'Wicked' world: Composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz reflects on his Oz with a twist show
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Anne Brummel and Natalie Daradich portray Glinda and Elphaba in "Wicked," opening Wednesday at the Benedum Center. -
More than 5.5 million people have attended "Wicked" on Broadway.
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Much to his surprise, Stephen Schwartz discovered that the Japanese don't have a tradition for rhyming lyrics, which makes it impossible to translate lines like "It's obscene!/Like a froggy, ferny cabbage/The baby is unnaturally/Green!" And so far, he hasn't found an equivalent idiom in any language to represent the dual-meaning title "For Good."
Bringing the mega-hit musical "Wicked" to the world has its challenges, but it has a few perks, too.
"Because of 'Wicked,' I've been seeing the world," the composer-lyricist said last week by phone. "I've gotten to go to premieres or go earlier in the process and do a little bit of work" on productions around the globe.
Where: The Benedum Center, Downtown.
When: Wednesday through Oct. 2. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday; also 2 p.m. Sept. 8.
Tickets: $35.25-$138.25; pgharts.org or 412-456-4800. A day-of-performance in-person lottery for a limited number of $25 cash-only orchestra seats will be held 21/2 hours before showtime at the Theater Square Box Office, 655 Penn Ave., Downtown. Names will be placed in a lottery drum for a drawing 30 minutes later.
Even when he's home in New York, "Wicked" never sleeps. He was on the phone early last week talking about the touring company coming to Pittsburgh. He had been onstage at NYC's Birdland Jazz Club, where he played some of his songs to accompany Willemijn Verkaik. The singer has starred as Elphaba in Germany, where "Wicked" is "Die Hexen Von Oz."
In case you've been living somewhere over the rainbow since October 2003, Elphaba is the lead character of the musical "Wicked," the Oz story wrested from Dorothy and told from the point of view of the green-skinned Wicked Witch and the oh-so-blond Glinda the Good.
One of the two North American touring companies of "Wicked" arrives for a third visit to the Benedum Center Wednesday and sticks around until Oct. 2. Mr. Schwartz, a Carnegie Mellon graduate who frequently conducts workshops at his alma mater, will visit the campus while the show is in town and attend a show to catch up with this company.
He has been to Finland and Denmark recently, where he saw "a nonreplicated production."
"So, that was very interesting to see it designed and staged differently. [Librettist Winnie Holzman] and I get involved because we want to make sure the translation is as accurate as possible, that it conveys the ideas of the show."
First Published September 1, 2011 12:00 am
