The show tells the story of Elphaba, a bright but neglected little girl with green skin. She possesses a hidden magical ability that only manifests when driven to extreme anger. It’s a long, winding route that leads to her becoming the evil witch, packed with weird characters and plot twists. Glinda is one of the musical’s two female characters, and the story revolves around her friendship with Elphaba. The two quickly become best friends after meeting at Shiz University.
In the role of Glinda is the very brilliant Brittney Johnson, who made history taking over the part marking her as the first African-American actor to step into the role of Glinda full-time. A sparkling jewel of a performer, Johnson, has also appeared on Broadway in Les Misérables, Motown, Sunset Boulevard, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
Here are a few fun facts about Wicked; Stephen Schwartz wrote the musicals Pippin and Godspell. He was on vacation in Hawaii in 1996 and became intrigued when a friend shared a book about the origins of the Wicked Witch of the West. It was Gregory Maguire’s Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. He was hooked, called his lawyer, and started obtaining the rights. Wicked was a smash hit from the beginning and recouped the original investment of $14 million in just 14 months.
Lastly, the trick to getting Elphaba’s skin so wonderfully verdant is a MAC makeup cosmetic: Chromacake, a solid watercolor cake activated with water. Here is a link to a YouTube video to watch the transformation – WICKED Hair and Makeup: Makeup https://youtu.be/wHWW3-pUw34 via @YouTube The drama stage is lavishly designed and showcases beauty standards.
The entire ensemble of Wicked was fantastic, they draw you into their well-told tale of the evil witch of the west, and if you want to attend a Broadway play, the show is a must-see. The cast includes Alicia L. Albright, Alex Aquilino, Larkin Bogan, Randy Castillo, Meg Doherty, Hannah Florence, Dan Gleason, Josh Daniel Green, Jeff Heimbrock, Celia Hottenstein, Courtney Iventosch, Amber Jackson, Lindsay Janisse, Alison Jantzie, Colby Q. Lindeman, Chase Madigan, Micaela Martinez, Kevin Massey, Sterling Masters, Matt Meigs, Jo’Nathan Michael, Dashi Mitchell, Domonique Paton, Emily Rogers, William Ryall, Travis Taber, Jeremy Thompson, Christianne Tisdale, and Nicky Venditti.