Finally! A poster from my own collection! I’ll try to refrain from excessive gushing about how much I love the book and the musical or relay yet again how I stalked Idina Menzel all the way to London for the chance to see her as Elphaba. That’s not the purpose of the Poster Pick entry. Besides, you already know I’m unhinged. Must we dwell on the evidence that supports this? <\/p>\n

True to my love of simplicity, I adore this poster design. It’s a very sparse line drawing, which makes perfect sense in its context. This is a poster advertising a musical, which not only has a rapid turnaround on cast members but can also be playing in several different places at once. And, unlike movies, when a musical is playing many places simultaneously, it’s obviously never going to be with one universal cast. <\/p>\n

So, as a means of saving on cash as well as the time it’s going to take to keep updating all the marketing materials, a lot of musical promoters stick with something a bit more generic. Case in point: Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Cats<\/em>. Three of the highest-grossing musicals ever, and all three have very generic but universally recognizable poster designs. <\/p>\n

So, anyway, back to Wicked<\/em>. We start out with a brilliant tagline: “So Much Happened Before Dorothy Dropped In.” This depends heavily on a bit of pop-culture knowledge, since the “Dorothy” in question is Ms. Gale of the star known as Kansas (of course, if you’re not familiar with The Wizard of Oz<\/em>, this isn’t the only time you’re going to be a bit lost with this poster pick). The impish part of this tagline is the “dropped in” part. Dorothy’s arrival into Oz occurred when her house dropped on top of the Wicked Witch of the East.<\/p>\n

But, what took place before this splatterific arrival made us privvy to the machinations of this fantastical world? <\/p>\n

Then we get the major design element: two witches, sharing a secret. We know that they’re witches because they both wear pointy witch hats (duh!). We also see one is in black and the other is in white, classic visual delineations of good versus evil. What’s noteworthy is how the “wicked” witch not only occupies the center spot of this poster, but also takes up the most room in the design. <\/p>\n

Okay, from here on, I’m going to refer to them by their names in the musical: Glinda is the Good Witch, of course; Elphaba is the Wicked Witch. <\/p>\n

We see more of Elphaba’s hat, and her hair and cloak blend together to take up most of the bottom portion of the poster. Also, the portion of the poster not taken up by either witch is a green the same color as Elphaba’s skin. She is the controlling element in this design, without question. Glinda is relegated to the edge of the design and is seen only in profile, with most of her face covered by her hand, while Elphaba faces us straight-on. <\/p>\n

Don’t you love the wicked little grin on Elphaba’s face? Whatever could Glinda be whispering in her ear? Also, this is another key part of the design. We know from the original story that Glinda and Elphaba are supposed to be enemies. This pose speaks to quite a different relationship prior to Dorothy’s arrival. Were they once friends? What happened to change that so dramatically? Do tell!<\/p>\n

One more comment on the black\/white overlay of the witches: I love how the curve of Glinda’s sleeve against Elphaba’s cloak forms a design element reminiscent of the curve of the yin and yang, two contrary but interconnected elements. Mmm, tasty, tasty foreshadowing. <\/p>\n

Throw in a few flying monkeys, and you’ve got your main design. The flying monkeys are both another link to tie this story to the original as well as another bit of foreshadowing regarding the story that this musical is going to tell us. Of all the recognizable images they could have used, what could be so important about the flying monkeys? Hmm…<\/p>\n

The next part of this poster utilizes one of my favorite tricks of the trade: how to deal with two leads who might be offended if they don’t get top billing over the other. This poster is from the original musical, which starred the aforementioned Idina Menzel as Elphaba and Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda. Note that, looking at the names vertically, Menzel’s name is listed higher than Chenoweth’s. Looking at it horizontally, Chenoweth comes first. Bruised egos averted. Brilliant! <\/p>\n

The next name to be mentioned is the Wizard himself, played in this version by Joel Grey. Theater buffs will immediately recognize his name (Willkommen? Bienvenue? Anyone?), so that was a wise play by the designer to include him as an extra hook. Besides, he is the eponymous character from the story that gave inspiration to this one; I think he deserves at least one mention. <\/p>\n

[And while it is true that this poster is still going to have to be tweaked each time the leads rotate out, it’s going to take far less time and effort to update text than it would be to update a slew of cast shots from poster to poster. Time is money, remember.]<\/p>\n

Finally, we get the name of the musical, written in a gorgeous, bold serif font, complete with a little wicked witch on her broomstick to dot the “i.” Right beneath, in a complementary green, is the second tagline: “The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz.” <\/p>\n

It’s such a simple design, isn’t it? But it works on so many glorious levels. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Poster Pick Bonus: UK Wicked Poster<\/h3>\n

A few brief words on the UK version of this poster. Wicked<\/em> debuted on the West End back in September 2006. This would be the debut that partially inspired Loba’s London Stalker Tour. To prepare, the British company gave the original Wicked poster a bit of a sprucing (kind of like what Dorothy & Co. received when they entered the Emerald City). The simple design was given more realism, the witches given definition to their faces and wardrobe. <\/p>\n

It’s a lovely effort, but I think I like the more abstract American design better (Loba is choosing an American version over a British version? Quick, check the temperature in hell!). Still, the designer did a great enough job with the update that it deserves a place here as well. <\/p>\n

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