Which Witch Is Wicked?

Wicked, the Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman musical based on Gregory Maguire's book of the same name, returns once again to St. Louis. The much-lauded production tells the backstory of Elphaba (more popularly known as the Wicked Witch of the West) and Galinda (later Glinda), the young witch who starts as Elphaba's girlhood rival and eventually becomes her close friend. And that's why Wicked has captured the public's imagination; it's more than a revisionist history of the Wizard of Oz. It's a coming-of-age story about girls becoming women that honestly broaches the topics of mean girls, bullying and self-esteem -- and the heroes are both heroines in the end. Wicked lights up the Fox Theatre (527 North Grand Boulevard; 314-534-1111 or www.fabulousfox.com) at 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday (December 12 through January 6). There is no show on Tuesday, December 25. Tickets are $38 to $150.
Tuesdays-Sundays; Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: Dec. 12. Continues through Jan. 6, 2012