Something ‘Wicked’ this way comes: Hit Broadway musical set to land in Des Moines

By Diana Nollen

The Gazette

Elphaba wasn't always wicked and Glinda wasn't always good.

Their paths met, clashed and crashed long before Dorothy set her ruby-clad feet on the Yellow Brick Road.

The wonderful witches of Oz are flying into the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines on Wednesday, casting their spell sometimes twice a day through Oct. 18 in “Wicked.”

Helene Yorke of New York is stepping into Glinda's floating bubble for this second national tour of the Tony- and Grammy-winning musical.

It's not her first time on the Des Moines stage. She played another golden girl there in March 2008, appearing as Sharpay in the national tour of Disney's “High School Musical.”

Does she see the similarity between drama diva Sharpay and Glinda the Good, both of whom live enchanted lives?

“I do see that,” Yorke says from a recent “Wicked” tour stop in Nashville. “Their common ground is that they're very sure of themselves, sure of their life paths, which turn out differently. When you're a little bit spoiled, you expect things to be (a certain) way, but life gets in the way. They expect to be perfectly set up and they're not.”

Life's journey takes a twisting path for Wicked Witch Elphaba and Glinda, as well, who meet as mismatched boarding school roommates. “Wicked” follows their paths from teenagers to young adults.

“What's great about this show is that it examines these two characters,” says Yorke, who is in her 20s and developed her love of music, theater and dance growing up in Los Angeles.

“It looks at anyone popular or good, and finds the underlying side to that. The community views (Glinda) as perfect. But she has quirks. She's very much in love with the fact that she's good. She's turned on by it. There's an egotism in that. (The story) shows how she becomes truly good, influenced by a friend of hers. ... Ultimately, this naive, spoiled girl is forced to realize things around her are part of her journey in becoming legitimately Glinda the Good Witch.”

The green-skinned, studious Elphaba (played by Marcie Dodd) changes for the better, too, through Glinda's enthusiastic makeover, before her life takes a turn for the worse.

“It's an attraction of opposites,” Yorke says. “Elphaba is a bit of a misfit, a black horse in the community. People point fingers at her. What's interesting is that's so relatable. Everybody is that person. Everybody feels that way regardless of how they're used to being seen. You always feel there's something strange about you. The exploration of that makes the story relatable.

“Friendship is such a powerful thing. You can change a person by being close to them. That's what these two women do for each other.”

That's reflected in her favorite Glinda song in the show, “For Good,” a duet with Elphaba. “It comes at the end of the show and sums up their friendship,” she says.

But her very favorite number comes shortly before that - Elphaba's soaring solo, “No Good Deed.”

“It's an incredible song,” Yorke says. “It's my favorite song of the whole show, especially when we have signers. The (sign language interpreters) are completely and emotionally connected to what she does. I'm in tears every time.”

The songs are huge, the costumes are huge and the sheer magnitude of the roles, with both Elphaba and Glinda onstage throughout, is taxing.

“It's the most demanding thing I've ever done and probably will ever do,” Yorke says. “It's nothing but three hours of running the stage together. There's not a lot of breaks, and heavy costumes. It's physically exhausting, vocally exhausting and leaves you emotionally spent. You have to get your body, which is your instrument, ready for that activity.”

Sleep is the key, she says.

“I take vitamin D, I eat well and get a lot of sleep. I spread out keeping in touch with friends on tour. If you talk too much on the phone, it's taxing. You watch yourself gradually being able to handle more and more and more as (the tour) goes on. It all depends on you, yourself, and pacing. You find places in the show where you don't have to do too, too much and can kind of take a break.”

So how will she follow up such a plum role?

“I hope to just keep working,” she says. “We'll see what happens. To predict is futile. Life turns and spins as it's meant to. I'll probably do a few other musicals, maybe branch into other mediums.

“Who knows. Who really knows.”

For now, though, she's dancing through life.

ARTS EXTRA

What: “Wicked”

When: Wednesday, Sept. 23, through Oct. 18

Show times: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday; special matinee at 2 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24

Where: Civic Center of Greater Des Moines, 221 Walnut St., Des Moines

Tickets: $32.50 to $137.50, through the Civic Center Ticket Office, 1-(800) 745-3000, all Ticketmaster locations or www.civiccenter.org

Information: www.wickedthemusical.com