The Wonderful Wizard of Oz #5

I've raved about this series several times already, and with good reason.

It's a delightful adaptation of the original book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and one you should be reading.

But instead of listening to me rave yet again, let's turn to a completely different (yet related) work based on "Oz" - the Broadway musical Wicked.

I bring it up because I'm convinced that I may be the only person who didn't much care for it.

The show tells the story of the movie The Wizard of Oz from the perspective of "The Wicked Witch of the West," who gets a name in this show - Elphaba. Because of her distinctive green skin, when she goes to school she's an outcast, though she eventually finds a friend in the ditzy Glinda (the Good), but she also finds a cause - and makes enemies.

The story cleverly weaves around the original film and offers some interesting new angles on the famous story.

It's easy to see why the show is so popular. The performers are amazingly talented, and the songs are terrific. The set is a star all by itself, and features the most impressive stage and lighting effects I've ever seen - the show is worth seeing just for the staging.

In fact, the only problem with the show (and here I steel myself for the storm of outrage)... is the fact that I didn't like the story very much. L. Frank Baum wrote a dozen Oz books in addition to the original "Wizard," and the story of Wicked breaks away from those stories in several places. Of course, that's because it's actually based on the film, not the Oz books.

But the other problem is that, in order to make Elphaba a heroic figure, all the other characters must become less likable - so the Wizard, for example, instead of being a lovable humbug, is a bit more malevolent.

Still, I can understand why Wicked is so popular - it's an amazing theatre experience, and even with the plot points I struggled with, it's still a terrific show.

I guess for me it just comes down to this - the bad guys in a story are as much fun (if not more) than the good guys - and there's no better villain than Margaret Hamilton in the original Wizard of Oz. ("I'll get you, my pretty - and your little dog, too!")

I guess I liked Elphaba better when she was truly Wicked.