Wicked: A Proposal for a Better Ending to the Musical

After listening to Stephen Schwartz's fantastic "Wicked" soundtrack for over a year, I finally went to see the traveling production in Chicago last weekend. Although the Elphaba role was played by an understudy for our performance, and Nessa's wireless microphone failed for the entire Boq transformation scene, the staging was still marvelous, the music satisfied my soul, Carol Kane shone as Madame Morrible and the show was almost everything I hoped it would be.

Almost.

(Spoiler Alert: If you've never seen the musical and don't want to learn the details of the show's surprise ending, read no further.)

I have one problem with Wicked: The Musical. The creators of the show decided to depart from Gregory Maguire's original story (or L. Frank Baum's, depending on your point of view) and give it a stereotypical "happy ending." Now, this in and of itself, while a tad annoying, doesn't bother me overly. I understand that to pander to the unwashed masses, you can't create a sympathetic heroine (anti-heroine?) and then kill her off at the end, just like that. I don't necessarily agree, but I understand. I likewise don't necessarily agree with the revelation that Elphaba is the Wizard's daughter as this so such a HUGE departure from Baum's narrative.

While Maguire's OZ is a self-contained universe, it is at its base a dertivative of (and homage to) the long tradition of Baum and his successors. Ending the musical with Elphaba having survived her apparent liquification via a trap door and walking off into the sunset with Fiyero/The Scarecrow, never to be seen again, is a slap in the face to all the wonderful OZ stories that followed The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The Scarecrow remained a vital part of Oz lore -- indeed, in both the book and the movie musical starring Judy Garland et al, the Scarecrow was left in charge by the departing Wizard.

Here's a scenario that makes much more sense, retains the "happy ending" demanded by popular culture and keeps Baum's legacy intact:

Preparing to confront Dorothy and her companions for the final encounter, Elphaba begins intoning the same enchantment she used to save her lover, Fiyero's, life earlier in the show. When Dorothy throws water on her, the chant becomes mingled with cries of "I'm melting," etc.

When the Scarecrow releases Elphaba from the trap door, it is revealed that the spell transformed her into Scraps, The Patchwork Girl of Oz. In the Baum books, Scraps became very close to the Scarecrow because of their shared origins as tatterdemalions. Fiyero and Elphaba know they have to leave Oz for a time and will have to forever keep secret Elphaba's transformation. One thing will make that easier -- her transformation cost Elphaba her natural ability to wield magic! There can be no turning back!

So, what do you think?