“Wicked” first wafted into San Francisco 21 years ago in its world premiere, long before becoming a pop culture juggernaut, the fourth longest-running show in Broadway history and a long-awaited two-part movie epic.
At the time, I may have been a bit of a wicked witch of a critic, bemoaning that much of the sharpest political subtext from Gregory Maguire’s 1995 dystopian novel had been toned down in favor of pie-eyed girl power platitudes and high-flying adventure. Think “Mean Girls” meets “Harry Potter” plus jazz hands.
While I still miss the piercing warnings about pillaged natural resources and the rise of fundamentalism, I now also see the deep and abiding appeal of embracing themes of joy and hope in dark times. Bubbly and bouncy as ever, this glittering “Wicked” floats through the Orpheum Theater through Oct. 13.
As it happens, themes of patriarchy and corruption are again dominating the culture, and that’s one reason why “Wicked’s” take on the shero’s journey seems more uplifting than ever. Writer Winnie Holzman (“My So-Called Life”) astutely centers the frenemies-to-BFF dynamic over the love triangle in this narrative. The male characters, from the man behind the curtain (Blake Hammond in a hammy turn as the Wizard of Oz) to the party boy Fiyero, (Xavier McKinnon) never steal even a jot of attention from the bond between Elphaba and Glinda.
Despite showing its age on stage, particularly in the draggy first act, “Wicked” still enchanted the opening night audience with its signature blend of YA fantasy tropes and sappy power ballads. Other musicals should be green with envy over this die-hard fan base.
This somewhat spotty touring production stars Lauren Samuels as the misunderstood villain Elphaba and Austen Danielle Bohmer as the goody-goody Glinda, the iconic characters originally played by Idina Mendel and Kristin Chenoweth. While neither actress fleshes out her role as vividly as she should, Bohmer has real comic flair and gives Glinda a quirky angularity. Samuels has great pipes but she indulges in far too much mugging in her climactic romantic scene.
Like the rest of the cast, they always seem to be in a mad dash to the next punchline. Aymee Garcia goes through the motions as the malaprop-spewing Madame Morrible. There’s also scant chemistry between Samuels and McKinnon, which keeps the emotional stakes low.
Not that any of these quibbles mattered to the audience, which seems as mesmerized by the musical now as it did back in 2003, proving that the “Wicked” spell is hard to break.
Contact Karen D’Souza at karenpdsouza@yahoo.com
‘WICKED’
Book by Winnie Holzman, music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Through: Oct. 13
Where: Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market St., San Francisco
Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes, one intermission
Tickets: $80-$345; 888-746-1799, www.broadwaysf.com
