Galinda

Wikipedia:
Galinda, later Glinda, is Elphaba's roommate at Shiz University. She at first hates Elphaba as she sees her as a hindrance to her social climbing agenda. As she matures, she and Elphaba become close friends. It is implied as well that perhaps Galinda has feelings for Elphaba; indeed, she cares for her deeply, and Elphaba for her in return. However, the two are separated for fifteen years when Elphaba goes into hiding. Glinda is part of the high society in Gillikin, Oz's northern state. The Glinda in Wicked is parallel to The Glinda in The Wizard of Oz as she is seen as being snobby and inconsiderate but in The Wizard of Oz she is kind and gentle.

Me:
The Wikipedia synopsis needs re-written, but I'm busy with this. Galinda's childhood should be parallel to that of a young girl growing up in 19th-century South Carolina or Virginia. She has a wealthy family, but she is not of the highest class. She is more of the upper-middle class than the lower-upper class. I picture her childhood characterization to be somewhat brief, and possibly as chronological clips, showing her in a baby carriage with her parents talking about what a wonderful good little socialite she will be. Then a birthday party with a giant cake and a miniature version of her dress in the wizard of oz. A mountain of presents to rival Everest. I feel like going overboard with her and dealing with her childhood in hyperbole. I don't want her living in a mansion, just a large home with a big back yard, tree-shaded drive, and a giant oak tree next to a small pond. There should always be bright sunshine while outdoors, well-lit rooms while indoors, or if it needs to be dim for the setting, she should be emitting her own glow.

I want much of her role at Shiz to take parts from the book and the musical, because I feel the novel was a bit too dark throughout, and I want there to be a definite trend in Glinda's life from Galinda to Glinda, from sunshine to clouds. Her bubbly attitude can be drawn in from the musical to give a bit of light-heartedness to the beginning of the second part of the film. Her strength is her confidence, even when the odds are against her, and I would like to point out, often, that the world is much too big for her, but she still presses on without even batting an eyelash. This confidence is what allows her to do the things she does throughout school.

I like the idea that Galinda initially uses Elphaba as a pity-piece and makes herself the martyr of red-tape and unhappy circumstance. This 'taking lemons and making lemonade' approach is brilliant, and I think that taking it even farther and thinking that if she is never going to get a 'suitable' roommate, then she will make her roommate 'suitable' could be the motivation for continuing after Elphaba puts on the hat.

After she is friends with Elphaba, things could follow the book, and a few extra daily activities could be invented and inserted to demonstrate their friendship. This will also provide time to re-characterize Morrible and Grommetik into sinister, lurking beings. The issue that comes up should be the treatment of the Animals, and invented minor character should get into arguments over it. Possibly even a few Animals at Shiz should receive abuse to demonstrate the Wizard poisoning the minds of Ozians.

Eventually, when Dr. Dillamond is murdered and Elphaba eventually runs off to face-down the wizard, Glinda is determined to go with her and help. Their experience there will tear them apart, and Elphaba will leave her then.

She is a very amiable character, but she keeps her true-self to herself.

Two movies?

The more I write this, the more I am convinced that it Wicked should be two movies, ending when Elphaba and Glinda part ways on the carriage. I think it would fit, and it would be sure to leave quite a large amount exciting material for the second movie, but my fear would be that the first movie may be too much exposition and characterization. It would, however, allow for my vision of giving equal time to each of the three witches, showing the childhood of the Thropp girls and Galinda, and how it created the characters they become at Shiz.

