Ok, show of hands, has everybody seen Wicked yet? How many times? 🙂
Well, it’s now available for streaming, which means we get to take screenshots. And with screenshots and subtitles, we get to do this!
You just knew that if there were any Shakespeare in there, we would find it. Here, of course, Galinda (or Glinda) borrows Malvolio’s quote from Twelfth Night: “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.”
This got me thinking about something I like to call the “Lion King Rule.” That’s the one that says you only need a handful of recognizable elements of a Shakespeare play to say that a movie is based on that movie. So, is Wicked a retelling of any Shakespeare plays?
We’ve got a father who wants nothing to do with his wife’s new baby and demands it be taken away. There’s even a bear. This makes it Winter’s Tale.
We’ve also got a powerful solo central character who is positioned as a pawn of powerful political forces. When our hero fails to do what they’re told, they’re recast as the villain of the story. There’s also a “frenemy” character who our hero may or may not be in love with but will certainly be instrumental in their downfall. Coriolanus.
Of course, this is a story about witches. Therefore, it is obviously Macbeth.
Anything else?
Nicely done, especially in going beyond Macbeth to more subtle possibilities. I’m intrigued by “Exit, Raised by a Bear.”
Another possibility is Titus Andronicus. In that play, a child is born who is not the husband’s—and the color of the child is a big part of the plot.
Now I’m wondering whether it would work to close a production of Macbeth with “No One Mourns the Wicked.” Too festive, you think?
Also, it would have been nice for them to work in Ariana Grande singing “Hello, Yellow Brick Road” as an homage to Elton John.
kj (Bardfilm)