The Witches’ Tale

Wicked’s Katie Rose Clark reveals the inside scoop on the witches of Oz 

By Dan Hudak

Katie Rose Clark plays Glinda (the Good Witch) and Carmen Cusack plays Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) in Wicked.

It’s the hottest ticket in town, and it’s not even in Miami. Wicked, which tells “the untold story of the witches of Oz,” is now at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, and presale tickets are going faster than for any show in recent memory.

A winner of three Tony Awards in 2004, Wicked begins long before Dorothy and company arrive for The Wizard of Oz. The musical follows the relationship of two women: Elphaba, a smart and misunderstood woman who was born with emerald-green skin and would become the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, the Good Witch, who’s beautiful, ambitious and not quite as virtuous as one would expect.

The Broadway tour of Wicked has been to South Florida before and, with a number of new players, the company couldn’t wait to return.

“Everyone was desperate to be in Florida,” said Katie Rose Clark, who plays Glinda. “We’d been in Ohio for nine weeks and were ready for fresh air and sun.”

Clark was also ready for some silly questions about being green, munchkins and rapper Ice Cube.

How close is Wicked to The Wizard of Oz?

Knowing the story of Oz helps, but it’s always peripheral to our main story. In the second act, the Oz story is concurrent with ours, so you see the yellow brick road, the Wicked Witch’s castle, etc., but [they’re] always in the background.

Would Oz have been better off if Dorothy never showed up?

Oz was in a pretty dismal state before they got there. Dorothy was the salvation of Oz, so it was a good thing. She solves a lot of the problems in Oz.

What’s the most “wicked” thing you’ve ever done?

[Laughs.] That’s really hard. I truly can’t say.

The Wicked Witch was born with emerald-green skin. What would you do if you had green skin?

Hopefully I’d also have the same magical powers that Elphaba has. I’m not sure what I’d do with the magical powers, but I’d probably use [them] to make myself normal colored.

Would it be more fun to be evil and play the Wicked Witch?

Sometimes I think it’d be fun to switch roles one night, but, then again, I don’t know if Glinda is all good — she’s ambitious and a little nasty.

If you saw a real munchkin on the street, dressed in full Lollipop Guild attire, what would you say?

I would probably avoid him and cross to the other side.

Are there munchkins in the show?

There are people from Munchkin Land, which is a region of Oz, but just by style of dress, not by size. A munchkin person goes to school with the witches, but he’s taller than me.

Did you know Wicked is also the name of a song by Ice Cube?

Is it really? I wonder if it’s good.

Wicked is playing at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts through April 6. Performances are Tuesday-Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $30.50 to $153.50 and are available at browardcenter.org or 954-462-0222.