‘Wicked’ sweeps into Capitol Theatre showcase
Gina Beck as Glinda the Good and Emma Hunton as Elphaba, also known as the Wicked Witch of the West, in the 2014 Broadway touring musical "Wicked." The latest touring production of "Wicked" began its run at the Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City on Wednesday.
Emma Hunton as Elphaba in the 2014 Broadway touring musical "Wicked," inspired by the classic novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" written by J. Frank Baum. "Wicked" is playing at the Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City through March 3.
Gina Beck as Glinda the Good in the 2014 Broadway touring musical "Wicked," now playing in Salt Lake City through March 3 at the Eccles Theater.
Gina Beck as Glinda the Good in the 2014 Broadway touring musical "Wicked," now playing in Salt Lake City through March 3 at the Eccles Theater.
Emma Hunton and Gina Beck in the 2014 Broadway touring musical "Wicked," now playing at the Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City through March 3.
An unlikely friendship blossoms in the world of Oz as audiences discover how the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good of the North came to be in the long-running Broadway musical “Wicked,” which opened on Wednesday at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City.
The Tony Award-winning production was derived from the classic novel “The Wonderful World of Oz” by J. Frank Baum and tells the story of the beginnings to the Wicked Witch, as many know her from the 1939 original film. In the story, her name is Elphaba and before Dorothy (and her little dog, too) got lost in a tornado, Elphaba and Glinda forged a friendship against incredible odds.
“Only a handful of musicals in the history of Broadway have crossed the 10-year mark, and that is not only thrilling but extraordinary,” producer Marc Platt said. “It is a testament to the show’s ability to burrow into the hearts of its fans. The ideas and the characters still are relevant to us.”
Utah has risen in becoming a popular destination for major touring musical productions, and since MagicSpace Entertainment, a Salt Lake City-based production and booking agency, opened its first Broadway season in 1990-91, the group has sold more than 3 million tickets in the market, said Steve Boulay, the company’s COO.
Boulay noted that when “Phantom of the Opera” first came to Utah, more than 215,000 tickets were sold in a state with a population of about 2.5 million.
“That success stunned the show’s producers and drew attention from New York and Los Angeles to London,” Boulay said.
In “Wicked,” the opening musical number shows Glinda the Good, who is understudied by Utah native Nikki Bohne, and the northern witch talking about what it means to be good and what it means to be wicked. Citizens of Oz see Elphaba to be wicked, but throughout the show, it’s not necessarily as black and white as it appears.
“It explains how she came to be, and what her story was through her eyes. It teaches us that things are not always as they seem,” Bohne said. “There are two sides to a story, and if you open your eyes a little bit you can maybe see something a little different and through a different light.”
Bohne moved to Utah at age 9 with her family and saw the original Broadway cast perform “Wicked” at the Capitol Theatre at age 16. Two years earlier as a Mountain Ridge middle schooler, the then-Highland resident saw the musical “Brigadoon,” and that changed everything for her. Bohne then began participating in community theater groups and said experiencing “Wicked” inspired her to continue with her newfound passion.
“It was the story of the two witches and just the overall spectacle of the musical — every aspect was something that really spoke to me when I was younger,” Bohne said, “and it inspired me in a lot of ways to do what I’m doing.”
After graduating in Music Dance Theater from Brigham Young University in 2010, she and her fellow classmates went back East for their traditional New York showcase. Bohne booked a talent agent, soon moved to the Big Apple, and landed the lead role in “Legally Blonde: The Musical” as Elle Woods just weeks later.
Bohne continued to land roles on Broadway and now returns to Utah in “Wicked,” finally fulfilling a childhood dream.
“Playing in a musical like ‘Wicked,’ that means so much to me,” she said. “Playing the Capitol Theatre, which I grew up going to see shows in — it’s beyond amazing. It’s fun to kind of come full circle and to be able to share my journey with the people that matter most to me — my family, friends, teachers and overall, my community is the state of Utah.”
Bohne’s college roommate and good friend Shayla Beck is also in the production and understudies Elphaba in the show.
“This is a dream we’ve had for forever to be together,” Bohne said. “To sing ‘For Good’ in modern (dance) class our freshman year of college, and here we are eight years later and we are doing the show together.”
The musical number “For Good” appears right before the finale in the show and is said to be the culminating message of the production, which is the power of friendship.
In the production, the song addresses the notion that two girls from two different walks of life, completely opposite of each other, could relate to each other, could love each other and support each other — good or bad. Through all the obstacles Elphaba and Glinda overcome by the end of the show, they still were able to communicate a love to each other through their strong friendship.
“(It) talks about how each one of them was better because they knew the other person,” Bohne said of the musical number. “That’s something that every single person can relate to … and I think that is the primary reason this show is as successful as it is, is because it’s more than a spectacle and great music. At the heart of it, it’s about love. It’s about friendship.”
The song is presented quite simply with Elphaba and Glinda essentially singing right at each other with limited blocking for stage movements. Most likely by intentional design from the show’s producers to draw more attention to the message of the song and the meaning of the musical.
“There’s something in the shared experience and it might be that the L. Frank Baum characters are so part of our culture,” Platt said, “but there’s something in the ingredients that people want to experience it again.”
WICKED
When: Now through Aug. 24. Tuesdays through Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 6:30 p.m. Saturday matinees at 2 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 1 p.m. No Monday performances are scheduled.
Where: Capitol Theatre at 50 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City
Tickets: $65-$175
Info: arttix.org
Be sure to check heraldextra.com on Friday for a review of “Wicked.”