Wicked - A Musical

We watched the musical Wicked at the Gershwin theater during our June trip to NYC.  It was one of the cultural events Nicholas selected for us.

The show was very well attended - nearly sold out. A good percentage of the audience was old woman, and some old man. Another major portion of the audience was seemingly organized high school students going there through school activity. Tourists like us were another major part of the attendees. It was a formal event for us - we dressed up for the occasion! I could sense the suppressed excitement of the audience. I was little bit bored at beginning of the show but enthralled by the singing and the story line as the show went on. 

Wicked is about Elphaba, the illegitimate daughter between wife of the governor of Munchkinland and a mysterious stranger, who was born green-skinned The governor resented the girl. Elphaba grew up to become the notorious Wicked Witch of the West.

At the first part of the show Elphaba was seen as a girl who was abnormal, easily agitated and trying to conform. But her explosion of anger revealed she had mystic power. She evolved into a woman who represented power, justice and truth while the mass was  depicted as weak, prejudiced and fraud.

While most in the audience cheered on for Elphaba since she was suppressed, and a underdog in the society, who eventually "won", I thought that the undertone of the show was to celebrate abnormality, decry normality. It is wicked, I did not cheer on any part of it.