The musical that beats all the odds is Stephen Schwartz's "The Wicked" Since October 2003 , this amazing musical has continued month after month and week after week to be an incredible smash hit selling out continually and raking in 100 % capacity of all seats available. What is the absolute fascination about the land of Oz? What absolute magic did L. Frank Baum create in 1900 . It certainly has affected me as a writer. I read the original book back in the sixth grade. I couldn't put it down. It was absolutely fascinating. I played the Scarecrow as a teenager in a community theatre presentation at age sixteen. And it was "The Wizard Of Oz" that opened the door for me to become a songwriter in 1980. As I told the story in my very first blog here, without my wanting to play the Scarecrow again in a production that was being put on by the Gallery Theatre in 1980, I would have never taken up songwriting seriously. By 1980 I had tinkered with a few lyrics and a few melodies, here and there but only with the challenge that the "Gallery" production provided did I do anything that was important in this arena. I ended up writing an entirely new libretto with twelve songs and even did a sequel called "The Return Of The Wizard Of Oz" --in which Oz returns to Emerald City and Aunt Em and Uncle Henry come to live there as well. But "The Wicked" is unique because it is not based on the original story except for its characters. The novel by Gregory Macquire is sprawling and needed tight adadptation. The other day I got to read the detailed synopsis of the musical show and found it absolutely fascinating. Of course the wizard in this show is no Frank Morgan of MGM movie fame-- and he is most certainly not the kindly humbug that L. Frank Baum created in 1900. Now in Baum's book, animals talk and move freely about. In this musical, they are losing these rights and the word "cage" is being bantered about freely. I think that this musical suceeds so well because every one loves an underdog. Elphaba as the misunderstood "Wicked Witch Of The West" is perfect fodder for exploration. A love interest for her becomes absolutely fascinating: love can be blind, even if you're green! A lot of plot, however rides on the fact that Glinda's reputation can not be spoiled at any cost. Even if that cost means that your best friend must stage her own demise (melting the witch with water etc) and be run out of town on a rail-- no make that broom! We even find out that the two witchs of Oz were indeed sisters! The wizard is a humbug -- and that is discovered by Elphaba, herself. Of course, relying on the fact that somebody has to win and somebody has to lose makes a great ending. But I do wonder, after reading this synopsis why Elphaba could not have used the discovery that Oz is indeed a humbug as a way to save her dear green skin! Now, its true that Glinda discovers this deception also and demands that the Wizard leave Oz. But why didn't she use this information to save her long time friend? A mystery! The Wicked Witch of the West is perhaps the first victim of prejudice. Even in a fairy tale you can be misjudged, maligned, blamed and convicted because of the color of your skin. Why does the color green bother people in Oz when its capital city is indeed the same color and the brick road that leads us to its door is none other than yellow. You can benefit from color, but you can't BE a different color in any world there is: reality or make believe! It doesn't take a Munchkin to be small minded. It simply requires, mistrust, prejudice and hatred to do the job. What did the Scarecrow say "Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't they!" How very true and prophetic were those words! I really believe that "The Wizard Of Oz" should be required reading for every school child. So now we return to the question of the day. What makes this musical so successful. The critics only gave it mixed reviews and Broadway critics can close a show after three performances. The producers of "Carrie" know that story well enough! So does Sir Elton John with "Le Stat" (though that lasted a month!) Well, THE WICKED succeeds because Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman have made a brilliant adaptation. The Mcguire book is a brilliant character study, but character studies don't make Broadway musicals! Believe or not some "chestnuts" don't succeed in adadptation here eithier. The attempted musical version of "Harvey" by Leslie Briccuse comes to mind! The Macguire book needed serious adaptation. The first reading of this show was four hours long! Of course, the songs are wonderful! That helps a lot! It is also great fortune that the Scwartz and Holzman knew when to cut things that didn't need telling! Baum's characters continue to live on despite the fact that during his lifetime L. Frank Baum was a androit failure! "Thank goodness" for that!