I couldn't forget that day because my friend and I were running late for the show and we didn't have the time to change clothes. We ended up going straight to the theatre in shirt, jeans and sneakers! And the people seated beside us were in long gowns and suits! Cringe... But I forgot what I was wearing the moment the musical started. It was the best musical ever.
When I heard Wicked was going to be staged in Manila, I decided to buy tickets. But even if I read the book and watched it already, I couldn't remember much of the details. All I could remember was Elphaba, the green-faced witch, isn't really wicked. She is kind and intelligent except that some unfortunate circumstances in life pushed her to do what she did.
While everything is still fresh on my mind after watching the matinee of Wicked in CCP today, I'll have to write my cheat sheet. However, if you're planning to watch Wicked and you don't want any spoilers, please stop reading now.
If you read or watched "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", Elphaba, is also known as the Wicked Witch of the West (the witch who melted when Dorothy threw a bucket of water at her).
Elphaba's mom was the wife of the governor of Munchkin. When the husband was away, the wife fooled around. One time, while the governor was away, she fooled around with a man who made her drink a bottle of green liquid. Months after, she gave birth to a green baby - Elphaba.
Elphaba had a younger sister named NessaRose but she was born with underdeveloped legs so she was wheelchair-bound. Nessarose was the dad's favorite and when they went to university, the dad gave her a pair of beautiful shiny shoes. (NessaRose later became the Wicked Witch of the East - the witch which was killed when Dorothy's house landed on her; if you remember in the movie, the witch had shiny shoes which Dorothy ended up wearing).
Anyway, before the two sisters became known as wicked witches, they were good. Here's a brief flashback:
While in University, the two sisters met Galinda (who later became the Good Witch). Galinda was pretty and popular. When one of the professors asked the class who would like to accommodate Elphaba as a room mate, Galinda accidentally raised her hand (but for another reason). They ended up becoming room mates but both hated each other.
One day, Fiyero (a prince) arrived at the university and Galinda was smitten by him. She wanted to focus her attention on Fiyero but she had an admirer/stalker named Boq. To get rid of him, she asked Boq to do a good deed for her and that was to invite the helpless Nessarose for the school's upcoming dance. Nessarose thought Boq truly liked her so Boq ended up riding along since he didn't want to hurt Nessarose's feelings.
As I mentioned, Galinda and Elphaba hated each other and Galinda liked to mock and make fun of Elphaba. On the day of the school dance, Galinda saw her black witch hat which was a gift from her parents. She decided to give it to Elphaba to wear to the dance so she would look like a fool. Elphaba was touched and thought it was a sincere gesture.
During the dance, their sorcery professor approached Galinda and gave her a magic wand. The professor relayed to Galinda that Elphaba (who was the professor's favorite) asked her to give her the wand and to include her in sorcery class or else Elphaba would quit sorcery class. Galinda felt guilty for Elphaba's sincere gesture. So when Elphaba came to the dance wearing the black witch hat and while everyone mocked her, Galinda danced with her. That started their friendship.
Around that time in the university, there were strange things happening like animal professors were disappearing and the last animal professor (who Elphaba really looked up to) was banned from teaching. The students were told that animals should be in cages instead. The new prof demonstrated this cage treatment to a lion cub (this became the Cowardly Lion). Elphaba and Fiyero ended up saving and releasing the lion that day. That also started a special friendship between Elphaba and Fiyero.
When school was over, the Sorcery's professor informed Elphaba that she finally got an appointment for her to see the Wizard of Oz. Elphaba ended up inviting Galinda with her to Oz. When they met with the Wizard, the Wizard asked Elphaba to demonstrate her gift of sorcery by doing a levitation spell to a monkey. The Wizard and the Sorcery professor asked Elphaba to read something from the book of spells. Her spell made the monkey turn into a gargoyle and Elphaba found out that there were more monkeys inside cages that became gargoyles. Elphaba was outraged for being tricked. She also realized that the professor was a fake (he doesn't have any power) that's why he needed someone to do the spells for him. The Wizard called in the guards and Elphaba was declared a criminal. Galinda, on the other hand, decided to stay in the city and she was declared a Good Witch and became a public figure in Oz spreading cheer and encouragement. Fiyero became the head of the army. Eventually, Galinda and Fiyero got engaged after Galinda proposed to him.
While Elphaba was in hiding, a lot of rumors were spread about her - one of which was that her heart was so impure that water could melt her. (This is important as it is critical in the latter part of the story.)
Anyway, moving on, one time, Elphaba visited Nessarose who was now the governor of Munchkin after their father passed away. Nessarose asked Elphaba to use her sorcery to make her walk and she successfully did. When Boq (who ended up becoming a servant of Nessarose since he was a Munchkin himself) learned that Nessarose could already walk, he felt free to leave Nessarose and he planned to go to Oz to declare his love for Galinda, his true love. Nessarose got mad and read a spell from Elphaba's book to remove Boq's feelings, literally removing his heart. To save Boq, NessaRose asked Elphaba to do another spell and the only way to allow him to live without a heart was turn him into a Tin Man.
Elphaba returned to Oz to release the caged gargoyles. The wizard offered her a deal - he will release the gargoyles only if she agreed to work with him. She agreed and the Wizard opened the cage. However, Elphaba suddenly saw her goat professor coming out from the cage. Realizing the Wizard was behind the disappearance of the animal professors outraged Elphaba. The Wizard called in the guards for help and ordered them to capture Elphaba. Fiyero, being the head of the army, distracted his soldiers to save Elphaba and he escaped with her. This hurt Galinda as his fiancee chose Elphaba over her. Out of anger, she suggested to the Wizard and the Sorcery professor that the only way to get Elphaba is to spread rumors that Nessarose was in danger.
They didn't spread any rumor. Instead, the Sorcery professor created a cyclone which resulted to Dorothy's house landing on NessaRose and killing her. Elphaba mourned for her sister and as she was mourning with Galinda, guards arrived and they tried to arrest her but Fiyero arrived to defend her and she was able to escape. Fiyero was captured and was tortured in a cornfield. Elphaba tried to make a spell to save him and so that he won't feel any pain. Fiyero became the Scarecrow.
Meanwhile, Galinda found out the plans of the Wizard and the Sorcery professor to attack Elphaba's castle so she went to see Elphaba to warn her. Galinda offered to tell the truth to the public and clear Elphaba's name but Elphaba refused since she thinks that people will turn against Galinda if she does that. Elphaba made Galinda promise never to tell the truth and to just let people believe what they already believe.
Guards arrived in Elphaba's castle and fought with her. This is to save Dorothy. BTW, the only reason why Elphaba detained Dorothy was because she wanted her sister's pair of shoes back which Dorothy was wearing. Anyway, Dorothy ended up throwing water at Elphaba (in the movie though, I remember, the dress of the witch caught fire and Dorothy's intention was just to put off the fire). Elphaba melted (as it has been rumored that she will be melted by water) and that was the end of the Wicked Witch of the West.
Galinda ended up being in charge of Oz after discovering all the evil doings of the Wizard and the Sorcery professor. It was also revealed that the Wizard was the father of Elphaba when Galinda saw the same bottle of green liquid in the Wizard's lab which Elphaba had (a souvenir left by her mom).
In the ending, the Scarecrow and Elphaba are seen together leaving Oz.
The turn of events in my gist might sound serious but the lines are very witty and funny, and the music is really upbeat and fun. If you ever get the chance to watch it, just watch it. :)
