Performance Report On Wicked

Performance Report In March 2015 I attended a performance of the popular musical Wicked, written by Winnie Holzman with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, directed by Joe Mantello, and starring Jennifer DiNoia as Elphaba and Chandra Lee Schwartz as Glinda. The play was performed on a proscenium stage at The Hollywood Pantages Theatre, a large indoor theatre built in the 1930s. The size and vintage style of the theatre created an atmosphere of elegance that fostered an air of anticipation amongst the audience before the performance began.

The show drew a large and somewhat diverse audience primarily made up of middle-aged and young adults, with quite a few families in attendance as well, all of whom appeared very engaged in the show throughout

Though incredible sets, costumes and special effects left little of the visual aspects of the play to the imagination, the audience was invoked to imagine the fictional world in which the play takes place and to accept fantastical concepts such as witchcraft, talking animals, and potions that turn people green.

Although Wicked is non-realistic fantasy, it reflects society in numerous ways. Represented through the discrimination and mistreatment of talking animals as well as the bullying inflicted on Elphaba throughout the story, the play mirrors our own societies concern regarding racial inequality and prejudice. On a much more personal level Wicked not only reflects our society as a whole but also our inherent inner desires as individuals to be accepted and loved; this is reflected in the play through Elphaba’s ongoing struggle to fit in despite her abnormal green skin and despite her own disbelief that anyone could ever love her for