“I was already in Vermont,” says the composer-lyricist behind the smash-hit musical prequel to the “Oz” saga, noting that he has a longstanding tradition of not attending his own opening nights in New York.
Thursday, October 25, 2018
As 'Wicked' flies into San Diego again, co-creator Stephen Schwartz chats about show's lasting popularity
“I was already in Vermont,” says the composer-lyricist behind the smash-hit musical prequel to the “Oz” saga, noting that he has a longstanding tradition of not attending his own opening nights in New York.
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Most people I know, know what Wicked is. Even if they've never stepped foot in a theater, they've heard of Wicked and they've probably heard Defying Gravity. This show has featured some of the biggest heavyweights in musical theater, and doesn't show any sign of slowing down. I got to see Wicked for the first time in high school after listening to the soundtrack for probably a solid six years. There are no words to describe how I felt seeing that show in all its vast, magnificent glory. It's easy to appreciate the show for what it is at a base, aesthetic level, but Wicked is a show that provides a little bit more than that. The story of Elphaba is not a happy one, and I think more than anything that resembles the common man more than other characters on Broadway. She comes from a good background but hard times, is judged for external features she has absolutely no control over, and seeks something more than what her world can give her. The story of Wicked is more about Elphaba learning to live in this world she has to exist in. While I agree, that much of Wicked is actually reminiscent of certain political situations, and the commentary applies to today, but I believe that Wicked remains to be so popular because, no matter the wackiness of a character, there is something so human about them.
I often say that going to see Wicked when I was in 3rd grade was the moment when I first realized I wanted to work technical theater. That is a huge oversimplification, especially because I didn’t actually decide I wanted to do it then, but I remember seeing the show and wanting to create that world. Wicked is still one of my favorite musicals, partially because it was the first musical I saw a high quality production of and so it stuck with me, but I also just like it in its own right. Reading this article, I think it is amazing how people are inspired enough by a song in a musical to make scary and drastic life choices that they have been wanting to make but too scared to do. Sometimes it is easy to forget how much theater can mean to people, especially when I get hyper-focused on the element of the production I am working on and forget about the impact of the production as a whole. Even theater that isn’t intended to be super thought provoking and it mostly commercial can still have a huge impact on people.
This article describes the long-lasting effect that Wicked has had on the theater world and on people who have seen it. I was drawn to the comments on how Wicked has become, not less, but more politically relevant as time has gone by. I think it is really impressive that Schwartz was able to create a show that people can relate to and that can help them get through something as simple as high school or, on a more serious scale, can help them get out of dangerous relationships. On top of all of that, he was also able to create a show that delivers political commentary that may not have been obvious when it first opened but has become increasingly relevant in the political climate today. I would say that this musical kind of embodies what it takes to make a successful production and I hope to see more shows that have this kind of impact on people.
It is an encouraging new to read. Knowing that this industry still has its own legacy and long-term prospect. To facilitate a long-lasting show like Wicked, it takes a large base of audience, a community with great taste and exceptional artists involving the show itself. The article mentioned the show even made it across the generations, and that is a best phenomenon I can imagine for a show. This shows how universal the content Wicked carried is, and I think that this kind of performance out of creative team is everyone in the industry should be aiming to create. The theatre will transform and might not be what we expected, but I can definitely see this kind of stories in its future.
I think it’s really interesting that Stephen Schwartz judges his best shows by the collaborations and not the outcome or critical acclaim. I think this is an important way to judge our work, regardless of if its theater or not. I hope that more people come to judge success the relationships and work put into it, rather than the outcome. That being said, it's wonderful the Wicked relates to so many people and that they want to bring their families again and again. Something interesting in this article was how they talk about Wicked as being more politically relevant than it use to be. I had never thought about Wicked in a political light until now, but see how aspects of the show seem more politically relevant now, than when it first came out. Regardless, I’m glad that people are still going to see Wicked and I hope that they continue to enjoy the show for many years to come.
Anytime people ask me if they should go see Wicked while it is in town, while they are in New York, etc. my answer is and probably always will be yes. I think Wicked is on the whole an amazing show and is worth seeing at least once if you have the chance. It is everything a big spectacle Broadway musical should be, and while it might not be fighting social justice battles, it is an entertaining piece of theatre that I think is necessary sometimes. I saw this show both before and after I entered the world of technical theatre, and before knowing I thought it was amazing and incredible and a little bit magical, and after I thought it was just as amazing, just with a little more understanding about the magic. It definitely cemented in my mind the fact that I wanted to go into technical theatre, and I hope it runs for another 15 years to inspire other people to do the same.
I love wicked more than anything. I think this is one of the best modern day musicals written. Having defying gravity as the act 1 finale is genius and really gets the audience to feel for the charcaters and tells such a good story. One interesting thing I learned from reading this, is that Stephen does not attend opening nights. I thought this was interesting as most people would attend there opening night. Wicked has also accomplished much more than most shows, when it first opened on Broadway they lost best musical to Avenue Q and in the end it didn’t matter since it has broken so many records and created Broadway History. I got to see the tour when it came through last year and it was just as good as the Broadway company and did not seem like a tour. I am excited to see what they do on NBC for their 15-year anniversary
I think it's pretty cool that a man who was able to create such a long-lasting musical like Wicked, went to Carnegie Mellon just like us. I think impressive alumni like him really help to give current students hope for their futures. I think I might be one of the only people in the School of Drama who has never actually seen Wicked (not by choice - I'd love to, it's just expensive) but I hope it continues playing long enough that this can change one day. One part of this article that was particularly interesting to me was when he said that the two musicals, he thought were the best, of the ones he has written, were Children of Eden and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. This really make sense to me because a local theatre where I live did Children of Eden a few years ago and I remember Stephen Schwartz actually traveled down just to meet with them during one of their rehearsals. I seriously doubt he does that for every production of Wicked that someone puts on.
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