A Purim Elphaba? Why not? Photo courtesy of AI.

By MARILYN SHAPIRO

The usual costumes on Purim are straight from Shushan—Esther, Mordechai, Ahasuerus, or even the bad guy Haman. But some people treat Purim like Halloween, choosing their favorite getup from a gamut of options. This year, if I went with the “Halloween” option, I would don a black cape, a black hat, and lots of green face makeup. Yes, I would be Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West.

Oz Was A Favorite

So why would I choose to dress up as one who would be considered in Jewish tradition as one of the Amalekites? The Wicked Witch of the West is one of the most evil characters in all of literature and, thanks to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, one of the most hated characters on the movie screen. It comes from my childhood love of the book by L. Frank Baum and my adult love for anything “Wicked.”

“The Wizard of Oz” began its almost 40 year annual run on CBS in 1956 when I was six years old. Like most children, I hated the Wicked Witch and the monkeys, but I loved Dorothy and her companions. Dorothy’s rendition of “Over the Rainbow” is as of today my favorite song of all time. I watched the televised movie at least 10 times.

Soon after I saw the movie, my parents gave me a hardcover copy of the book. I read it so many times that the cover fell off, and the pages became torn and dog-eared. While doing some research for this story, I failed to locate the exact edition I had treasured, but I compromised and bought an illustrated copy for my Kindle.

Oz fell by the wayside for many years.  Gregory McGuire’s novel was creative but long and dark. I would stick to Baum’s original, if you please.

Friendship

Then came “Wicked.” In the fall of 2004, my dear friend Melanie Bleich took a chartered bus down to Times Square. As was our tradition, we had lunch at Carmine’s. Then we headed to the Gershwin Theatre for the show. Kristen Chenowith had left her role as Glinda in July 2004, but Idina Menzel still had her role as Elphaba. The story, the costumes, but especially the music swept me away.

Less than two years before we saw the show, doctors had diagnosed Melanie with non-smoker’s small cell lung cancer. She had already undergone surgery, chemo, and radiation. But that was a good day. When Elphaba and Glinda sang “For Good,” a song about friendship, I cried openly. Melanie passed away in May 2015 after a 10-year battle. To this day, when I hear the lyrics, “You’ll be with me, like a handprint on my heart,” I automatically put my hand on my own.

I saw the stage version of “Wicked” two more times, once in Schenectady in 2009 and a second time in Denver in July 2024 with my Colorado family.

Husband —A Non Fan

How does Larry, my husband, feel about my passion for “Wicked”? He is still suffering from his experience of seeing “The Wizard of Oz” at the movies when he was four years old. Grudgingly, he joined me twice to see the play. And he certainly didn’t share my excitement about the news that a movie version would hit the theaters on Nov. 24, 2024.

Being the wonderful husband that he is, Larry agreed to go with me soon after its Thanksgiving Day opening. We settled into our seats with a huge bucket of popcorn, got through all the previews and then Voila! The film begins by shedding light on why Elphaba was “greenified.” About 10 minutes in, the opening credits flashed on the screen. “Wicked. Part One.” Larry literally shouted out loud, “part one! You dragged me to a two-and-a-half-hour movie, and it’s only part one?”

Love Elphaba’s Spirit

I loved it. Larry conceded he enjoyed it more than the play. It took a full year for us to return to “Wicked: For Good.” (I promised Larry that there would not be a part three.) As always, I cried when the two leads sang “For Good.” Larry cried with happiness because it was over.

For weeks after seeing the movie, I was obsessed with the music. Alexa dutifully played songs from the movie; I scoured the internet for clips related to both the stage and movie versions, including several versions of “For Good” sung by children, various choruses, and even Cantor Avi Schwartz and Julie Benko. Not surprisingly, I play “For Good,” “Defying Gravity,” and “Over the Rainbow” on the piano more than any other sheet music I own.

So yes, Elphaba would be my Purim costume of choice, my character of choice. Unlike the one portrayed by Margaret Hamilton (a former teacher who loved children and appeared on Mister Rogers Neighbor to assure children she was not the person in the 1939 movie), Elphaba is a misunderstood outcast whose intelligence, independent spirit, and strong drive to do what is right leads her to her own happy ending.

Marilyn Shapiro, formerly of Clifton Park, now a resident of Kissimmee, Fla. has announced that her 5th book,  Remembrance and Legacy,  Profiles of Jewish Sacrifice,  Survival, and Strength, is available. Other books books include Keep Calm and Bake Challah: How I Survived the Pandemic, Politics, Pratfalls, and Other of Life’s Problems, Tikkun Olam, There Goes My Heart and Fradel’s Story, a compilation of stories by her mother that she edited. Shapiro’s blog is theregoesmyheart.me.