Greeting all! This month, in celebration of powerful women, we look to maniacal Madame Morrible, the "unofficial Wicked Witch of the Emerald City". Not only is Madame Morrible an excellent candidate for this women's history month, she also dominates with the month's signature color: emerald green! In this post, we will discuss her origins, her media legacy (and future legacies), as well as how you can celebrate this gangrene beauty in your neck of the wood.
Headmistress Morrible, or more commonly known as Madame Morrible, is first introduced in Gregory Maguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. Her origin is not divulged in the books; however, we do learn a lot about her throughout the novels like:
In the book, she kills Dr. Dillamond with her Grommetik assistant as well as Glinda's nanny, Ama Clutch, who witnessed her doing it. Then, she drugged Elphaba, Glinda, and Nessarose with some kind of magical potion to convince them to become leaders in different regions of Oz and work for the Wizard. When none of them consented, this put them on her hit list. Morrible was behind Elphaba's love, Fiyero being killed by the Wizard's army, Glinda not getting into the Sorcery program, and Nessarose dying by Dorothy's house. Pretty diabolical for a headmistress, who you don't suspect to be that focused on three students in her college. Eventually, Morrible died in the end from old age, even though Elphaba told everyone she came across that she killed her.
Now, in the play, similar events seem to transpire, but with a lighter touch like her not killing Dr. Dillamond but getting him kicked out of his position. Fiyero was not killed by a militant group but instead was swept away in a tornado. She also spread lies that Elphaba was a thread that needed to be eradicated. The event that did stay the same was Nessarose having a house landing on her and Morrible was the reason why the tornado came to Oz. Her end in the play was not that she died but that she was dismantled from her position and outcast from the Emerald City.
With all that information about Madame Morrible, you may ask well, what is her media legacy? Well, it is just limited to the play currently; however, in 2024, the musical comes to the big screen with Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible. You can check out more from The Hollywood Reporter above. Additionally, Madame Morrible has been seen is a wide variety of different countries like the United Kingdom & Ireland, South Korea, and Australia. Which country's production would you like to see in person?
So, how you can you bring some Madame Morrible to your neck of the woods? Well, you can always purchase something from the Wicked The Musical store like some Shiz University gear or follow Wicked on various social media platforms. You can always check out my posts on Madame Morrible on my Wicked Years blog like this one where I showcase a vlog series from the first African-American actress to play Madame Morrible, Sheryl Lee Ralph. There is a lot out there like the Wicked: The Musical Grimmerie or the Wicked: the Musical programs as a wide variety of merchandise like puzzles that were made featuring the different characters from the musical. All of these I have shown on my Wicked Years blog. So, get out there and check it out for yourself and have yourself a wonderfully Morrible time with the vast inspirations out there like this fun video made by a Wicked fan and artist: BagamCadet. Share your stories and inspirations below and until next time, I'll be seeing somewhere into the Oz-verse.
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May 2024
AuthorMy name is Vinkus Ken and I have been a long time fan of many things in Oz and how their world truly does emulate much of ours. Did you know that they have a flag of their own? Or did you know that they have a law about only having 9 jurors in their courts? Also, Oz has a court system! I like to introduce facts that seem meaningless and bring meaning to them by comparing them to our world. So, come along on this journey and enjoy the ride. |