“Wicked” reminds us that we’d all better be prepared to defy gravity. Especially black women

The “evil” nation is still relatively young, like the musical itself. This year marks its 21st anniversary on Broadway, and the touring version has toured the country constantly since its early days, thrilling audiences with its revised version of Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz.”

In this retelling of the American fairy tale, the protagonist goes to Elphaba Thropp, a naturally gifted witch who eventually becomes the Wicked Witch, revived by Galinda Upland, her friend from her student days at Shi’s University. Galinda is fun, blonde, self-involved and universally loved, probably from the moment she came into the world.

In contrast, Elphaba is a naturally gifted sorceress, whose green skin led her father to reject her from the moment she was born. Their shared journey makes “Wicked” a magnet for like-minded souls drawn to its theme of inappropriate friendships.

What I noticed when I saw the touring production recently was that the theater was packed with mothers, sisters and daughters. Many of the younger members wore sequin and tulle skirts. Relatively few chose to dress up as Elphaba. Regardless, it was a communal event filled with joy, cheers, laughter and enthusiastic applause.

So why was I so angry when I left the stage?

This is a rhetorical question. I know why. It has nothing to do with the performers or with Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s script, which I was familiar with long before seeing the stage production for the first time. My anger was only a matter of time.

The first half of the “Wicked” film adaptation marks a place in our cultural history similar to how “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” arrived in theaters weeks after Donald Trump won the presidency for the first time in 2016.

That shock disappointed progressives who bought into the illusion that Barack Obama’s two terms in office signaled an evolution toward a more equitable future for America.

“Right now, hope seems foolish,” Salon’s Amanda Marcotte wrote at the time. “People who give up on hope begin to chase impossible dreams.” In addition, Felicity Jones’ Jyn Erso reminded her compatriots from “Rogue One” that “rebellions are built on hope.” Jane was right, but she didn’t live to see it.

“The Wicked” is an allegory about history that has been manipulated. Thanks to the 1939 film version of The Wizard of Oz, Americans know the same story about Elphaba that was told to the citizens of Oz, and we all accepted the propaganda as gospel.

My husband and I watched the theater show the Sunday after the election, which reminded me once again how much America despises women, especially black women.

The actor playing Elphaba in the theater production I attended is not black. Neither does Idina Menzel, who created the role on Broadway, with Kristin Chenoweth as Galinda/Glinda. However, the casting of Cynthia Erivo to play her in the film meets a moment that wasn’t as in our faces in 2003 as it is now.

Elphaba’s existence is a miracle recast as obscene. She is extraordinary in every way, and yet the world demands that she belittle her abilities and treat her intelligence as if it were a crime.

Even her laugh was deemed sinister, until it was granted acceptance, temporarily, thanks to a natural endorsement from Ariana Grande’s lithe, perky, vivacious blonde Galinda, swinging her golden locks with an “erm, erm.”

Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda in “Wicked” (International)“Kamala Harris is a woman whose racial identity has been called into question, whose name has been mocked, who has been denigrated for not having biological children, who has been accused of sleeping her way to the top, and who has been denigrated for her laughter,” said my colleague Mary Elizabeth Williams in her scathing video response to the election results: “Her clothing style – all things that have absolutely nothing to do with her qualifications and accomplishments.”

“…What do you think about what it says to us as women?” Williams added. “What do you think about what survivors of sexual violence say?” What do you think it says to women of color?

Here’s what came to mind as I watched Wicked play on stage: According to polls conducted by NBC News and CBS News, white women voted for Trump 53% to 45% in 2024. That’s not a huge shift from 2020, when Age 55% supported Trump, or 2016 when 52% supported Trump.

In the last two presidential elections, and certainly in the last one, there has been a routine celebration of black women saving democracy, with white women this time promising to do better.

But black women had to know deep down that neither the Galindas nor the Glendas would change their position for a leader who promised better for all of us and for democracy. It’s all in the lyrics to “Defying Gravity”: “I hope you’re happy, and I hope you’re happy too,” Elphaba sings to Glinda. “I hope you’re proud, how you grovel in submission.” Elphaba didn’t seem too surprised, just disappointed. Some of us know this feeling.

Anyway, this is how the first chapter ends. By the end of the show, Elphaba and Glinda have repaired their friendship – and here’s the part that I think struck me as interesting: Elphaba apologizes to Glinda. In the musical, Glinda does not reciprocate. Shortly thereafter, Dorothy comes to the scene with a bucket of water, etc., etc.

