Steve On Broadway (SOB)

Wicked At Five

Wicked At Five

In case you haven't already noticed, either by virtue of the Empire State Building glowing in green or my posts from the past couple of days, the Broadway musical Wicked is celebrating its fifth anniversary of its Great White Way opening this evening.

Just a month or two into our relationship, The Love of My Life and I first saw Wicked together on the afternoon of November 1, 2003. Some couples have their song. We have our musical.

It springs not just from sitting back, relaxing and enjoying the actual performances Wicked offers, but it's also derived from our innate love for the original "Wizard Of Oz" film. After all, we were practically weaned on it as our families gathered around the television sets each year for what amounted to "event" TV way back when.

But cementing our affection for the tuner is Wicked's inspired twisting inside out of that original tale we thought we already knew backwards and forwards. Together, for the first time, we felt a little wicked in sharing an experience we both heartily enjoyed.

Since we first saw and loved the production from our fifth row center seats a mere two days after it initially opened, we've seen the show enough times that I've honestly lost count. Not only have we been back to the Gershwin Theatre at least another four times to see the likes of Elphaba and Glinda, but I've also been back there for the Behind the Emerald Curtain Tour and Monday's night's The Yellow Brick Road Not Taken benefit performance.

Oh yes, and then there were the performances in Chicago. Not only did we take in the original touring production when it first landed at the Windy City's Oriental Theatre, but we returned to the subsequent sitdown production there over and over and over and over again while living there (and even after we moved away). We even had several opportunities there to see our future friend and Tony winner Rondi Reed perform as Madame Morrible.

Post Chicago, we also took in the touring cast in Minneapolis before venturing overseas to each of the international productions in London (April 2007), Stuttgart (November 2007), Tokyo (December 2007) and Melbourne (July 2008), and you can bet that we're looking forward to seeing more of the world after this show opens elsewhere. Anyone want to meet us in Amsterdam next?

Just as The Love of My Life and I celebrate our five years together, the two of us are celebrating Gregory Maguire for providing the decidedly different, more adult take on Elphaba and Glinda in the first place through his original novel "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West." We celebrate Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman for transforming that story into a family musical via their original score and book. We celebrate producers Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone for having the vision necessary to bring the show to reality. Last, but certainly not least, we celebrate the countless Elphabas, Glindas, Fiyeros, Madame Morribles, Boqs, Nessaroses, Wizards and Doctor Dillamonds who have brought this story to life around the world.

We salute and celebrate all of you. Here's to another Wicked five years!

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Labels: Anniversary, Broadway, David Stone, Gregory Maguire, Jon B. Platt, London, Marc Platt, Melbourne, Stephen Schwartz, Stuttgart, Tokyo, Touring Production, Wicked, Winnie Holtzman

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Thursday, October 30, 2008 1 comments

Film Version Of Wicked In The Works

Film Version Of Wicked In The Works

At long last comes news that Universal Pictures, which serves as a producer for the worldwide megahit stage musical Wicked, has plans to bring the backstory of Elphaba and Glinda to the big screen.

According to Variety, the movie version of Wicked won't happen anytime soon since the global phenomenon is still riding a wave of popularity that has not yet begun to crest. Already, the tuner has taken in over $1 billion around the world via its eight productions on four continents (and in three languages).

Variety reports that while producer Marc Platt is in "early" discussions with Universal, Wicked's librettist Winnie Holtzman will write the screenplay.

Variety quotes Universal's production president Donna Langley:

Our goal now is absolutely to make the Wicked film, but much like Judy Craymer wouldn't give up screen rights to Mamma Mia! until the stage show had reached its pinnacle, Marc and Stephen Schwartz are very mindful of the right timing. But we're dying to do it.

Meanwhile, Platt remains a very busy man. He's not only producing the upcoming Broadway revival of Pal Joey, but he's also helping shepherd three other movie musicals, including the upcoming Rob Marshall-helmed Nine (filming begins this fall in London), a big-screen remake of Jesus Christ Superstar and a biopic of George Gershwin.

I'll report on any further developments on Wicked's silver screen incarnation as they become available. Perhaps we can finally start prognosticating on who would comprise our dream cast. Anyone?

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Related Stories:
One Short Day, In Universal's Emerald City (June 27, 2007)
Wicked To Finally Land In Oz During 2008 (May 26, 2007)
Wicked World (March 19, 2007)
Hollywood Becomes Wicked (February 21, 2007)
Five Times More Wicked (July 17, 2006)

Labels: Film, First Word On New Movie, Marc Platt, Universal Studios, Wicked, Winnie Holtzman

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Wednesday, July 16, 2008 15 comments