Galinda Upland is the name of the woman who becomes Glinda The Good Witch of the North or Glinda the Good in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Broadway adaptation. She was Elphaba's best friend and roomate at Shiz University. She is characterized by her popularity and ambition and for being a very bubbly and perky girl. She becomes Glinda The Good because, at least in the musical, choosing not to join Elphaba. Glinda is a fictional character in the Land of Oz created by L. Frank Baum. She was appeared in MGM's The Wizard of Oz played by Bille Burke. She is one of the 2 main characters.
In Gregory Maguire's 1995 revisionist novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the
Wicked Witch of the West, she is initially called "Galinda", and (through her mother) is descended from the noble clan of the Arduennas of the Upland. Her character is seen extensively in the first half of the novel, but disappears for most of the second half, compared to her musical counterpart. Though originally snobbish and superficial, she is also intelligent enough to be accepted to Shiz University's Crage Hall, where she is forced to share a room with Elphaba. Galinda does her best to avoid being seen with Elphaba, and never interacts with her, until one night when she is very bored. After she reaches out to Elphaba, the green girl starts acting friendly back, which embarrasses Galinda to no end. However, they begin to grow closer, and by the time of Doctor Dillamond's death, they are best friends. Galinda drops the first 'a' in her name in the middle of the story, in tribute to Doctor
Dillamond, a martyred Goat who teaches at Shiz (Dillamond made the habitual mistake of calling her "Glinda" instead of "Galinda" while they shared a carriage, before her arrival to the University). The Goat's death also prompts Glinda to re-evaluate her life, and she dedicates herself to studying sorcery, at which she proves to be quite skilled. It is stated that she marries Sir Chuffrey in the second half of the novel and they have no children. Sarima reveals that she thinks that Fiyero was having a love affair with Glinda, but when Elphaba asks Glinda, she says that she never had any romantic feelings for Fiyero. As in the original Oz books, she is revered as a powerful sorceress, but she claims that her talents are nowhere near as great as the public believes. Maguire follows the 1939 movie in having Glinda ultimately become the Witch of the North, not the South. Glinda also appears in Son of a Witch, Maguire's sequel to Wicked, now widowed from Sir Chuffrey.
Lady Glinda is widowed after serving as Throne Minister. She was the first of the Twin Interregnums. Her replacement was the Scarecrow, who is not believed to be the same Scarecrow affiliated with Dorothy Gale. The Scarecrow is replaced by Elphaba's brother Shell, the Emperor Apostle. She retreats to her home in Munckinland, Mockbeggar Hall. In Son of a Witch she is seen helping Liir avoid capture by the Emperor Apostle. In Out of Oz her home is commandeered by Commander Cherrystone, now a general in the Emperor's army.
In the novel's Broadway musical adaptation Wicked, Glinda is one of the two female leads as the musical focuses on her friendship with Elphaba (the young woman who becomes the infamous Wicked Witch of the West).In the novel, her role was minor, but in the musical her role was expanded. As in the novel, Glinda is characterized by her popularity and ambition and goes by the name of Galinda Upland (who hails from the Upper Uplands). Glinda is a very bubbly and popular girl. Unlike in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz she has blonde hair instead of red hair and a blue dress instead of a light pink dress. She and Elphaba cross paths while attending Shiz University, and while the two girls dislike each other at first, they eventually become best friends. Galinda enrolls in Madame Morrible's sorcery tutorial, but is precluded from entering when Morrible decides to tutor Elphaba privately. Later, however, Elphaba convinces Madame Morrible to admit Galinda to the sessions. Glinda is rather irritated by Doctor Dillamond's constant mispronunciation of her name (he has difficulty pronouncing the first 'a', and so calls her "Glinda", to which she often responds "It's Galinda. With a 'Ga'"). It is therefore somewhat ironic that she, herself, constantly makes the mistake of addressing Boq, a Munchkin boy who is infatuated with her, as "Bick". As in the novel, Galinda later shortens her name to Glinda (telling the Wizard of Oz that "the 'Ga' is silent" when she introduces herself to him). She does this to mark the firing of Dr. Dillamond, but also in an attempt to impress Fiyero, her love interest.
Glinda in the Helsinki Production.
When Elphaba decides to rebel against the Wizard, she offers Glinda the chance to go with her, but Glinda decides to stay behind and realize her opportunities with the Wizard, ultimately sealing her destiny to become "Glinda the Good."
She shares a relationship with Fiyero , but is oblivious to his increasingly strong romantic feelings toward the now vilified Elphaba. When the two eventually run off together, Glinda is left heartbroken and enraged, but later realizes that Fiyero really does love Elphaba. She is present when the Wizard sends witch-hunters to kill Elphaba, and, unable to stand by while her friend is killed, she goes to Kiamo Ko to warn her of the impending danger. Before being supposedly melted by Dorothy, Elphaba makes Glinda promise not to clear her name, and gives her the Grimmerie, a legendary spell book. Glinda tells her that of all the friends she has had, Elphaba is the only one who really mattered, and the two Witches acknowledge that each has been changed by their friendship. Glinda then confronts the Wizard with the revelation that Elphaba was in fact his own daughter, and forces him to leave Oz, before having Madame Morrible arrested, thus exacting long-overdue justice for Elphaba. She announces to the citizens of Oz that she will try to help them recover in the aftermath of the past few years, and that she wishes to truly earn the title of 'Glinda the Good'.
Susan Hilferty, the designer of the costumes of Wicked, explained there are 25 different kinds of sequins used on The Bubble Dress.
The sequins are all hand-sewn.
The Bubble Dress was intended to appear like a wedding dress or every girl's fantasy of a princess outfit.
There are 9 different fabrics used in the construction of the Bubble Dress.
The Popular Dress has little rainbow stiches on the bodice.
All of the bags have a bit of glitter on them.
According to the family tree in A Lion Among Men, her mother is Larena Upland and her father is Highmuster Arduenna.
In L. Frank Baum's novel Glinda was the Good witch of the South, it wasn't untill the 1930's movie that Hollywood changed it to the North for some "unknown" reason.