Onstage Scenery[]
In the stage there are lines with metal strips on the side. These are the black lines in the picture. 20 centimeters beneath the stage deck is another deck. Under the lines are rails. (On the lower stage deck.) There are carts on the rails, they get pulled by steelcables. People who work backstage drive in the scenery and attach it to the carts with steel pins. They do this behind a curtain or behind a fog curtain. This fog curtain can be made with normal fog and comes from holes in the stage 1 centimeters across(orange). They can calculate how long it takes for the fog to rise so they know when they are not seen by the audience.
In the picture you can see where all of the scenery is stored. K,O,Q,P and F are not stored in that place but in a storage area. Almost every piece of scenery is on wheels. Here is an list of examples of the scenery that is moved by the carts system. (The H on the picture on the right side of the stage has to be an L.)
A. The bed used in No One Mourns The Wicked / Niemand huilt om heksen.
B. The Wizard of Oz head.
WICKED Scenery The Oz Head-0
C. The beds used in Popular / Populair.
D. The benches used in the Dr. Dillamond classroom scenes.
E. The big statue at the Shiz University.
F. The hydraulic elevator that lifts Elphaba in Defying Gravity / Ik lach om zwaartekracht.
G The closets which come in as the guards run away in Defying Gravity / Ik lach om zwaartekracht.
Here is some information about the movements of the scenery.
A. Comes in from the Time Dragon Clock curtain on to the stage. The bed gets turned around by the actors and actresses. Before the show begins the bed is already in place but the Time Dragon Clock curtain isn't lowered. It gets lowered just before the Emerald Curtain rises. When the bed drives back it gets immediatly unattached and driven away to the storage place.
B. Comes in behind the gearwheel curtains. It is attached with the pin. The gearwheel curtains open in One Short Day when the song is over it just gets pulled with the steel cables for its grand entrance. When the scene is over it goes back, gets unattached and is driven away. This is the same thing they do the other times the head is on stage. They turn it from behind. (For more information about the Oz head look at the video.)
C. One of the beds gets driven to the other side of the stage with a special route. The beds get attached and are just driven in.
D. The benches have similar movement as for the Popular beds.
E. The path is similar for the Oz head.
F. The elevator gets from the storage room to the left side of the stage. It is driven in when the back of the stage is dark. (They also have a fully black curtain.) When it's ready it lifts up while it's pulled forward. The elevator is stabilized by a lot of wheels.
Other examples of scenery are. (Just to tell where it's stored.)
H. The Dr. Dillamond classroom chalkboard.
I. The closet used in the scene with Nessarose, Elphaba and Boq/Moq or Tin man/ Blikkenman.
J. The table and chair used in the scene with Nessarose, Elphaba and Boq/Moq or Tin man/ Blikkenman.
K. The stairs used in scene one of the castles from Fiyero's family.
L. The plants used in the cornfield scene."
M. The torch used in scene one of the castles from Fiyero's family.
N. The fans used in No Good Deed / 'T is nooit goed.
O. The house used in the cornfield scene.
P. The yellowbrick road used in the cornfield scene.
Q. The stand used in the first scene in the second act.
Blue. Clothing racks for people who just have a little more time to change clothing.
Red. Areas where smaller scenery can be found.
Yellow. The area where the Wiz-o-mania heads are stored.
Green. The area for all the wig and mask changes.
Purple. These are grates whuch have lighting bars beneath them.
Orange. One centimeter holes for the fog curtain.
Spread over the stage are smaller grates, this is where the cooled fog comes out.
Wigs and Masks[]
WICKED Hair and Makeup Wigs
In total for every production 120 wigs are used. There is a lot of swing and ensemble people that play about 10 roles in a single musical. Almost every role has its own wig. If someone is on vacation someone else has to play their role. For every role 3 wigs are made. The value of 1 of the wigs is about 3,000 to 4,000 euros.(3,500x120=420.000 euros for the wigs) In the video you can see how the wigs are made. If you want to see more of this videos, type in on YouTube "offical wicked" They run a series Behind the Emerald Curtain In this series you're going sort of backstage at the Wicked musical.
In the musical there are some roles who use some kind of masks, "Dr. Dillamond". There are very few people who notice but in the first classroom scene he wears a mask with the antlers up. In the second scene he wears a mask with the antlers down showing he is more depressive in that scene. In total Dr. Dillamond wears 3 masks in 1 show. In total there are 3 people who can play his part, so that means that there are 9 of these masks just for Dr. Dillamond. The value of 1 of these masks is 12.000 euros. (12,000x9=108,000 euros for only the masks for Dr. Dillamond.) There is also the station guard. He is only for 30 seconds on stage. He also wears a mask with a special designed hat on the top. That means 12,000 for the mask and 1,000 for the hat. ((12,000+1,000)x3=39,000) just for the mask that the station guard wears. Calculate how much money they spend for the monkey masks.
Scenery in the Sky[]
In total there are 62 steel bars above the stage. Each of these bars can be automatically lifted by a motorised system. On each of these bars hangs something: a piece of scenery, a curtain, a piece of movement or some lightning.
The Dressing Rooms[]
There are multiple dressing rooms, one for Madame Morrible, one for Glinda, one for Elphaba, one for Nessarose, one for Fiyero, one for Boq, one for the Wizard, and then a large one for the ensemble and other characters, that only have one costume, or are supporting and only have a couple changes. The dressing rooms are small squares, about 6 square feet each, with a rack for the specific costumes of the character. One of the coolest things backstage is seeing Glinda's dressing room and the bubble dress. It takes up about a quarter of the room, and stands quite tall, because it is elevated and lays flat instead of poofing out like it does when someone is wearing it. The ensembles dressing room is one big room, with multipe wooden racks placed. Each rack is numbered, and the actress or actor has a specific rack. Each rack has the costumes in the order they are worn on top, with the hats and wigs on top of the rack.
The Two Areas[]
There are two areas backstage. One is where are all of the set is stored, what we have been talking about so far, and where the characters have their wigs and makeup done up, and the break area for after shows. When on the tour, you are not allowed to enter this area, for the tours take place after the show, and the cast is either giving a tour, or taking a break in this area. The area where they keep the set and the dressing rooms is signifigantly larger, and is closer to the stage, the break area is kind of hidden in a corner.
Prop Insights[]
- Nessarose has three wheelchairs. The one she is originally seen in is in the scene that Elphaba uses her powers to control Nessarose's wheelchair. This wheelchair is actually controlled by a remote control offstage, that causes it to move by itself.
- The Wizard head is on metal tracks, and is pushed bew onstage. This is the only place that you can take a picture while on a tour.
- In Defying Gravity, it takes 8 different people to make it look like her dress is coming out and she is flying, Four people keep her steady and making the lift work, and four people flap a sheet and making it look like her dress is coming out.