The ‘magic’ behind the Wicked set

MANILA, Philippines - Wicked the musical opens on Jan. 22 but select media, including The STAR, were given the first look at its multi-million set where the bewitching Oz tale about the unlikely friendship of a “wicked” witch and a “good” witch comes alive. 

At the time of our visit, the “bump-in” — when all equipment are transported into the theater — was unfolding right on schedule, with the production crew working round-the-clock to fill out the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Main Theater with its — as the Wicked lingo puts it — “swankified” scenery and props in time for this week’s technical rehearsals.   

More than 20 huge containers were shipped from Auckland, New Zealand, where the musical wrapped up its successful run last November, for the technical and production requirements of Wicked.

Already mounted was the time dragon, a breathtaking centerpiece set attraction. In the musical, when the dragon moves, it means something “magical” is happening.

The magic, on the other hand, on the set is courtesy of a lot of fancy automation (although the time dragon itself, which the crew has fondly nicknamed as Stacy, moves through a pulley system). 

Company manager Bec Windsor said, “As far as productions values, it is one of the most beautiful and spectacular shows… with a lot of flying elements.”

One can only imagine the massive work that goes into moving this complicated show seamlessly from theater to theater, as Windsor added that it was actually built to “sit down” in a theater for a long time. 

Wicked, which is adapted from a Gregory Maguire novel that “reimagined” the L. Frank Baum children’s classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, debuted on Broadway at the Gershwin Theater in 2003 and has since had a West End premiere, a North American tour, a run in Germany and reached out to the Asia-Pacific, in Japan and then in Australia in 2008.

The Australian production is the one that has landed in Manila, with Windsor stressing, “It is important to say that this particular production is one of three of its size in the world. The only places where you will see the same production and specifications are Broadway and West End.”

According to the technical director Cameron Flint, adjustments were made with the stage so as to accommodate the exact Wicked set design seen on Broadway and West End.

“This is the biggest touring production of Wicked in the world,” added Flint.

There’s a lot of safety measures undertaken before the run itself, with technical people being put into harness to ensure its flying scenes — like when Glinda the “good” enters the picture on flying bubbles or when Elphaba the “wicked” is raised up the air in her Defying Gravity moment — go without a glitch. Plus, the roof is checked considerably if it can take the weight of the show as there’s so much scenery stored up in there, and it’s a long and meticulous a process to organize all that, so that during the show all these will smoothly flow from scene to scene.

Around 50 Filipinos were also tapped in to help the foreign production crew, according to Flint. Around 30 to 40 Filipinos will be part of the production as crew and musicians during the actual run. “Their work ethic has been excellent,” he said of the Pinoy counterparts who had been part of previous international touring productions at the CCP, Phantom of the Opera as the latest. 

When this particular Wicked debuted in Australia, it was mounted to the tune of 12M Australian dollars. It has since toured Singapore, Seoul, Auckland and this year, the Philippines.

Wicked Manila is from Jan. 22 to Feb. 23, with the production flying back to Australia for another run.