We’re off to see
the wonderful ‘Wicked’

Kids Stuff
By William Feldman

Welcome to Kids Stuff. Today’s column includes a brief review of Wicked, along with a green conservation tip, a cryptogram and a reminder.

WICKED
What do the words green, to be accepted, caring and just being different have in common? Wicked!
I had a chance to see Wicked, the untold story of the witches of Oz, at the Academy of Music. Wow, I give this Broadway production two thumbs up. Also, I thought this was an awesome idea — they had the words to the entire production digitally shown in red on the side of the stage.
You are asking which witch is which. LOL. Now, everything you seem to know and understand from watching The Wizard of Oz — forget it. This is the untold story before Dorothy. That nice wizard, not so nice. He was out only for himself. Glinda, the good witch, until she matured was slightly spoiled, ditzy and had a little attitude here and there.
Get this — Glinda was originally named "Galinda," but changed her name during the story. And you can’t forget Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, who was born with emerald green skin and was truly kind hearted. Not joking!
As a kid, do you remember those scary flying monkeys? Well, they became that way by accident because of a nefarious spell.
Anyway, the musical commences with its background containing a large Sideral Time with the No. 12. Elphaba and her sister, who is wheelchair-bound, were sent to a boarding school. Elphaba loved her sister and in a way was her caregiver. This is where Elphaba and Glinda met. Both girls fantasized about their hopes and dreams very differently.
By a funny and convoluted misunderstanding of communication at school, they wound up roommates and eventually, through many unforeseen peculiar events, managed to become friends. Like most fairytale stories, a happy ending is inevitable. Elphaba gets a happy ending by running off with Fiyero. Unfortunately they had to be incognito. Well, Glinda’s fate was sealed, as we all know in The Wizard of Oz, as the good witch.
What I found most intriguing, if you carefully listened to the words in the songs — for example, Things are not what they seem; As long as you’re mine; and March of the witch hunters — you can mentally foreshadow the next scenes.
To sit here and write what about a million other reporters or columnists have said/written is probably a waste of time. I thought I would focus on the concept of how Wicked came to be. I read a very verbose press release, but here is a very abridged version: Stephen Schwartz, the composer/lyricist of Wicked, was working on this for four years. He also mentioned they had to work out some complicated plots to allow everything to flow together.
He mentioned what attracted him to this story was it took a look at the Wicked Witch, alias the villain, from a different direction, which in my opinion is pretty clever. In fact, he made a great point stating that no one really even knew anything about the Wicked Witch of the West, including her name.
Don’t forget, Wicked is only here at the Academy of Music, in Philly, through Sept. 9.
Also, what I personally thought very clever from the official Web site of Wicked is how they are taking advantage of Elphaba’s green skin and educating people of all ages that ‘green means conservation’. See for yourself:

TIPS FOR A GREENER LIFE
o Buy local, organic food to reduce pesticide use, support local farmers and decrease CO2 emissions that results from transporting produce around the world.
o Compost food leftovers.
o Carry groceries in reusable bags and/or return plastic bags at grocery store.
o Turn appliances off when not in use, especially television and computers to avoid "phantom" energy.
o Buy energy efficient appliances with the EnergyStar label.
o Use eco-friendly cleaning products that degrade naturally and reduce water pollution.
o Turn water off while brushing teeth.
o Choose a shower instead of bath and replace showerheads and faucets with high-efficiency models.
o Turn thermostat down three degrees in winter, up three degrees in summer.
o Replace incandescent bulbs with high performance compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs).
o Collect rainwater to water garden/yard.
o Recycle paper, plastic, glass, cardboard, Styrofoam.
o Reduce waste by avoiding disposable products such as razors and single-use containers.
o Bike or walk to work one or more days a week.

CRYPTOGRAM
BRN LK FDAFLC ND SRH MLO OAHHP BLSVR?
Hints: B is W; L is I; H is E; N is O

REMINDER
Here is information about an upcoming Anthony Fedorov solo concert:
It will be held on Thursday, Sept. 6, at 7:30 p.m., at the Golden Gates Club, 11058 Rennard St., in Somerton. Tickets cost $30. For more information, call 215-396-3311. Ask for Denis. ••
Columnist William Feldman can be contacted by e-mail at wmkidscolumn@aol.com