Made for each other
Sweet Kristin Chenoweth is good witch in 'Wicked'

Christopher Hawthorne, Special to The Chronicle

Kristin Chenoweth wants you to know that she's a lot tougher than she looks. The 32-year-old Broadway and erstwhile sitcom star -- who arrives in San Francisco this month as Glinda in the musical "Wicked," a prequel of sorts to the "Wizard of Oz" -- is determined to make clear that although she's a wisp of a woman, at 4 feet 11 and 95 pounds, and enjoyed a simple childhood in Oklahoma, a decade in show business has given her a steely resolve to go with her sugary exterior.

Witch way up
'Wicked' musical at Curran explores good
By Chad Jones, STAFF WRITER
LOOMING over the stage of San Francisco's Curran Theatre is a giant mechanical dragon with flashing red eyes and ominously flapping wings. The dragon presides over the creation of a brand-new musical, "Wicked," the story of the Wicked Witch of the West before Dorothy melted her with a pail of water.
Rumor has it that the stagehands who operate the dragon have nicknamed him Pippin.

The name pays tribute to "Wicked" composer Stephen Schwartz and his 1972 musical hit of the same name.

'Wicked' world premiere falls just short of bewitching
By Chad Jones, STAFF WRITER
WHENEVER the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch share the stage, "Wicked" is absolutely magical.
For that matter, whenever Glinda, played by the irrepressibly adorable Kristin Chenoweth, takes the spotlight, there's reason to cheer, to laugh and to bask in the glow of a genuine Broadway star.

But not everything is merry in the lovely old land of Oz.

Hey, Watch Who You're Calling Wicked

DANIEL HANDLER
NY Times

SAN FRANCISCO

AS soon as the curtain rises on "Wicked," the new musical about the Wicked Witch of the West, it's clear we're not in Kansas anymore. <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/29/arts/theater/29HAND.html target=_blank>more</a>

Much Good Is Wasted In `Wicked'

By MALCOLM JOHNSON
The Hartford Courant

NEW YORK -- "Wicked," the extravagant new musical that opened Thursday at the Gershwin Theatre, has a giant winged dragon puppet, massive and magical sets, raffish and colorful costumes, female bonding, even flying monkeys.

'Wicked' Musical Shows Another Side of Oz

By MICHAEL KUCHWARA
Associated Press

Welcome to the world of "Wicked," a lavish, ambitious and problematic new Broadway musical that dares to see Oz from another angle. We're talking "The Wizard of Oz" here, and a new perspective on the L. Frank Baum classic, one loosely adapted from Gregory Maguire's cult novel about those other, lesser-known Oz gals — Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba, later known as the Wicked Witch of the West.

Theater Review: Wicked

By FRANK SCHECK
Reuters

The show, featuring music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz ("Pippin," "Godspell"), is far too arch and sophisticated for children. But it also lacks the sophistication and wit of, say, "Into the Woods" that would make it palatable for adults. Only those obsessed with the source material and fantasy in general remain, but, as the success of "Harry Potter (news - web sites)" and "The Lord of the Rings" well demonstrates, that interest group is not to be underestimated.

Visiting Oz from another angle, 'Wicked' arrives on Broadway


By MICHAEL KUCHWARA
The Associated Press

Welcome to the world of "Wicked," a lavish, ambitious and problematic new Broadway musical that dares to see Oz from another angle. We're talking "The Wizard of Oz" here, and a new perspective on the L. Frank Baum classic, one loosely adapted from Gregory Maguire's cult novel about those other, lesser-known Oz gals -- Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba, later known as the Wicked Witch of the West.

Brick road leads to mediocre musicals

By MICHAEAL PHILLIPS
The Chicago Tribune

NEW YORK -- Literary bricklayer L. Frank Baum laid the foundation for a certain yellow road more than a century ago, and his charming thoroughfare has run straight through the 20th Century and on into the 21st. In an ever more pop-culturally weary way we are obsessed, still, with that brick road and the land of Oz, the Emerald City, the Munchkins and the witches and the dubious moral that we probably should've stayed home and kept an eye out for twisters. Or, to read it more charitably, we're entranced with the idea that home is the place -- no place like it, as the man said.

"Defying Gravity": 'Wicked' CD Flies Off the Shelves

By ANDREW GANS
The Playbill On-Line

The new musical Wicked is not only a hit at the box office but at record stores as well.

The Wicked cast recording - now available on the Decca Broadway label - had the highest first-week sales of any Broadway cast recording since Jonathan Larson's Rent in 1996.

Special Effects Dazzle in Musical 'Wicked'

By CAMERON BLOCH
The Associated Press on Yahoo
January 15, 2004

NEW YORK - A smoke-breathing dragon flaps its wings and cranks its head. Monkeys fly from a tangle of vines that frames a giant fantasy clock. A witch in a sparkling blue gown travels on a bubble-blowing pendulum. And a green witch in a black hat flies her broomstick through billows of smoke. All these special effects happen within the $1.5 million set of "Wicked," a new musical at the Gershwin Theatre that tells the story of "The Wizard of Oz" from the viewpoint of the witches who made life such a challenge for Dorothy in the classic 1939 film.

'Wicked' Dominates Tony Nominations With 10

By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
The New York Times
May 10, 2004

"Wicked," the musical inspired by ``The Wizard of Oz'' that delves into the past of the Wicked Witch of the West, captured 10 Tony Award nominations this morning, burying its competition somewhere under Auntie Em's house.

`Wicked' casting its spell on other area productions
by MICHAEL PHILLIPS in the Chicago Tribune

"If actors think they have a shot at a sit-down production, I think we're going to see a lot of new young talent move here, instead of New York," he says. "It's affordable here."

New role model for girls
by MISHA DAVENPORT for the Chicago Sun-Times

Just as they once made rock 'n' roll a force to reckon with, thus marginalizing the show tunes that had once defined popular music, teen girls appear to be a driving force in the Broadway musical's resurgence - and their touchstone is "Wicked."

published: May 5, 2005