Theater: Wicked

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For those of you who've been hiding under a rock for the last year or two, this musical tells the back story of the Wicked Witch of the West, who it turns out is not so wicked after all. In fact, she went to school with Glinda the good witch, and tried to use her powers to stop the Wizard of Oz from furthering his oppressive agenda. On Broadway, the musical picked up a Tony award for Idina Menzel as the green tinted heroine, in fierce competition with the ever fantastic Kristin Chenoweth, who was also nominated for Leading Actress in a Musical.

Those performances, as well as the recent touring production that came through (it should be noted that their set has stayed behind for this production), has greatly raised expectations for this new production. In particular, its much publicized leading lady, Ana Gasteyer (of Saturday Night Live fame) as the green witch has a pretty big pointy hat to fill. Has she pulled it off?

Remember the last time an original Broadway musical made you laugh, cry and think in the right places, and for the right reasons? The triumph is not Schwartz's alone. Adapted from a Gregory Maguire novel, Wicked offers a post-feminist, socially conscious reinterpretation of the story of Oz's Wicked Witch of the West. Though that may sound like a recipe for pretentious pedantry, writer Winnie Holzman, whose TV credits include thirty something and My So-Called Life, provides a libretto that juggles winning irreverence with thoughtfulness and heart.

Central to her account is the relationship between Glinda the Good Witch and the ostensibly wicked one, Elphaba, presented as would-be rivals bound by an unlikely sense of empathy and mutual admiration. Kristin Chenoweth is ideally cast as Glinda, a dizzy blonde whose peppy facade belies a fragile heart, while Idina Menzel's Elphaba is a powerfully human sorceress, particularly when delivering haunting new songs such as No Good Deed and I'm Not That Girl.

Norbert Leo Butz is compelling as a suitor who threatens to come between the witches, and Joel Grey and Carole Shelley shine as a somewhat ethically challenged Wizard and his press secretary. A fine ensemble helps ensure that even the most flagrantly cute and sentimental moments are hard to resist. Add in tunes that you can actually leave the theater humming, and you have a thoroughly enchanting experience