Wicked Turns 20: "This show was my entire personality" | with Alexis Scheer | Episode 14

Happy 20th Birthday to Wicked! On this Wonderful episode, Alex and Danielle have a Swankified time chatting with playwright Alexis Scheer (it's good to see her, isn't it?) about how this ever-Popular musical has changed theatre For Good. They get into topics like female-female friendships in media, the political and witchy themes of the show, its influence on theatremakers of a millennial age, and all that good Shiz. And of course, we answer the age-old (read: twenty-year-old) question: would you play Elphaba or G(a)linda?

• 03:21 - What we've been enjoying
• 07:44 - Background and history of Wicked, and each of our personal histories with the show.
• 21:00 - Discussion of why Wicked holds up so well and why it still elicits such strong emotional responses from people.
• 31:30 - The singularity of Wicked as a show that represents a close female friendship and being unable to find other examples from musical theatre history.
• 41:05 - How Wicked and contemporary playwrights put a positive spin on tropes about witches, including Alexis' play Our Dear Dead Drug Lord.
• 47:40 - Sharing who each of our formative childhood witches were.
• 53:20 - Final thoughts on how Wicked has influenced Alexis' work and how the show is distinctly of a post-9/11 time.
• 56:00 - Discussion of the politics of Wicked and how it influenced our own views.

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Alexis Scheer is a playwright and TV writer from Miami, Florida. Her breakout play was the Off Broadway hit OUR DEAR DEAD DRUG LORD (WP Theater/Second Stage: NYT Critics Pick, John Gassner Award; LTC Carnaval of New Latinx Work; Kilroy’s List), and she recently made her Broadway debut adapting the book for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s BAD CINDERELLA. Her other plays include LAUGHS IN SPANISH (Kennedy Center’s Harold & Mimi Steinberg Award) and CHRISTINA (Roe Green Award; O’Neill Finalist). Her work has been developed at the Kennedy Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, McCarter Theatre Center, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, and more. Alexis is currently under commission by Second Stage, MTC, Miami New Drama, and Seaview. Television: “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin” (HBO Max), and projects developed for HBO Max and Salma Hayek’s Ventanarosa.

Alexis's Website

@alexisscheer on Twitter

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References and Links

• "One Short Day" at the 2003 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
• Kristin Chenoweth performing "My New Philosophy" at the 1999 Tony Awards

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Danielle: Twitter | Instagram

Alex: Twitter | Instagram

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Music by Scott Buckley – www.scottbuckley.com.au