Wicked: Four Stars with a Cowardly Lion

Last night Plotnik and Ducknik went to the press review of 'Wicked,' which is a national touring production of the Broadway hit. 'Wicked' fills in the backstory about Elphaba, the Wicked Witch and Glinda, the Good Witch, when they were friends and roommates in school, despite one being blonde and one green.

It's a very clever story, with excellent music, great voices, a superb visual production, and let's not forget wonderful lyrics.

But there is one more thing too: the male lead is black, so we end up with a little blonde-on-black-on-green action. The best part about that is there is not one mention of it in the script. 'Wicked' audiences are perfectly at ease with romance along the color wheel.

Plotnik finds this encouraging. Perhaps it is because after five weeks in South Africa, any sign of races blending, laughing and singing together makes him hope he doesn't click his heels together and wake up back in Kansas.