Witches' Brew

WICKED SPINS A NEW VERSION OF OZ ON BROADWAY

Long before Dorothy and Toto's crash landing, there were two women— one pretty and popular, the other born emerald green and malcontent—who were unlikely friends in the Land of Oz. Their story will be told in Wicked, a new musical opening this fall at New York's Gershwin Theatre, written by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, based on a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire. Joel Grey plays the Wizard, and Kristin Chenoweth (2001 Tony winner for You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown) and Idina Menzel (Rent) star as the ladies who eventually become Glinda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West. "I play Glinda the Good Witch, who definitely has some issues. Of course, I don't know a woman who doesn't," says Chenoweth. "I think a lot of women can understand and relate.... Women can be tricky with one another, and this show is a prime example of how friendships can come together and separate." Imagined as a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, Wicked is told as a series of flashbacks from the scene of the Wicked Witch's meltdown. Director Joe Mantello, a veteran of the theater who received a Tony last June for 7ake Me Out, has been involved with the project for nearly three years. "I've never had a more satisfying experience when the piece is working. I just think it's a great story—there's something so smart about it.... The girls are astonishing, and for that reason alone it's really worth seeing. I mean, you never see musicals, or plays for that matter, with just two women in the lead." Well, Dorothy, we're definitely not in Kansas anymore.

KRISTA SMITH