When composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz brought Wicked to Broadway in 2003, he tapped into undeniably Jewish themes – the show is about being an outsider, the pain of prejudice, and the power of perseverance.
A prequel to The Wizard of Oz, Wicked is loosely based on Gregory Maguire’s novel of the same name. The book paints Oz as a place of political oppression, where the Wizard sows fear and division, echoing the rise of fascism in Europe in the twentieth century.
“The best way to bring folks together is to give them a really good enemy,” the Wizard says.
The story centres on Elphaba, the green-skinned outcast destined to become the Wicked Witch of the West, and her friendship with Glinda, the blonde and beloved future Good Witch.
“Are people born wicked or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?” Glinda asks at the beginning of the show – a question that is asked throughout the story.
Speaking to the JC’s Keren David, Schwartz said “I think a lot of musical theatre themes speak to Jewish audiences, because in many instances musicals are about outsiders, striving to discover how they might fit in.
“It certainly resonates with many Jewish people’s experience,” Schwartz told the JC.
The upcoming film adaptation brings this story – and its Jewishness – back into the spotlight, along with its star-studded – and quite Jewish – cast.
Alongside giant stars Ariana Grande-Butera and Cynthia Erivo, who play the two witches, Jewish actors have taken to the stage in the Emerald City.
Leading the charge is Jeff Goldblum, playing the Wizard. A Jewish actor, writer and jazz musician known for his roles in Jurassic Park and The Grand Budapest Hotel, the ever-popular Goldblum grew up in a Jewish family.
Joining him at ‘Dear Old Shiz’ is Ethan Slater as Boq, the lovestruck Munchkin. Slater, who was raised Conservative Jewish and attended Ohr Kodesh Synagogue in Maryland, recently made waves on Broadway as the title character in SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical.
Ethan Slater stars as Boq (Photo: Universal Pictures/YouTube)
British Jewish actor-writer and former Chai Summer Camp boy Andy Nyman also steps into Oz to ‘dance through life’ as Frexspar Thropp, Elphaba’s conflicted father.
Behind the camera, the film is in the hands of Marc Platt, father of Tony-winning Ben Platt, and the Jewish mega-producer behind La La Land, Legally Blonde, The Band’s Visit, and the original Broadway production of Wicked.
But Wicked’s Jewish connections also go back to the show’s Broadway roots. The show premiered at the Gershwin Theatre in New York, named after Jewish musical brothers George and Ira Gershwin, and starred the wickedly talented and Jewish Idina Menzel as the original Elphaba. Menzel’s powerhouse voice cemented Defying Gravity as a musical theatre anthem, and she won a Tony Award for her performance. She reprised the role in the West End, where she continued to smash ceilings – literal and figurative.
Jewish Broadway stars including Shoshana Bean and Caissie Levy have since carried the green torch along the yellow brick road.
In New York, the musical has become one of the highest-grossing productions of all time. It surpassed $1 billion in total Broadway revenue in 2016, joining Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera and Disney’s Lion King as the only shows to ever do so. In 2017, it became Broadway’s second-highest grossing musical, trailing only The Lion King.
