Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz SOTA RBTL FIELD TRIP EXPERIENCE Fusco, 2013

Teachers: Coughlin Fusco Kime Perez Walsh GROUPS FOR WICKED STUDENTS: HERE IS YOUR GROUP INFO. FOR ALL WICKED EVENTS. WRITE DOWN YOUR GROUP COLOR & NAMES OF THE LEADERS IN YOUR GROUP. YOU MUST STAY WITH YOUR GROUP!

RED GROUP: FUSCO’S PER. 2/3 & PER. 8 RED GROUP LEADERS: FUSCO & PEREZ

YELLOW GROUP: FUSCO’S PER. 1 & COUGHLIN’S PER. 1/2 YELLOW GROUP LEADERS: COUGHLIN & WALSH

GREEN GROUP: FUSCO’S PER. 7 & COUGHLIN’S PER. 7/8 GREEN GROUP LEADERS: KIME & COLQUITT

UPCOMING WICKED RELATED EVENTS: Role model behavior is required for all of these events! Please stay with your group color.

Mon., March 25, periods 5–6: (Immediately after lunch gather in the Ensemble Theatre) -Guest Holocaust speaker at SOTA in the Ensemble Theatre

Tues., March 26, periods 5-9: (Immediately after lunch gather in the Main Stage Theatre for attendance. Return for part of period 9) -Workshops at the Auditorium Theatre. Bring a writing utensil.

Tues., April 9: -6:00pm Dinner and dessert at SOTA in the Commons -7:30pm Evening performance of Wicked at the Auditorium Theatre -10:30 pm Pickup from SOTA

WICKED: MAKING CONNECTIONS

• Long before Dorothy dropped in, two girls meet in the Land of Oz in the Broadway musical Wicked. It is a show about the untold story of Glinda, the Good Witch, and Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. Elphaba is a young woman who is born green and thus is an outsider. Her different appearance leads the people of Oz to misjudge, stereotype and ostracize her. As the characters journey through Oz, they develop the courage to overcome stereotypes and realize the true meaning of friendship.

Definitions:

• Misjudge: Be wrong about, get the wrong impression, mistake.

• Stereotype: A generalization, usually exaggerated or oversimplified and often offensive, that is used to describe or distinguish a group.

• Ostracize: Ignore, snub, shun, exclude

Main Characters in Wicked: • Glinda – Becomes the Good Witch • Elphaba – Becomes the Wicked Witch • Nessarose – Elphaba’s sister • Boq – Fellow student at Shiz University • Madame Morrible – Head Mistress at Shiz University • Dr. Dillamond – Instructor at Shiz University • Fiyero – Fellow student at Shiz University • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – Leader of Oz

• There is much more to the character of the Wicked Witch of the West than the stories we have all seen and heard. Because Elphaba dares to oppose the establishment (The Wizard), she is demonized – falsely labeled “wicked.” The act of spreading false or misleading information to further a political cause is called propaganda.

• Wicked can be analyzed in relation to the Holocaust. Scapegoating is blaming a group that isn’t really responsible for a problem, in order to distract public attention from the need to fix or solve the problem. In Dr. Dillamond’s history class, he points out that the anti-animal movement began when the animals were blamed for the Great Drought. Clearly, the animals were held responsible for something that couldn’t have been their fault.

Wicked uses the situation of talking animals as a symbol for the oppression of minorities (Who literally lose their voices). The parallel can be seen with the plight of Jewish people during the Holocaust as they became political scapegoats throughout Europe. In the musical, Wicked, Dr. Dillamond is a literal "scapegoat."

The characters in Wicked deal with moral dilemmas and ethics in a way that is unique among Broadway shows. The show shines a new perspective on the classic tale, The Wizard of Oz.

Wicked YouTube Clips

Defying Gravity YouTube Clip 4 min. 18 sec.

For Good YouTube Clip 1 min. 59 sec.

Popular YouTube Clip 4 min. 55 sec.

Idina Menzel Becoming the Green Witch YouTube Clip 7 min. 18 sec.

Oz: The Great and Powerful Trailer 2 min. 45 sec. Fusco, 2013