Perhaps the first movie would end as Glinda arrives back at school, alone, and we could see Nessa's heart breaking, falling into Nanny's arms. Each character could be affected by her flight. Glinda would then be totally alone, without a true friend left, and so she throws herself into magic studies. Nessa, angry at her sister, would grow bitter and recluse because of her feeling of natural superiority. Boq and his friends would split from the group, having been traumatized by the philosophy club and no longer having a link in Elphie. It could break off in a dramatic musical sequence without sound from the actors or scenes, just the tragic, heavy, dark music. Showing the beginning and end of Glinda's journey, from tears to stone-faced. Nessa's breakdown and temper tantrum, her first sign of true malice, anger, and violence. Boq and co. standing off to the side, confused, but not sure who to ask questions, and eventually they simply walk away. I picture it all in slow motion, of course. Nessa screaming, eyes shut from the force of her voice, Glinda glassy-eyed and far-away, walking away from the scene as a queen would from an execution, arms wrapped in a muff, and Boq shocked, then defeated, pacing off, head down. The camera pans upward towards the grim, cloudy sky, flies towards the cllouds, spins a bit, arrives at the emerald city once again, zooms past the buildings down to street-level, catches up to a figure in a pointed, black hat walking through the crowd, faster than those around her, pushing her way through, arms at her side. The camera slows from its super-fast travel speed as it approaches her. The world comes back to speed, she takes a half-dozen steps, breaks through the front of the crowd, turns right into an alley, and the second she is out of sight around the corner, the screen goes black and the music silent.

I know having the ending set without the rest of the movie is kind of strange, but I'm one for drama, and I think this is nice. What does everyone else think of it?

Grommetik

Wikipedia:
Grommetik is a tik-tok creature, servant to Madame Morrible. It is strongly implied he is involved in a sinister plot orchestrated at least in part by her. From what is described in the novel, it is similar to Tik-Tok from Baum's original Oz series.

Me:
I'd like to make Grommetik seem kind of cute and clumsy in the beginning of the movie, sort of in the same way Morrible seems nice to a fault. I want both of the characters to evolve in the audience's mind in the same way, from benign, even comical, to conniving, loathsome, and sinister. He should make random appearances and sort of POP out of no where on some errand or another, but always running into the witches or other protagonists. Occasionally he should scare the audience, once or twice when tension is somewhat high, and after the audience begins to suspect that Morrible and Grommetik are not all they seem. He can become a bit of an object of fear, or a harbinger of death that sometimes does the dirty work for its master. He shouldn't be liked, even a little bit, and the noise he makes should seem playful at first, but the whirring of gears, popping of steam, and grinding of metal should become more shrill and ominous by the end of Elphaba's stay at Shiz.

Liir

Wikipedia:
Liir is a boy who leaves the mauntery with Elphaba for the Vinkus. It is strongly implied that Liir is the son of Elphaba and Fiyero. She does indeed admit that there is a year of her life she does not remember, during which she could have bore Liir. Extremely chubby, Liir played with his supposed half-siblings while he and his mother stayed with Fiyero's widow. He is also the protagonist of Maguire's sequel to Wicked, Son of a Witch In Son of a Witch, Liir gets Candle pregnant and she has a green baby. This proves once and for all that Liir is Elphaba's son. Gregory Maguire has described Liir as "Elphaba's son" in interviews.

Me:
He is Elphaba's son, and he would be the connection to any kind of a sequel, but I think that his role should be very much in the background, and we should spend much more time introducing Elphaba's pets than Liir. He should just be there by her side, almost like a familiar, and she should never call him 'son' or be motherly at all. The audience should be able to figure out that he is her son, but end up being surprised at how little they care about him. Now, I haven't read Son of a Witch yet, and so I do not know how much this has to do with it, but I cold guess that since we didn't get a whole lot of characterization of Liir in the first book we didn't really care as much about him in the second book. This may have contributed to why it did not receive the rave reviews of the first. Perhaps a bit more time should be spent on him, or perhaps creating a sense of mystery about him with many open ended questions to create suspense and desire to see a sequel featuring the boy. I would need to read the second book to really decide on what his role should be.

Madame Morrible

Wikipedia:
Madame Morrible is the headmistress of Elphaba and Galinda's college (Crage Hall) in Shiz. She is suspected by Elphaba and her friends to be responsible for the murder of Dr. Dillamond. At one point, she proposes that Elphaba, Galinda, and Nessarose become future behind-the-scenes rulers in Oz, a proposal which they never willingly follow. Elphaba suspects that Madame Morrible has at least some magical powers and may have indeed controlled the fates of the three women. It is possible that she spies on Elphaba and sends messages to Liir through the Carp in the well at Elphaba's home in the Vinkus; the Carp dies at about the same time as Morrible. Morrible dies of natural causes minutes before Elphaba attempts to murder her.

