Nessarose takes flight in this screen capture from the Wicked trailer, Universal Pictures.
I’ve always loved The Wizard of Oz movie (flying monkeys notwithstanding), and I’ve seen Wicked, the musical prequel about the unlikely friendship between Glinda/Galinda the Good Witch and Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, several times on stage.
But I’ve always felt conflicted about Wicked because of how Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose, is portrayed. She’s non-ambulatory due to complications during her mother’s pregnancy. So Nessarose uses a wheelchair as she arrives with Elphaba to attend Shiz University.
The students are excited about a dance at the Ozdust Ballroom, but no one invites Nessarose until Galinda manipulates a boy named Boq into asking her.
“See that tragically beautiful girl? The one in the chair?” Galinda sings to Boq. “It seems so unfair we should go on a spree, and not she. Gee! I know someone would be my hero if that someone were to go invite her.”
Boq has an outsized crush on Galinda, so he asks Nessarose to the dance. Nessarose then exults to Elphaba: “Oh, Elphaba, isn’t it wonderful? Finally, for this one night, I’m about to have a fun night with this Munchkin boy Galinda found for me!”
So … Nessa has never had any fun?
Wince.
Nessa’s inability to walk is a major plot point. Even in Oz — where animals talk, magic is common, and people and monkeys fly — walking is seemingly treasured above all. Later on in Wicked, Nessarose chides magically gifted Elphaba for not “rescuing” Nessa from her disability.
(Spoiler alert: Elphaba’s subsequent rescue effort doesn’t end well.)
I love Wicked’s fanciful take on how bitter enemies began as — and secretly still long to be? — best friends. I love the over-the-top costumes, vibrant sets and memorable music.
But I’ve always hated the stereotypes about Nessarose … and that Nessa buys into the stereotypes, too.
This week, the movie version of Wicked hits theaters. Ariana Grande plays Galinda, and Cynthia Erivo plays Elphaba.
The movie — the first of a two-part series — also stars real-life wheelchair rider Marissa Bode as Nessarose. This marks the first time that Nessarose is portrayed by someone who uses a wheelchair in real life.
Bode, injured in a car accident as a child, told Broadway World that she fell in love with Wicked when she was a little girl. Once she landed the movie role, Bode said she worked with a wheelchair choreographer for the big dance number. The set had a disability advisor, Bode was provided with an accessible trailer, and she said the set was also accessible.
While the ornate manual wheelchair Bode uses in Wicked doesn’t look optimally fit — the back looks high, and the seating looks very 90-90-90 — Bode said she made suggestions that more closely mimic real life for wheelchair riders. The Today Show reported that Bode’s Nessarose hangs her bag on the back of her wheelchair, for example.
There are additional hints that Wicked has evolved. In the film, Elphaba accompanies Nessa to Shiz University on what’s meant to be a temporary basis, while in the play, Elphaba goes to Shiz as Nessa’s full-time caregiver … the assumption being that of course, Nessa needs one.
And while Elphaba’s flight is an iconic moment in the play, Bode, who performed her own stunts, also flies in the film.
So I’m expecting a more nuanced Nessarose this time around, since a two-film series gives us more time to truly get to know this character.
At its heart, Wicked is about learning to embrace our true selves … even the parts we’re not always sure about.
I hope this latest rendition of Wicked, more than 20 years after the play made its debut, truly defies both gravity and stereotypes this time around.
