Wicked vs. Wizard of Oz?

Question:I'm doing a paper for a theater class and revealing the clues in Wicked that are revealed in Wizard of Oz, like Fiyero is the Scarecrow etc.... Does anyone have a really good one or can think of any lines in either Wicked or Wizard of Oz that relate to one another? Love to hear your thoughts, thanks!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I'm doing a paper for a theater class and revealing the clues in Wicked that are revealed in Wizard of Oz, like Fiyero is the Scarecrow etc.... Does anyone have a really good one or can think of any lines in either Wicked or Wizard of Oz that relate to one another? Love to hear your thoughts, thanks!

I am speaking from the play (as I have seen it twice) not the book (there are LOTS of differences between the two). However here are my thoughts:

Something you may want to focus on is that The Wizard originally wanted the flying monkeys for himself. He had Elphaba read the spell to create the first one. (He was not powerful enough...as we know from the movie b/c he wasn't a wizard at all.) Then she was horrified and no longer wanted to be with him. (She did not know he was her father.)

Also the shoes (which in the show are different colors in different lights) belonged to Elphaba's sister Nessarose. They were created to help her walk (Nessarose was in a wheelchair) THAT is why they were so important and why she wanted to get them from Dorothy. The reason they were different colors in the light is pretty interesting. In the originial book (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) they are silver. However when they made the movie, the color did not show up well on film so they changed them to ruby slippers.

It is true in the ~play~ that Fiyero is the Scarecrow at the end and that Elphaba didn't really melt. It was just a trick so she and Fiyero could live "happily ever after". It is different in the book, but we're looking at the play. Fiyero also mentions in some of his lyrics (esp "Dancing Through Life" and "As Long as You're Mine") being brainless (I.E. forshadowing). The Tin Man (a young man named Boc) ends up with Elphaba's sister Nessarose. She kind of guilts him into staying with her. He tries to leave Nessarose (because he is really in love with Glinda/Galinda) and Nessarose uses a spell on him. She doesn't know how to use the spell book, so it goes wrong and turns him into the Tin Man. This really pisses him off...lol

The cowardly lion, Elphaba saves and sets free as a cub. He becomes cowardly b/c she didn't let him fight his own battles. He doesn't have any lines in the show and you only see his tail at one point during the mob scene.

There should be plenty of things to use here that parallel each other. I'm sure I can think of some more. E-mail me if you need any.

Incidently I saw this on broadway with Idina Menzel, Kristen Chenoweth, and Norbert Leo Butz. It was excellent.

I have the script for both, so I'll look through them and edit this answer as soon as I do that.

I know there's a reference the Tinman makes to the Wicked Witch of the West/Elphaba turning him to tin with a spell.

Wow... I love the Wizard of Oz... I did not know about the book and/or Wiked the musical - I will have to go get that...
But as soon as I read your question, I wanted to know more... This probably won't help you much but there is some cool stuff in the thread:
http://www.gregorymaguire.com/discussion...

Thanks for the question! I am glad to have learned about Wicked today!!!

Fieyro wasn't the scarecrow. When Elphaba is sort of mad towards the end she convinces herself that he is Fiyero come back to her but then Liir tells her that all the straw came out of the scarecrow and Elphaba realised it wasnt him. Umm... the wizard in the book shows himself in a different projected form, like when Elphaba and Galinda go to Wizard he is a dancing skeleton. In the Wizard of Oz he is a big giant head, (sorry, I've only seen the movie). Oh, the cowardly Lion is the little Lion cub that Elphaba saves when she's at Shiz.