TeenTix KC reviews Wicked at Music Hall
Zoe Jensen as Glinda and Jessie Davidson as Elphaba in the National Tour of WICKED, photo by Joan Marcus
TeenTix KC is an organization that helps provide KC youth with access to live stage performances. As part of that work, some up-and-coming ‘Press Corps Members’ are tackling their first reviews—building up a next generation of critical, celebratory voices. Today, we’re thrilled to share Brighton Brame’s coverage of American Theater Guild’s Wicked. Find out more about TeenTix here.
The performance of Wicked at the Kansas City Music Hall was a thrilling end to the American Theater Guild’s 2025-2026 Broadway season. I managed to go the first week it was open on August 12th. With the impressive original set design, costuming, and script, this show never fails to amaze audiences worldwide.
This musical is an adaptation of a book, based on a movie that was adapted from another book, which is one of the things that makes Wicked so unique and Popular (Laar). The original book (The Wizard of Oz) follows Dorothy and her adventures in Oz. Wicked, on the other hand, gives us the morally grey villain arc of the Wicked Witch of the West, known as Elphaba (Aline Myagoitia), and the full backstory of Glinda the Good (Claudia Bennett).
The story of Wicked is complex and different every way you look at it. In a world where strange things are common, how long does it take for something common to be estranged? If something as different as a girl with green skin can even exist, she must either be Good or Wicked, right? Because there is no in between. A random liar can just get lost while ballooning and end up worshipped because the people needed someone to look to. A perfectly normal (slightly spoiled) girl can be the epitome of Good because people needed someone to oppose the “evil” they created and had enough to hold over her. A man so stricken with love he’ll threaten his supposed fiancée. These are just some examples of how people in power only have power when we believe them.
Myagoitia fully embodied Elphaba from the beginning. Her powerful vocals and the way she was able to show the growth Elphaba experienced were masterful.
As Glinda, Bennet did a wonderful job portraying the whimsical and demanding demeanor of the character. Her transformation from prissy, demanding schoolgirl to leader of all Oz was stunning.
To build a set is one thing, but to make a set so that it withstands traveling across the country is quite another. Even the huge dragon that spans the top of the KC Music Hall’s stage has to be folded up and put into a truck, then reconstructed within a few days. From the set crew to Eugene Lee, the original set designer, everyone did an amazing job.
The story of Wicked is so powerful. From book to stage, stage to movie, the tear-jerking plot wows audiences across the world. To have this show come to KC and to be able to see it through TeenTix KC is such a cool opportunity for anyone of any age!
