Megamusical Analysis

The role of music in Wicked

Introduction

There are various key aspects of a megamusical, and one of them would be the use of music. Music has become a key element of megamusicals, where the presence of song is what differentiates it from a typical play. Reviews by both critics and audience members often use music as one of the criteria for establishing the value of a megamusical. The importance of music in a megamusical cannot be undermined, and it is evident that music holds multiple roles apart from entertainment purposes.

In The Megamusical by Jessica Sternfield , she states “a megamusical has little or no spoken dialogue, but is typically sung throughout”. Other than spoken dialogue, the rest of the dialogue can be found within the

The first time this is sung, Elphaba longs to be together with Fiyero, but he only has eyes for Glinda. However, during the reprise, Fiyero had run away from Glinda in order to be with Elphaba. Elphaba sang ‘I’m Not That Girl’ the first time, and the reprise was sung by Glinda.This shows how Elphaba’s former feelings of longing and helplessness were now felt by Glinda, creating a parallel between the two characters and emphasizing on the reversal of feelings and power the characters have. This also provides the cause to the future event of Nessarose’s death, as Glinda acts on her bitterness towards the

Two characters hate each other) in the play, and wrote the songs based on those. Therefore, it can be seen that the songs were written for the purpose of being plot devices for Wicked. The story was built upon the different scenarios, and subsequently the songs written. These songs are used to portray a specific situation and context at that point in the musical, and it would be difficult to use those songs in any other context. It may also be hard to make sense of the song, should it be taken out of its context in the musical and standing by itself. This music then would be considered “integrated” music, as it would contribute to the plot and overarching storyline of the