Wicked - Script

Questions and Answers about the Wicked Script

1. Where can I buy the script?

A version of the script for Wicked the musical has been published in Wicked The Grimmerie

• Read all about Wicked: The Grimmerie;
• About Wicked the musical (Wicked home page-links to over 50 pages)

Wicked licensing: Wicked is not yet available for licensing by theatre groups.

2. A Wicked glossary - Why was new vocabulary invented?

Gregory Maguire invented terms to suit his new story for the pre-Dorothy Oz for Wicked Musical Tie-in Edition : The Life... [new browser window]

The musical has it's own vocabulary. Here's an inside story from Carol de Giere:

Wicked's Writers Stephen Schwartz (music and lyrics) and Winnie Holzman (book) used humor to help them face the endless writing and reworking required for this vast project, which was conceived in 1996 and required about four years of concentrated work. (See also Wicked History).

Early on in the writing process, Holzman created a kind of "Oz Speak" for the show, mostly used by Glinda and Madame Morrible. When Glinda explained something might have been confusing, she instead says it was "confusifying." When she needed to say, "He means no disrespect," it became "disrespectation," giving an additional bit of whimsy to her character.

Soon Holzman was hearing Oz speak spoken back at her. When revisions had to be made, Schwartz would say with a wry smile, "Well, we'll have to make an 'adjustification.'" Read more about the playful words at StephenSchwartz.com forum - answer to question about the vocabulary in the Wicked script

Schwartz, too, had words to invent for the musical. For his "No Good Deed" song he came up with: "Eleka nahmen nahmen/Ah tum ah tum eleka nahmen." He says "I just made up words that I thought sounded kind of chant like."

For a discussion of Stephen Schwartz's use of Latin, Green, etc. in forming the chants see Stephenschwartz.com forum post

3. Why Was the Novel changed for the musical?

"Primarily we were interested in the relationship between Galinda - who becomes Glinda and Elphaba the green Witch. As short-hand we always call the show 'Turning Point in Oz,' (like the movie The Turning Point); the friendship of these two women and how their characters lead them to completely different destiny's and how the friendship is tested and broken and mended etc. through this process." -- Stephen Schwartz

Hear a podcast all about the origins of Wicked: Podcast about Adapting Wicked novel to Wicked Script for Stage

Someone asked Stephen Schwartz: Did you care about the political content of the novel?

See Stephen Schwartz's comment:

Wicked from book to musical

There's no place like my Wicked home page for links to 50 Wicked-related pages