Who hasn’t dreamed at some point of traveling beyond the rainbow, taking the yellow brick road with Dorothy and her red shoes, reaching the Emerald City and seeing the Wizard of Oz? Lyman Frank Baum’s 1900 book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, taught us the route of fantasy, which we later traversed thanks to Victor Fleming’s film (1939) (or was it the other way around?), with a Judy Garland as protagonist that we still haven’t forgotten. It was a sacred text, almost a myth.
Now this whole world returns to our lives, but without Dorothy as the protagonist; what matters are the witches, the Good Witch of the North and the Wicked Witch of the West, and at an earlier time. The journey is proposed by the Wicked musical, which has been sweeping since October at the Theatre Alcalá, and it gives wings and much flight to the successful novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995), by Gregory Maguire, the first in his The Wicked Years series, the return to Oz but with different eyes. They looked and no longer saw it the same.
And it does so after triumphing on Broadway and the West End. That said, the Spanish production, in the hands of ATG Entertainment, responsible for great successes like Billy Elliot, West Side Story, Chicago, Mamma Mia! or Grease, is completely new, with designs for scenery, lights, sets, musical arrangements, choreography, and other original elements. As for the costumes there are more than 1,000 pieces; shoes, there are 150 pairs; wigs, more than 100; and masks, reaching 25. This is how the fable is illuminated. All on a grand scale.
Una superproducción teatral para recrear el mundo de Oz.
¿Más detalles curiosos? El 70% de los estampados han sido diseñados por el aclamado Antonio Belart, siempre entre bambalinas, en exclusiva. Los trajes lucen miles de cristales y adornos metálicos elaborados artesanalmente, se recalca. El mundo de Oz, tan asentado en nuestra imaginación, está recreado con 2.700 flores de led. Hay trucos de magia y vuelos en directo que han salido de las mentes de los más reputados ingenieros. El teatro se ha cubierto con 103 altavoces para que la inmersión sea total. La orquesta está compuesta de 10 músicos que interpretan hasta 60 instrumentos diferentes. Y así todo.
Sobre el escenario, dando vida a la historia, actores que ya son reinas y reyes del teatro musical, que vive su mejor momento en nuestro pasís. A saber, Cristina Picos como Elphaba, Cristina Llorente como Glinda y Javier Ibarz como Mago de Oz. También Lydia Fairén como Nessarose, Xabier Nogales como Fiyero, Guadalupe Lancho como Madame Morrible, Esteban Oliver como Dr. Dillamond y Neiza Martín como Boq, sin olvidar al resto del elenco. La adaptación y la dirección corren a cargo de David Serrano y lo musical es por cuenta de Joan Miquel Pérez, mientras que las coreografías son de Mikel Karrera.
The Wizard of Oz and Its Sequels’ Success
Wicked premiered in 2003 on Broadway and since then has not stopped being at the peak. In the mecca of musicals it has made history, ranking fourth in the lists of shows with the longest runs, with more than 8,000 performances in 21 years of uninterrupted triumphs. On the West End of London it is not far behind, with 18 years of successes, and in Tokyo it has caused a great impact, so we are not facing just any musical, but a phenomenon.
There is even talk of a generational milestone in pop culture. The Wizard of Oz already was. In fact, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, where it all began, enjoyed such fortune at the beginning of the 20th century that its author wrote 13 books about the Land of Oz and its enchanted inhabitants. It is, without a doubt, the magical power of the literary. But now, in the hour of the musical and a century later, even the numbers sing: translated into more than 15 languages, seen by more than 60 million spectators worldwide and with more than 100 awards; among them, a Grammy and several Tony Awards.
La Bruja Buena del Norte y la Bruja Malvada del Oeste en acción.
The songs are by the brand-new Stephen Schwartz, Oscar winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt and nominated for The Hunchback of Notre Dame. We think of the already legendary Defying Gravity, Popular or For Good. The libretto is by Winnie Holzman. It is the music that makes Elphaba dance, the future Wicked Witch of the West, the quintessential villain, who is young, emerald-skinned — that iconic makeup that requires two hours — passionate and talented, but misunderstood and rejected. And Glinda, who will be the Good Witch of the North, for whom everything is pink, a Barbie from another world.
The Witch of the West and the Witch of the North begin as friends, but end up not being so, because, and here comes the moral, the world does not tolerate differences. Wicked thus offers a reflection on who is the hero and who the villain and on the origin of cruelty and violence, delving into notions such as identity, acceptance, and the struggle for justice. And yes, also putting pink against green.
