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The “Wicked” politics of Gregory Maguire
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s been hard to miss that “Wicked” is in town at the Fox Theatre for a four-week run. I saw it right after it opened and was blown away, and then an extra ticket fell in my lap to see it again this week. That’s just more good fortune than one blogger deserves.
Now in a rare convergence, Gregory Maguire is coming to Outwrite Books on Tuesday night (Oct. 28) to read and sign his latest book, “A Lion Among Men.” It’s about the Cowardly Lion, who of course has a small role in “Wicked,” and it’s billed as “Volume Three in the Wicked Years.”
I asked Maguire what kind of series this is going to be, and he said a short one: One more book is planned, this time focusing on Glinda. “I want to find out what it’s like to be a post-menopausal beauty queen,” he chuckled.
Maguire said the new book is every bit as political as the first two, and I reminded him, as if it were necessary, that the musical version tones down the politics of the novel considerably but still captures a lot of his points.
“Boy, it packs a punch, doesn’t it?” he said. “Even for a light-hearted family vehicle, to my eye and ear it has gained power. Some of the lines and concepts make more sense now than they did when I wrote them in 1995.”
With thousands of Atlantans having seen “Wicked” in recent weeks, and many of them having read Maguire’s novel as well, I’d like to know what you think of the politics of “Wicked.”
And let’s be bold: How does it align with what’s going on in society today?
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By Wicked1
October 28, 2008 5:09 PM | Link to this
Being a HS US History teacher, I teach the Gilded Age by using the Wizard of Oz as a comparision. I went to see Wicked a few weeks ago and have to say it aligns with our government still today. We have a Prez (the Wizard) still living in a fantasy world (D.C. and Oz) where they don’t see the problems of the little people (Flying Monkeys/Farmers) in the society they are supposed to manage. We actually need more Wicked Witch’s (if you saw Wicked, you know she isn’t Wicked) to open peoples eyes and make this country a better, more productive place!