TR_Wolf
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MUSICAL/BOOK Differences! Official Thread!Okay everyone! I thought it about time we had a nice long definative "Book Vs Musical" thread to highlight all the noteworthy differences between the book and the musical for those who want to know, and by noteworthy I don't mean things like "the book is more political" or "there's a lot more sex/swearing" etc.
I'll add what I can recall, but by all means, add your own contributions. As to be expected SPOILERS-A-PLENTY!
Okay here goes, in no order:
FIYERO:
Fiyero from the musical is completely different to the Fiyero in the book, to the extent that the musical version could be a totally new character who just happens to use the name 'Fiyero'. In the book Fiyero is married, and had been since a young age, as he was a Winkie Prince, and it's traditional to marry early. He sends gifts and letters back to his wife and children, but has little interest in them. He starts seeing Elphaba sexually/romantically whilst Elphaba is in hiding, as an affair against his wife, Sarima. Fiyero never married Galinda/Glinda, or particularly knew her that well. He has brown skin with blue diamond patterns on his face and down onto his chest. He was murdered, but does not become the scarecrow. The musical version of Fiyero is more like the character Avaric, a lazy playboy, and ironically in the musical, Fiyero's driver is called Avaric.
GALINDA:
In the musical Galinda is an All American bubbly popular girl, loved by everyone. In the book, she is an uptight upper class snob who simply hangs around with a small elite group of friends, and believes Elphaba and many others to be below her. The London Production of Wicked has Galinda as an upper class English twit and snob, closer to the book's interperatation. She never has any interest in Fiyero, as the musical shows, and in fact says to Elphaba that she never would have had interest in him because of various reasons including his dark skin.
ELPHABA:
In the musical, Elphaba is gawked at, for being green despite being pretty, but has dreams and is occasionally happy and perky. In the book, its hinted that Elphaba would barely even smile, she's green and still quite ugly including a sharp chin as seen in Margaret Hamilton's Elphaba, and is very quiet and solemn, choosing to keep herself to herself and engross herself in studies. In part of the story Elphaba lives under a vow of silence for a long period. Elphaba never has a grudge against Dorothy, she simply wants her shoes back.
THE WIZARD
Does not come across as a charming and persuasive man as the musical shows, but instead is a tyrant, a nasty and evil man who threatens, imprisons, tortures, and executes people. He visits Elphaba but is hostile and threatening throughout, trying to find the Grimmerie, and eventually blackmails Elphaba to try and force her to have the Grimmerie given to him. He has nothing to do with any monkey spies. He stops hunting for the Grimmerie upon Dorothy's arrival, and departs just before a siege was to happen, concluding with his execution without trial.
DR DILLAMOND:
He did not simply de-volve from an Animal to an animal (capitalisation/pronunciation difference) as in the musical, but he was murdered by a TikTok device, who cut his throat upon the command of Madame Morrible.
FREX, MELENA and TURTLE HEART:
The musical mentions Elphaba's parents for just a few minutes, wheras in the book they cover a good chunk of pages with the story of their uneasy relationship with each other, and their shared affair with Quadling, Turtle Heart. It was later believed that Turtle Heart was probably Nessarose's father.
FREX:
In the musical, Elphaba's father, Frex, is bald, and the mayor of Munchkinland, in the book he is simply a minister, and has a long beard.
NESSAROSE:
In the musical, Nessarose is wheelchair bound, wheras in the book she is able to walk, but was born with no arms, so her stability and balance are difficult and often needed to be aided, until Glinda enchanted her slippers, helping her to walk properly.
CHISTERY:
Was not the Wizard's monkey as in the musical, but was rescued by Elphaba, as he had been abandoned on a small island as a baby, and was found by a dog in her travelling party, called Killyjoy (who is later killed by the Tin Man). Elphaba raised Chistery and tried to teach him to speak, he only managed a few words, but no coherancy. Elphaba performed surgery on Chistery and other monkeys to successfully attatch wings to them, it was not done by magic.
DOROTHY:
At first, Elphaba shows no hatred for Dorothy, and in fact shows some concern at the idea of a young girl having to walk so far to the Emerald City, and the dangers on the way, as well as how evil the Wizard is, and worried about her safety. Dororthy mainly comes across as apologetic, but slightly over-chatty.
LION:
The lion cub is not simply rescued from a cage, he was not in a cage in the book, but was terrified purposely by a teacher, to show the lion's reaction of fear, and so rescued by the students.
BOQ:
Is not "tall for a munchkin", but standard Munchkin height, and only comes to Galinda's shoulder. Boq does not become the Tin Man.
MADAME MORRIBLE:
Is not sent to jail like the musical shows, but instead Elphaba tries to murder her, by smashing her head in with the large marble base of a trophy, but is too late, as Morrible had just 5 minutes previously, Morrible had died of natural causes.
NESSAROSE AND BOQ:
Are not paired up by fate in the book, Nessarose is not in love with Boq, and thusly never spurned by him.
