moms' Night Out, or take your teens to a Broadway Show at home. Wicked is one musical you don't want to miss!

    Ruby Slippers, the Cyclone, an ear piercing cackle booming from a green face as one pig-tailed girl follows, "The Yellow Brick Road." Oz, Kansas' most famous icon, has returned to Kansas City in its newest form through the 2003 Broadway Musical Wicked, the prequel to the Wizard of Oz and the story of the Wicked Witch, Glinda, and unexpected motives where we learn things aren't always as they seem.

    Wicked debuted in Kansas City in 2008 breaking box office records when it sold out in record time. This year, the musical is back for three and a half weeks performing 32 shows at the Music Hall with a total of 76,800 tickets to sell.

    Growing up, I had a healthy dose of fear for the Wicked Witch of the West and I vividly remember leaving the room when she was on screen (during the Thanksgiving showing of The Wizard of Oz) and returning when she was gone. She was evil, out to get Dorothy and her little dog, and all for a pair of shoes. You wouldn't expect high fashion to be a priority for a person with green skin, an ugly black frock, and a weird pointy hat, but for this witch, it was.

    In Broadway's hit, Wicked, Glinda the Good Witch narrates the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and we learn why the shoes were so important and that things aren't always what they seem.

    Through Glinda's popularity and Elphaba's horrid physical appearance and mystifying superpowers, the population of Oz begins to make assumptions about the Wicked Witch and whether she is good or wicked. The Wizard uses his bully pulpit to promote the wickedness of the Witch and sends us on a mind-reeling plot to rid Oz of her greenness forever. For Oz fans, the story resonates with its terrific use of humor and subplots to reveal the characters and story of Dorothy that we all grew to know and love.

    The plot of Wicked is intricate and complicated, unveiling many surprises along the way. In true Broadway style, the musical uses amazing sets, fantastic comedy and drama, elaborate costumes, terrific acting, singing, and dancing and unforgettable music to tell the tale. You will laugh out loud at the giddy, perky, solo "Popular" sung by Galinda (later Glinda), played by the comedic Helene Yorke, as she attempts to take Elphaba on as her "project" and teach her to make friends. Marcie Dodd, magnificently portrays Elphaba, and she does a phenomenal job with her solos "Defying Gravity," and "No Good Deed." Both actresses are perfect portrayals of two extremes throughout the show as they tell the tale of an evolving friendship, misconceptions, conflict, and address the question, "What is good and what is truly wicked?"

    Many themes are presented in this show from the power of rumors, to prejudging, to the feelings and consideration of outcasts and minorities, to true love, and honesty, but my favorite theme is that of the friendship of Glinda and Elphaba, beautifully portrayed in their closing duet "For Good."

Wicked in Kansas City Show Times and Ticket Information

Nov. 19 the cast of Wicked performs at the City Lights Christmas Lighting Ceremony

Excerpt from the song "For Good" from the Broadway Musical Wicked.

(Glinda) I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

(Elphaba) It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend...

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you

(Glinda) Because I knew you

(Both) I have been changed for good

Kristina Light

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