Since the movie and the musical open with the Munchkins belting out a number celebrating the Wicked Witch’s demise, this doesn’t spoil anything for you. “No one grieves for the wicked!” The people of Oz chime in triumphantly. But, yeah, the whole message rubbed me the wrong way.

Musicals are an emotionally charged art form by design, but “Wicked” is next level. All the pre-match excitement, and the willingness to get upset over impromptu sing-alongs in movie theaters is proof of that.

I could be wrong, but I don’t remember many proactive social media posts of teenagers getting ready to sing “Tonight” during a screening of Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” revival. Then again, most of Tony and Maria’s fans are too old for any open-minded show that doesn’t involve a martini or three.

By contrast, “Wicked” is a series of duets and solos about friendship, loathing, and the friendship that thrives from loathing — the series is about childhood emotions. I imagine younger fans would strongly associate Glinda and Elphaba’s volatile relationship with their own highs and lows.

Young people’s reading of films, music and television has become simpler. Elphaba is a powerful fantasy for outcasts. Glenda is confident, fashionable, and hilariously blind to her own vanity. Later, she came to realize with great regret, too late, the devastating cruelty in which she had participated for her own benefit, carried out by an ordinary, talentless man who discredited her friend for purely political advantage. But at least they find their way to liking each other again.

Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard of Oz and Michelle Yeoh as Mrs. Morrible in “Wicked” (Universal Studios)

Friendship gained and lost isn’t the only theme of “Wicked,” but it’s the brilliant undertone of the subtext of discrimination, dehumanization, and oppression in a world where a Kansas con man tricks an overconfident population into believing he’s a wizard.

“When I first got here, there was discord and discontent,” the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) explains to Elphaba when he thinks she shares his addiction to being a celebrity. “And where I come from, everyone knows that the best way to bring people together is to give them a really good enemy.”

Erivo is one of the best singers of our time, knocking off the role of Aretha Franklin before stepping into the big role of Elphaba. But her blackness calls attention to Elphaba’s specific character in a way that audiences might ignore when white actors wore her pointed hat.

The witch’s green skin appeared in the 1939 film. In the book, Baum positioned her evil as the antithesis of Dorothy Gale’s pluck and goodness.

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Director Jon M. Chu’s Oz is both a multicolored artistic wonderland and a multicultural wonderland, with major characters played by black, brown, and Asian actors — particularly Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Shiz’s doyen of magic and, initially, Elphaba’s heroine. She eventually becomes Elphaba’s enemy, although she is not the first to hold this title.

Grande’s Galinda jumps into this part with aplomb. Elphaba brings her hatred back to her until the day the always pink Galinda, in a two-part act of subversion, presents the plain-clad Elphaba with the hat that becomes her signature look, knowing that the rest of their Shiz classmates will tease her mercilessly.

Ariana Grande as Glinda in “Wicked” (International)But Elphaba mistakes it for a peace offering, and in a lopsided exchange gives Galinda the thing she wants most: entry into an exclusive world. So Galinda uses some of her credibility to bring some normalized popularity to her green-skinned classmate who becomes her friend in one night.

If you’re a woman of color who counts Galinda’s type among your ex-boyfriends, what happens next may seem familiar. This may have prepared you somewhat for the way things went on November 5th. As Elphaba’s profile rises, Galinda slides along in her wake. . . Until the moment comes when Miss Upland is forced to choose between joining her best friend in self-righteous exile and increasing her popularity on a massive scale.

Let’s say you’ve seen “The Wizard of Oz” — and the number of people who have read Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel, which inspired the musical — is greater than the number of people who have read the novel — you already know the decision you’re going to make.

“Her green skin is only an outward appearance Manifestorium “By her devious nature,” says the person calling for the hunt for Elphaba. “This distortion…this dissonance…this evil witch.”

Elphaba is none of those things. We’ve seen that. Glenda knows that too. But obeying the man in charge is better for Glenda. And the history of Oz proves that. And also American history.

The beauty of “Wicked” is that it ends on the highest note of the story, with Elphaba choosing to fight back and fly free rather than submit to a corrupt government. The CGI magic throughout “Wicked” can be intoxicating, but in this climax it enables Erivo’s Elphaba to soar like a comet and declare her independence with exhilarating determination:

So if you are interested find me
Look at the western sky
As someone told me recently
“Everyone deserves the chance to fly.”

It is a temporary victory. It’s also a gift for the frustrated who need reminding that there’s nothing new in the story we’re living through, and that people who will be hurt more than most will stick with the popular choice if it means they get to ride in a nice bubble car. But I’d rather be like the outcast who clings to the magic in her purse and the broom no longer meant for cleaning up other people’s messes.

“Wicked” is now showing in theaters nationwide.