Wicked the Musical

                One of my teachers, Mr. Hale, advised me to attend one of his favorite musical concerts after asking for his opinion. “Wicked” is one of the most known musicals in New York City and I chose to write about it for my paper. The amazing music was composed by Stephen Schwartz and the lyrics as well. Also, there is a book written by Winnie Holzman about the story of the witches of Oz. Both musical and the book are based on a novel that has been written by Gregory Maguire. The musical Wicked tells a story about two witches and events happened before Dorothy arrives to Oz. Elphaba is the main character in the musical and the role was played by Anne Brummel. She is the wicked witch of the West. She has the most significant vocals ever. Whereas, Glinda is the second main character and the role was played by Jenni Barber. She is the good witch of the North. I was expecting to hear a combination of scary melodies related to the title of the program. But the music was played according to the events and connected to the emotions of the scenes. The music had some happy harmonies and others sad.

            The opening scene was supported with a strong melody from the orchestra and chorus who added loudness and harmony to the overall music. The atmosphere was incredible because the stage had a map of Oz and the green lights definitely added a spooky mood before the show begins and during the performance. Even the performers’ costumes were related to the story. Elphaba wore a black dress for the whole show which represented her weird personality and her lack of the sense of fashion. Glinda wore different dresses that represent the same happy/popular personality she has. In addition, the orchestra played diverse tones and melodies with sadness and power at the same time when Elphaba sings. For example, the cello was playing a soft melody with low pitch when Elphaba was worried about her sister. To me, it was artistic that instruments’ sounds can steal the audience’s attention by connecting emotions between them and the performers’ roles. The structure of the music was divided into many sections and some melodies were repeated. On the other hand, pauses took significant places between each act to give the audience a chance to applaud. Speaking of pauses, the whole show was approximately two hours and thirty minutes plus it had a fifteen minutes intermission. The intermission has a major role to the show because it can be used to shift set pieces on stage. It also helps the musicians to adjust their instruments if necessary and give the performers some time to prepare for the next act. Actually, I was glad that there was an intermission because I was thirsty and I went to the bar to grab a drink.

            The family of instruments that were used in Wicked the musical were diverse. These instruments that belong to the orchestra wind ensemble family and it includes woodwind instruments, the brass instruments and the percussion instruments. The huge number of instruments from the orchestra produced great dynamics. In some parts of the performance the timbre of each instrument gave me goose bumps. What I mean is that the combination of all strings and other instruments that were used in the performance delivered the exact same emotions that each scene carried. Actually, the music aided to create a connection factor between the audience and the performers. For example, viola, cello and harp produced different pitches to generate the overall dynamics of the melody. In addition, the vocals were strong and powerful. In fact, Anne Brummel who played Elphaba’s role represented her voice with high amplitude and her ability of conveying the diverse sizes of sound waves was magnificent. What made all the talented performers and singers to raise even more was the texture of the music which backed up all the singers to put together a wonderful harmony.

            The orchestra was leaded by a conductor who did his duties very well. He was the major factor that kept the orchestra unified and he is the one who sat the tempo for the whole performance. Truly, I did not see the conductor because he is usually located in the pit which is a lowered area in front of the stage. Along with conductor you will find the orchestra inside the pit as well. With big orchestra, the conductor usually stands facing the stage with his back towards the audience whereas, musicians sit facing the audience and the conductor giving their back to the stage. As a matter of fact, I would not know these information if it was not for my music class. Also, I like how I’m listening critically and concentrating on each instrument sound. It is great to experience the same music I have been listening to but differently.