DOROTHY VS ELPHABA:
Dorothy DOES successfully kill the witch, yes, Elphaba dies. However, it was an ACCIDENT! Elphaba had invited Dorothy to her home for a meal to explain the situation properly, things got heated and Elphaba ended up with her torch-lit broom near Dorothy, demanding to know why she had come to her home to kill her. Dorothy took Elphaba by surprise when she said that she hadnt come to kill her, but to beg for forgiveness for killing Nessarose. This takes Elphaba aback, and one of the straws from her broom falls onto her skirt, setting fire to her clothes; Dorothy, not knowing about Elphaba's allergy to water, throws a bucket of water over Elphaba, with the words "I shall save you!", but accidentally kills her, burning her beyond recognition.
OMITTED CHARACTERS: Tibbet and Crope:
Boq's friends, two fun loving, gay characters, mainly mentioned during Shiz time period.
OMITTED CHARACTERS: ShenShen and Pfanee:
Galinda's friends, two girls who consider themselves above most other people, and often pull cruel jokes, sometimes to Galinda's dismay.
OMITTED CHARACTERS: Ama Clutch:
Amas are middle aged female 'guardians' to a degree, and everyone attending Shiz would have an Ama to watch over them and board with them. Galinda ends up being put in the same dormitory as Elphaba, because her Ama, Ama Clutch injurred her foot en-route to Shiz and so could not accompany her, and Elphaba had no Ama of her own. Ama Clutch witnessed who killed Dr Dillamond, but died before being able to give too much information.
OMITTED CHARACTERS: Nanny
Nanny occured through the book, originally helping to raise Elphaba with Melena, then taking care of Nessarose, and accompanying her to Shiz.
OMITTED CHARACTERS: Liir
Elphaba's alleged son, who she didn't know about, and who develops an interest in Dorothy.
OMITTED CHARACTERS: Sarima, her sisters, and her children.
Sarima is Fiyero's widow. Elphaba spends many years living with them, and a lot of the book is surrounding them, but they are not mentioned in the musical.
THE WIZARD AND I:
In the musical Elphaba dreams of meeting and working/ruling with the Wizard, who is her hero. In the book she heavily dislikes the Wizard and his methods, and believes him to be a bad leader, and even becomes part of a group dedicated to being against him, politically. She and Galinda visit the Wizard at one point under the pretence that Madame Morrible sent them, but the Wizard (who only wore one of his big theatrical disguises) becomes enraged when Elphaba tries to explain the situation regarding the disappearance of Animals in Oz, and shows no interest, further fuelling Elphaba's hatred of him.
POPULAR:
Galinda and Elphaba are never as close in the book as they are in the musical, especially not in an instance like the "Popular" make over, which would never have happened. Galinda and Elphaba knew each other for a good amount of years without being especially close, or anything other than civil, and were certainly not as close as in the show. There were many years between how often they saw each other.
OZDUST BALLROOM:
Doesnt exist, and no event happens similar to the dance in the musical.
DEFYING GRAVITY:
The Broom was not simply enchanted by Elphaba, but was given to her by an old maunt, and told it would be the key to her destiny, but Elphaba believed this to be domestic, not magic, and was only able to fly after a lot of practice.
THE CATFIGHT:
When Glinda and Elphaba meet after Nessarose's death, it is not a hostile meeting like in the show, they havent seen each other for many many years, and are in fact pleased to see each other.
THE SLIPPERS:
In the book, it is Glinda who enchants the slippers so that Nessarose may walk properly. Elphaba wants them back as Nessa promised them to her upon her death. Elphaba was more angry at Glinda giving her slippers to Dorothy, than Dorothy for taking them. Elphaba's main concern is the slippers ending up in the hands of The Wizard, whom Dorothy was heading to. It is believed that Glinda's giving Dorothy the slippers was a way of getting them out of Munchkinland, as they had been a major cause of controversy. Dorothy claims she physically cannot remove them from her feet, and had been trying to do so for days, including when demanded to do so by the Wizard.
FOR GOOD:
Glinda and Elphaba do not part on good terms as they do in the musical. They walk past each other, ignoring each other, Glinda cries "Oh Elphie!" but Elphaba does not even look up, they never see each other again.
THE GRIMMERIE:
Elphaba finds the Grimmerie in a dusty attic in the home of Fiyero's widow, Sarima. She allows Elphaba to keep it. It has purple pages with silver ink. Elphaba very rarely achieves any spells, nor believes she has the power to do so.
TIMEFRAME:
Although not particularly mentioned in the musical, in the book, the events from Elphaba attending Shiz to her death span approximately 20 years.
WATER:
In the musical, only Madame Morrible shelters Elphaba from water. In the book, Elphaba many times actively keeps herself away from water, or being splashed etc, and bathes in oil.
RELIGION:
The book has a religion which worships the "Unnamed God", another which is known as the "Pleasure Faith", and celebrations of Lurlinemas, which is pretty much Christmas, but dedicated to the Fairy Lurline who is believed to be the creator of Oz. These religious undertones are removed from the musical.
THE EMERALD CITY:
Not depicted as fashionable and happy as in the musical, but as having homeless and disabled people on the streets, and often being an unpleasant place.
THE TIME DRAGON CLOCK:
The clock in the musical is simply used as a decorative proscenium. In the book, it tells tales, fortunes and destiny, and gives commands, including for the murder of people. It is always set at one minute to midnight.
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