David Cote

This oversize green volume describes Wicked's journey from book to stage, with insight from Stephen Schwartz (music and lyrics), Winnie Holtzman (book), Gregory Maguire (novel), Joe Mantello (director), Idina Menzel (Elphaba), Kristin Chenowith (Glinda), and more. There's a timeline (along a yellow brick road, of course), the evolution of the story, and spotlights on the costumes, choreography, set, and sound, as well as reviews and impact (including a few fan letters). There are many photographs, and the complete lyrics and story of Wicked. Overall, a beautifully designed book that fans will enjoy.

See also: As You Wish by Cary Elwes; Hamilton: The Revolution

Quotes

Everyone's desires lead to the tragic elements of the story. (48)

In the end, that's what Wicked is about. For whatever reason, people need to look at things in black and white, to label one person a villain and another a hero. (85)

[The story behind the song "For Good"] Pretty much the entire first verse of "For Good" is what [Stephen Schwartz's daughter Jessica] said: People come into our lives for a reason, there are things we learn from each other, and we help each other to grow. (87)

It's amazing the sounds you can create to represent a thing that look[s] nothing like the thing itself. (117)

[Wicked] is a skillful balance of comedy, tragedy, and morality tale. Psychologically, it's a very deft portrait of how a social pariah can internalize negativity and become transformed. It is a sophisticated view of how concepts like goodness and wickedness change meaning depending on who is speaking. And, of course, it is a testament to the transformative power of friendship. (180)… (mais)

My video review/flip-through: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRPRH8DxMVE

This book is gorgeous!!!!

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I absolutely loved this. There was a lot of insight into all the effort that went into making this play. It is beautifully designed and gorgeous to look at. The colour scheme was great and I found myself forgetting time just staring at the large pictures and maps and reading every little detail. So much effort when into making this amazing and it shows.

There were so many people interviewed on different topics and they all flowed so well into each other that it wasn't jarring. I really appreciated that they'd interviewed the author of [b:Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West|37442|Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (The Wicked Years, #1)|Gregory Maguire|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1437733293l/37442._SY75_.jpg|1479280] as it was nice to see what he liked/didn't like and how he dealt with it and also to hear that he gave them his blessing to mess around with the original story a bit. My favourite part were the interviews with the different actors who have brought the characters to life. Even though they were short, it was neat to see what they took/didn't take form those who came before them and how they tried to develop the characters they were playing while still staying true to the original. It was so cool.

I should also mention that there is a lot of text. I was happily surprised to find that I spent a lot more time reading this than I had first anticipated. I also liked the little interactive sections like learning to do Elphaba's dance or taking a character personality quiz. I was not expecting that and it was a good surprise.

I do wish that when they showed copied of notes they had not clustered them on top of each other as I did try to read them and it was quite annoying that the bottom corners were cut off. Also, I would have liked it if instead of just saying that the script changed in a certain way, they provided examples. While it still gave a great insight into how they developed the play from the book and the author of the original book even gave his two cents, I would have liked to have had a better idea what the original drafts might have looked like or the lyrics to songs that later got replaced.

Other than that, I don't have any complaints about this. I love it. It is certainly something that I will treasure for a very long time.

I highly recommend this to anyone who is a fan of the musical.… (mais)