Wicked (Warning: Spoiler!)

Our spring break travels last week took us to Chicago, one of our family's favorite destinations. Katie and I had been wanting to see the musical Wicked for some time, but we hadn't been successful in convincing Jonathan that he wanted to see it. So we worked out a deal: We would take Amtrak to Chicago rather than drive if Jonathan would come with us to see the musical. And it worked out well for all involved.

Those of you out there unfamiliar with the musical theater world are probably raising your eyebrows, wondering what kind of mom would take her children to see a musical entitled Wicked. But I would recommend that anyone who enjoys theater and is looking for a good family theater experience see this musical. Wicked is in some ways a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, the untold story of the witches of Oz: Glinda the Good Witch, the Wicked Witch of the West (named Elphaba in the musical), and the Wicked Witch of the East, whose unfortunate ruby-slippered feet are sticking out from under Dorothy's house when she lands in Oz in the movie.

In the first scene, Glinda arrives in the Emerald City to restore order to the citizens, who are celebrating the death of the Wicked Witch of the West and wondering what will be next with the departure of the Wizard. The citizens begin to ask Glinda questions about Elphaba, and the audience learns that the two of them have known each other in the past, and it has been reported that Glinda and Elphaba have been friends. As Glinda begins to tell Elphaba's story, she asks, "Are people born wicked? Or do they have Wickedness thrust upon them?" And my thought was that the rest of the musical would be structured to teach us that people aren't really bad; in fact, we're all good inside. But that would be oversimplifying the clever plot that develops, with many themes woven throughout. And that isn't really the question the musical then explores, at least in the sense of whether we are innately good or evil.

The themes that are so craftily woven throughout the rest of the play touch on some of the issues plaguing society today. What qualities do we value that make us put our leaders in places of power? Why are we willing to believe whatever "spin" is put out there? And what harm comes to our culture when we do believe the spin that we read and hear? And the writers of this musical use word plays throughout: the word "good" frequently recurs in songs like "No Good Deed" and my favorite,"For Good." Interestingly, Elphaba at one point questions whether she has truly sought to do good or if she was just trying to get attention. At the end of the play, Glinda comments that she desires to rule Oz truly as Glinda the Good. And after we observe her development through the course of the musical, we believe her.

Other fun language plays have to do with the definitions we come up for words like "happy": Glinda says in song, "Happy is what happens when all your dreams come true" and then adds quietly in an aside, "Isn't it?" The Wizard tells Elphaba that "where I'm from, we believe all sorts of things that aren't true. We call it-- history." And he also tells us that truth is what we all agree upon. And that brings us back to the issue of whether Elphaba is truly wicked, or is that just the side of the story we've all been told in The Wizard of Oz?

Besides all of this fun, the musical explains things like where the flying monkeys came from; how the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow became who they are in the more familiar story; and why it was so important for the Wicked Witch of the West to get those ruby slippers back. And there are some interesting relationships between the characters that the traditional story doesn't tell us about.

Anyway, it is now my favorite musical of all time, and my fantasy role on Broadway would be to play Glinda, a soprano who is blonde, popular, spoiled, and calls her parents "Momsie and Popsicle." And that works out well, because Katie's fantasy role is now to play Elphaba. And when the touring company of Wicked comes to Lansing this summer, we hope to be there.

But that was not the end of our Windy City fun. We also had the opportunity to meet David, who frequently comments on this blog, a fellow URC member whom I met on Sovereign Grace Singles who lives in Lansing, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. It was nice to be able to put a face with a name and get to know him a little better.

We also visited the planetarium (because the lines to the aquarium and the Field Museum were way too long), went to some Michigan Avenue shops, rode the subway, and enjoyed the superior Chicago-style pizza at Giordano's. And there was yet another element this time, since we had the opportunity to visit New York last summer: the debate over which city is better, Chicago or New York. And my response: I love them both!