Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Interview with Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West

Broadway World has a fabulous interview with Ashleigh Thompson and Emily Perzan, Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West, respectively, in the touring production of The Wizard of Oz.



On the difference between the movie and stage show:

Ashleigh: I think in many ways we're very true to the movie. But one of the things that's different is some of our takes on the characters. There are some modern spins, and the choreography is modern-especially in Oz. The energy of it is more accessible for a modern audience, whereas the film tends to evoke the time in which it was made. In many ways our production is very traditional and respectful and paints a good picture of the movie, but it has its own life and modern take.
Emily: I would add that when you watch something in a movie, you're outside of that world. With our show, you are really in Oz, and you can dive into the emotions of the characters. That's something we focus on as actors-trying to bring the audience into it with us.


On the backstory of the witches:

Ashleigh: One of the first things the director and I discussed was that he wanted Glinda to represent Dorothy's mother, since in Kansas she doesn't have a mother. So, he wanted Glinda to be representative of the magical, kind, nurturing mother that she didn't have. Kalie had decided for Dorothy that her mother passed when she was little, so it's her vision of what her mother would have been had she lived. The director also wanted Glinda to behave as though she has all the power in her interactions with the wicked witch, so basically I just smile at her all the time. 
Emily: It's interesting because in our only encounter on stage together, Glinda really does hold all the power-she could take me down faster than I could take her down which is the opposite of how it is in Wicked. One part of Wicked that I do play off of is the wicked witch being misunderstood. She's seen as this almighty, evil character, but if someone killed your sister, stole your magic, etc. you'd be kind of mad. She is certainly misunderstood. There's a fun little scene in the stage version where you get to see a little more of that side of her. It's a scene where you see her trying to plot her revenge on Dorothy, and you get to see more of her backstory and her relationship with her flying monkeys and the Winkies. There's a feeling of loss that I try to carry through the show in terms of her losing her power and her sister.

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