‘Wicked’ Author Gregory Maguire on Glinda and Elphaba’s “Intentional” Lesbian Tensions and Other Queer Fan Theories

I sow seeds of opportunity there. But I will tell you that the reason I planted these seeds is that I wanted this book to be an examination of how we think of people as the end result of trauma, and that we are actually all bigger than our traumas. So I put right at the beginning the moment she is born there is a question, does she have both genitals? Maybe it was just a trick of the light? Well, you could wonder for the rest of her life and your life whether she did or not. But whether she did or not, it wouldn’t change the path she had to take.

We are all greater than the sum of the things that happen to us biologically, biochemically, emotionally, experientially, culturally; we are all bigger than that. That’s what survival is. To discover the breadth and scope of your own soul, despite and because of what is happening to you. So I’m not going to answer the question of whether or not she is, but I think it’s entirely relevant to ask the question.

Is Elphaba really intersex? Explanation of the fan theory from the original Evil Book

After all, we are in queer media.

In the book, Elphaba and Glinda share a kiss that doesn’t actually make it into the musical. But with the release of the film, there is a lot of talk about the Sapphic tension between the two. Was it on purpose?

It was on purpose, and it was modest and restrained and refined in such a way that one could imagine that one of the two young women had felt more than the other and had not wanted to say it. Or maybe because a novelist can’t write all the scenes, maybe when the lights were off and the author was out smoking in the back alley, the girls had sex in bed on the way to the Emerald City. I wanted to suggest this option, but I didn’t want to make a declarative statement about.

Have you seen any of the internet memes or anything related to the movie?

No, I don’t even know where you would look for an internet meme. I’m not even sure what it is.

The book has been out for 30 years. Do you keep finding new things in it when it is traded? When you watch it again each time, do you find new things in the story or in Elphaba’s story?

When Stephen Schwartz came to me I said: If I’m going to trust you to do this, I’m going to trust you all the way. I will not ask for a veto. I will not ask to see scripts. I will not ask to be in the production.

I did not want to be distracted by the arguments that might arise from the collaboration. I also wanted to honor the ambition and strength and talent and vision of other artists and not interfere with them, the same way I didn’t feel like L. Frank Baum had come out of his grave and interfered with me. And I thought it was only honorable to say, as long as you’ve proven to me that you know why I wrote this book, go ahead. And it won’t be the story of the novel, but that’s okay. If you carry out my intentions and people leave the theater thinking about what I want them to think about when they close the back of the book, then we’re good. Go ahead. And I’m very glad I made that decision.

Is there a song that is your favorite in the musical?

I admire the construction and performance of the song in the second act, “No Good Deed.” It’s my favorite song to witness being sung when it’s on stage. I can’t wait to hear how Cynthia tears it up.

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