Why Wicked Is A Great Musical (Rant)

I've probably spent over an hour trying to explain the plot of Wicked: The Musical to my brothers, but I gave up, so now I'm just going to rant about it to the internet because why not? Also, spoilers for Wicked! Wicked, as you probably know if you're reading this, is a sort of prequel to the Wizard of Oz. I say "sort of" because almost the entire second act takes place during the Wizard of Oz. It's one of my favorite musicals (Hamitlon, Hairspray, Frozen, are up there as well). So today I'm going to list off 3 reasons why Wicked is such a great musical (duh, you've read the title). 1. THE MUSIC I mean it is a musical, and it would be terrible if it didn't have good music Not all of its' songs are the best, but with the exception of Something Bad they're all pretty good. And most of them are better than pretty good: Defying Gravity,Thank Goodness, Dancing Through Life, For Good are all some of my favorite songs of all time (I used to love No Good Deed, but I've been working it in voice lessons so now it just gets on my nerves). Seriously though, when Thank Goodness or What is This Feeling comes on I just start singing my heart out, jamming along, and just having a great time. Why does the show have such a large fandom, even when many of them (including myself) have never even seen the show? THE MUSIC. 2. THE STORY & CHARACTERS Despite many arguments I've had, the story of Wicked does make sense (99% of the time). There are a few inconsistencies with the orginal story (specifically referring to the movie, so does that even really count? The BOOK was probably based off of another BOOK). One my brothers will never drop is Elphaba sending a fireball at Fiyero (her love). I can't really argue with that, but again, movie vs. book- which canon is Wicked based off of? I don't know, I'm not friends with Stephen Schwartz. Anyways, that whole section was just counterarguments. Let's move onto characters. G(a)linda might be one of the most fleshed out characters with the most dynamic change EVER. She changes so much throughout the course of the show. She starts out etremely superficial and only caring about being well, POPULAR. But when she meets Elphie she realizes that that's nots what is most important in life, even if it takes a while for her to catch on. After she gives advice to the Wizard which then leads to a string of events that kills Nessarose, Glinda really changes. She becomes a much more caring individual and actually becomes Glinda the GOOD. An great example of this is her in Thank Goodness vs. For Good. In Thank Goodness, she just stands idly by while the citizens sing about how terrible and wicked Elphaba is. But before For Good Elphaba has to make her PROMISE not to try to clear her name. 3. THEMES/MESSAGING This is the point in the aforementioned argument/discussion with my siblings that aggravated me the most. I swear, if they say Wicked is a fluffy, fun pointless show one more time then I will SCREAM. That all applies to the Wizard of Oz, but not Wicked. Wicked touches a lot on current social issues, the most prominent issues being racism (the inciting incident for the entie show) and political corruption (the Wizard and Madame Morrible). It also touches on poignant themes such as friendship, acceptance, and love. Before Elphaba meets Glinda she has never been accepted at all. Her father despises her, her sister isn't quite sure what to do with her, and everyone else she's met has made fun of her and judged her. Then she goes to Shiz and despite still being an outcast slowly begins to find her people: Dr. Dillamond, Fiyero, and Glinda. Elphaba literally says at the end of the show that Glinda was her only friend, and Glinda in response says that Elphaba was the only friend she ever had that mattered. That's all for today! Thanks for reading. P.S. If you want more ranting on things I enjoy (only this time it's me ranting about theories)- check out my Marvel blog because Wandavision posts are coming!