A lot of girls walk into the blockbuster musical “Wicked” wanting to be Glinda, the good witch, which does not make its shamrock-colored star green with envy. Because by the time they walk out, most identify more with Elphaba, the ostracized wicked one.
“I think that’s very true,” said Stephanie J. Block, who stars as Elphaba in the national touring production that opened Friday at the Buell Theatre. “I think society wants young women to be perky and popular and made up with glitter and bobby hair. All the while, these girls want so much more. They want integrity, strength, purpose. That’s what Elphaba brings to these girls.”
So if “Hairspray” was the triumph of the little fat girl, then “Wicked” is the triumph of all the fat, skinny, geeky, smart, awkward, alienated girls – or anyone who has been stigmatized by ugly labels.
“Wicked,” based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel, is a prequel to L. Frank Baum’s 1901 “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and the classic 1939 film. To most, the Wicked Witch of the West is an archetypal old monster who has been giving children nightmares for seven decades.
To Block, Elphaba is “the green ingenue.”
Maguire explores the idea that Elphaba was misconstrued and victimized by society. Variety said transitioning this character from iconic horror figure to real heroine gives this otherwise traditionally glittery and glamorous Broadway musical its theatrical spine.
“As an actor you always want to find your character’s back story and discover how they ended up being the person they are,” Block said. “Nobody in life starts out saying, ‘I am going to be horrible to people. I am going to make life miserable for others, and in turn I will isolate myself.’ Everyone starts out having good intentions. Elphaba is a girl with hopes and dreams and passions, and then the world changes things. People manipulate. Stories are told that become truths because the world believes them.”
Painted to act wicked
Maguire was intrigued to discover that “however shrill the wicked witch is in the film, in the (first) book we never read a single bad thing she’s ever done. And in the movie, the only really bad thing she does is to threaten the Scarecrow with fire – but after all, Dorothy and her friends have come into her castle to steal her broom. They have come to attack her.
“Most of her reputation as evil is based in hearsay and gossip. We believe she’s wicked simply because we’re told so and because she doesn’t conform with our notions of beauty and therefore goodness.”
In “Wicked,” Elphaba and Glinda are friendly roommates at wizardry school, but the green one is soon made an outcast by her social status and the color of her skin. In that context, this quirky fantasy suddenly seems to be speaking directly to young women.
“When you become labeled by your physical features or social stature, what choice do you have but to adapt to whatever it is that people believe?” Block said. “When Elphaba becomes defined by the world as wicked, and there is no other place for her to go, she makes the conscious choice that, ‘OK, enough. I will become that.”
The Denver run of “Wicked” marks Block’s return to the starring role after taking six weeks to recover from a back injury that she suffered in March. On the tour’s opening night in Toronto, Block was on a broom strapped to a flying harness when her cable popped while she was flying.
Block limped by for six months before her doctor ordered her to take time off and let her leg heal. She was replaced last month by Eden Espinoza, who originated the title role in the Denver-born Broadway musical “Brooklyn.”
“My heart hated missing the show, but my body certainly knew it was time,” Block said.
When the tour began, Block already was far overdue for her green reprise. She was the original Elphaba when Schwartz began developing “Wicked” in Los Angeles in 2000. She worked closely with Schwartz for two years, developing the score when the producers told her it was too big of a risk to open a $14 million production with an actress who had never opened a Broadway show before.
“I was heartbroken,” she said. “I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that I cried like a baby.”
A Broadway break
But things worked out for both Block and “Wicked.” Just before “Wicked” moved to Broadway in October 2003, Block got her big break starring opposite Hugh Jackman in “The Boy From Oz.” The shows opened within two weeks and several blocks of each other, and both were smash hits. Block got her Broadway break, and “Wicked” grossed more than $56 million in its first year.
Still, “I just knew I had to play this character one day,” she said.
Tonight isn’t Block’s first Denver opening. She launched the world premiere of the Irving Berlin revue “I Love a Piano” here in 2002.
“That was a fantastic experience,” she said. “I tell you I never felt more musical than in that show. The music, singing and dancing were just gorgeous.”
Block said director Ray Roderick is still trying to find a home for the show in a smaller New York venue. If that were to happen, Block won’t be available because she’s committed to “Wicked” through at least March.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
“Wicked”
MUSICAL|National touring production presented by Denver Center Attractions|Written by Stephen Schwartz (music) and Winnie Holzman (book)|Directed by Joe Mantello|Starring Stephanie J. Block, Kendra Kassebaum, Carol Kane and David Garrison|Buell Theatre at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets|THROUGH OCT. 2| 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays|SOLD OUT|Note: A daily lottery for 24 orchestra seats will be held before each performance. You must arrive at the box office 2 1/2 hours before curtain to enter; lottery 30 minutes later. Cost to winners is $25. Call 303-893-4100 for details.
