Homecoming Defies Gravity

Posted by Angie Martin On February - 24 - 2010

Funworks? Really? This is what was going through the minds of the Turlock Christian student body as ASB announced Homecoming 2010 during chapel. The ASB members began by parading through the gym in a cardboard bus, exclaiming that they needed to get to Funworks in Modesto. Groans were heard throughout the gym as students began to comprehend the fact that they would be spending their homecoming a mere twenty minutes from their campus, riding go-carts and bopping gophers with mallets.

But, the joke was on the students. The cardboard school bus was flipped around to reveal a charter bus, and The Wicked Witch and The Good Witch appeared to inform the students that they would be traveling to San Francisco to see the award-winning play Wicked at the Orpheum Theater.

Wicked is the untold story of the friendship between the Wicked Witch, Elphaba, and the Good Witch, Glendal Elphaba, the villain in the (year’s) version of the film “The Wizard of Oz,” is actually a gentle, yet misunderstood (and very green), woman who wants the best for the animals of Oz. The Wizard wants Elphaba, who has great powers in sorcery, to assist him in ruling Oz.

In reality, The Wizard of Oz is the villain. He begins to capture the animals of Oz and make them forget how to speak, including one of Elphaba and Glenda’s teachers, Dr. Dillamond, who is a goat. When Elphaba discovers what terrible things the Wizard is doing, she refuses to partner with him. The Wizard and Madame Morrible, the owner of Elphaba and Glinda’s school, convince Oz that Elphaba is wicked, turning the whole town against her.

Tie-ins to the original “The Wizard of Oz” were frequent, such as a friend of Elphaba’s becoming the tin man and a love triangle between Elphaba, Glinda, and a handsome young suitor, Fiyero, who ultimately became the well-known Scarecrow. Dorothy eventually kills Elphaba, just as in “The Wizard of Oz,” but there was a twist that no one was expecting. A wandering scarecrow, Fiyero, appears. He then knocks on the floor, saying, “It worked!” In the floor is a trap door, and out of it emerges Elphaba, who was never really melted by Dorothy. Elphaba and Fiyero embrace, and decide that they can never return to Oz. Elphaba pleads with Fiyero that she must tell Glinda she is alive, but Fiyero says that the danger is too great, and Glinda must never know. The two of them leave Oz together, and Elphaba looks longingly to the North, in the direction of her best friend.

The play featured sensational music, and the talent of the actors was immeasurable. The most breath-taking song of the night was “Defying Gravity,” in which both Glinda and Elphaba hit nearly impossibly high notes, sending shivers down the backs of many audience members. As a whole, the student body was very pleased with the musical.

After the play, everyone was treated to dinner at the Macaroni Grill. The students entertained themselves by drawing on the paper tablecloths, and were entertained by opera singers. The food was great, and the students had fun chatting as they waited for their food. After dinner, everyone was allowed to mingle and walk around the huge shopping center that the Macaroni Grill was located in. Some students treated themselves to Cold Stone, while others huddled in the warmth of Starbucks. Soon, it was time to leave, and everyone piled onto the buses.

The bus ride home seemed much shorter, mostly due to the fact that the students got to watch “The Wizard of Oz.” Everyone was in high spirits, and it was obvious that the homecoming event was a success. In fact, the day was so awesome that some could even call it wicked.