My husband, aunt and I saw the musical Wicked this afternoon in Detroit. It was visually beautiful, musically delightful, and, if you let it, thought provoking. It’s the story behind the Wicked Witch of the West, the one who tormented Dorothy and her little dog Toto, and who frightened me when I was a kid watching the movie.

As the story goes, the Wicked Witch wasn’t so wicked growing up, but because of the way she looked (green) she was talked about and teased. She inherited some magical powers, and was used by influential people for their own gain, and that made her angry. Eventually these influential people spread rumors about her wickedness to cover up their own misuse of power.

The underlying theme is that we aren’t always told the whole story yet we regularly make assumptions and decisions based on things we’ve heard that may or may not be true. I couldn’t help but think of the parallels between this story and our political history these past 8 years.   I don’t think the musical meant to be political, but that was one of my takes on it.

Either way, political or not, it’s a great show, and if you ever get a chance to see it…do.  It would be wicked to miss it!