Me:
This role is HUGE! She is the second biggest villain in the book, but she has the most air-time. I picture either an exceedingly proper woman, like Judi Dench can play, or a comically bumbling (yet somehow effective) leader. The first role may fit better with the tone, especially if she puts on a very false air of joviality. Perhaps a character like Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter 5. Total witch, but has pictures of kitties and a laugh like a seven-year old. However she is cast, this woman is evil. She is totally bent on making the wizard Numero Uno, and on keeping his totalitarian regime in tact. She should laugh as she dies, seeing Elphaba coming to kill her, knowing that she will be dead before the witch gets to her. I want her to be powerful, but no one really realize it until it is too late. I want her prediction/request to come true, just in a slightly different way.

The three witches should have their titles/positions because of the influence of Morrible. Glinda will follow most closely, and will rise through the ranks of society using her magic and social talents in the North. Nessa, although requested to be in the South, ends up in the East where Elphaba was requested. Nessa becomes exactly what Morrible wants of her, the Bitch of the East and keeps the Munchkinlanders in line until her death. Elphaba's resistance of Morrible's magic helps her escape to the West with the Winkies. She hides there for some time, but eventually comes back because of Morrible. Really, the only thing that keeps her prediction from working is the arrival of the tornado, and the house that kills Nessa. Morrible will do much to alter the history of Oz, but she will be behind the scenes, rather than the head like the Wizard.

Melena

Wikipedia:
Melena is Elphaba, Nessarose, and Shell's mother, and comes from a high class family. She has mostly pagan traditions, which contradicts Frex's statements. She has very loose morals, and dreams of her days as a pampered girl, despite her rebelling against it at the time. She has a taste for alcohol and pinlobble leaves.

Me:
I think that it is VERY important to remember just how high-class she was. Her fall from grace should be so distinct and visible that the audience should feel embarrassed for young Elphaba that she should have such a ridiculous mother (even before she could talk or realize her situation). I picture her FAT, but not obese, just simply round, large chested, obviously once beautiful, but no longer. There should be something about her that references who she used to be. Maybe a hat, piece of jewelry, pair of shoes, or something that she has on or does, that is so different from the rest of her that we notice and realize she is still holding on to that old life. Maybe Frex mentions it, askingg her why she keeps that silly thing. Maybe a comb. I think that would be wonderful! A beautiful jeweled comb from her mother. She could comb her gnarled, dirty, split-end hair... staring at herself in the mirror, drunk and high. Finally, one day after Nessa is born (maybe before, but the timing is important) she will break the comb on a tangle. Stare at it. Place it down. Pick up a simple wooden comb and continue brushing, unblinking.

I like that scene!!!!

Nanny

Wikipedia:
Nanny is a member of the Thropp family, though whether by blood or employment is never explicitly revealed. By the conclusion of the book, she has raised three generations of the Thropps, most notably having acted as chaperon to Nessarose, Elphaba and Glinda during their years at Shiz. She is still vital well into her eighties. Her attitude reflects this, as she is stoic, speaks her mind, and holds to somewhat inflammatory 'Lurlinistic' pagan beliefs.

Me:
She is such an interesting character. She is constantly complaining, yet keeps on working. Her strong will, which is so prevalent in the beginning, seems, later, to be subdued, if not controlled by Nessa. Nanny allows this because she feels bad for Nessa, and eventually just gives in completely. I think this should be a testament to the strong will of Nessa or at least her ability to get others to do what she wants. Nanny, who nearly ran their mother's life, was almost a slave to Nessa. Her role is not huge, and so I think it would be a wonderful opportunity to use her attitude and personality to make a point. She should be overly loud and obnoxious to begin with, and then overly subdued to Nessa towards the end of her part.