Skip to main contentThe day after I took the cleverly titled "Behind the Emerald Curtain" tour of Wicked, Broadway's biggest hit in years, The New York Times published a sobering article ("Lost in America," Sunday, Aug. 20) about the current state of the "road tour," or touring musical and theatrical productions that begin in NYC and often end in cities like PDX (as the three-years-on-the-road Hairspray did in June). It seems that in years past, family-friendly mega-productions, like Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, packed houses nationwide, but today's somewhat edgier shows (Urinetown, anyone?) are falling flat. Audiences in New York might be willing to drop big bucks to hear puppets wax rhapsodic about porn (Avenue Q), but that stuff isn't exactly playing in P-towns like Peoria, Pittsburgh and Portland. The Times article did mention something else: The likeliest candidate to save the touring musical is Wicked, a proto-feminist tale of female friendship and power, all set to a twee soundtrack.
Wicked, which is based on a novel by Gregory Maguire reimagining the backstory of the witches in The Wizard of Oz, has attracted a legion of primarily young fans who not only love the play but feel the need to know about every last detail of the production. It is with these completists in mind that the folks at Wicked's home base, the Gershwin Theater, put together "Behind the Emerald Curtain," designed to share tidbits about the technical aspects of the show's lavish production. These completists are so dedicated that not even the prospect of a schlep through Times Square at 10 am on a Saturday could deter them.
In the interest of full disclosure, as a former Portland freelancer who now lives in Manhattan, I should say I've never seen Wicked, partly because musicals bring back horrible high-school theater memories and partly because getting tickets would require selling a kidney.
That said, on with the tour.
One of the first things our jovial "tour guide"—an understudy who plays several small parts—told us was Wicked has a $25 million advance, meaning $25 million worth of tickets have been sold for future shows. It's one of the biggest advances in Broadway history, and it means that every seat in the house is sold out for the next several months.
The 200-odd people in the crowd, each of whom had paid $25 to take the tour, seemed enthralled. After throwing that massive figure out there, our guide kept right on going with more quirky facts, telling us that the original "Glinda the Good Witch" costume was so detailed it took three months to manufacture, and that the production now has it down to a more reasonable six weeks. This is due in large part to the talent and exacting eye of Susan Hilferty, who previously designed wardrobes for shows like Dirty Blonde and Into the Woods. Hilferty loves to insert details into her costumes that only the most observant viewer will pick up. For instance, all of the main characters' costumes are symmetrical, while all of the ensemble cast members wear asymmetrical attire. She never provides a reason for this; it is simply meant to catch the eye. Hilferty also adds clever little details, like buttons emblazoned with the "Oz" logo. While all the original costumes will stay in New York, the outfits on the road show will be equally detailed and unique.
Hilferty's costumes seemed like small potatoes after moving on to the next part of the tour. There's a good reason the original model of the stage set is bound for the Smithsonian: The stage is visually stunning and extraordinarily intricate. Wicked is a 14-truck tour, which is industry parlance for "lots and lots of set pieces." The whole shebang takes three days to construct and features several large pieces that resemble cogs and clockwork, with a rendering of the story's "time dragon" perched atop it all. The set has a mechanical, matte, post-industrial vibe rendered in shades of gray and black. The only difference between the touring stage and the Broadway is the lack of wraparound set pieces and trapdoors.
Sets and costumes will take a production only so far, however; if the actors can't live up to the hype, then the show will fall flat. Our guide told us that the producers emphasize a need to cast "personalities" rather than big names, and have been known to rescind lead offers based on objections from the ensemble cast. Luckily, local Portland actress Shoshana Bean, who took over for Idina Menzel, the original Elphaba (better known as the Wicked Witch of the West), apparently lacks the diva-like attitude of many of Broadway's leading ladies, as she'll be casting her spell from the stage in Portland. Wicked awesome.
Wicked, Broadway in Portland at Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St., 248-4335. 7:30 pm Tuesdays-Fridays, 2 and 7:30 pm Saturdays, 1 and 6:30 pm Sundays, Sept. 6-17. $34-$74.
WWeek 2015