Wicked: Tiny Desk Concert

Josh Rogosin | September 21, 2023
Stephen Schwartz, the composer and lyricist of Wicked, quipped about his creative process at the Tiny Desk: "Tell the truth, and make it rhyme."

If you want to know how to write the fourth longest running show on Broadway, look no further than the Wicked Tiny Desk. The show is celebrating its 20th year in New York. After seeing it, I knew I had to invite the two leads and the show's composer to play his memorable score in our office.

The story of Wicked is a reimagining of The Wizard Of Oz, adapted from the 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire. Since Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz adapted it for the stage, it has been performed all over the world and translated into six languages.

The performances at the Tiny Desk by Alyssa Fox (Elphaba) and McKenzie Kurtz (Glinda), defy gravity. To sing these songs well, they must be acted well. And to see these performers do so in front of their composer at the piano is thrilling. The actors celebrate their sisterhood, beaming as they perform these familiar songs.

SET LIST
"Defying Gravity"
"Popular"
"I'm Not That Girl"
"For Good"

COMPOSER AND LYRICIST
Stephen Schwartz: piano

CAST
Alyssa Fox (Elphaba)
McKenzie Kurtz (Glinda)

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer/Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin
Director/Editor: Maia Stern
Creative Director: Bob Boilen
Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Sofia Seidel
Audio Assistant: Neil Tevault
Production Assistants: Jill Britton, Pilar Galván
Photographer: Sarah Mosquera
Tiny Desk Team: Suraya Mohamed, Kara Frame, Hazel Cills, Ashley Pointer
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann

#nprmusic #tinydesk #wicked

[nprmusic]

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[realsjesus]

with THE composer on the piano? what an honor

[alicestbrt]

my nerdy fave is that throughout the show when they sing in harmony, elphaba takes the low part and glinda the higher harmony, but in this song where they sing about having changed each other it’s switched and elphaba sings the higher part 🤍 this was so beautiful

[justinsleung]

I hope they keep doing more broadway at NPR!

[JM-nujg]

As a fan of musicals, I am very very surprised that Wicked, my favorite musical ever, is casually being performed at Tiny Desk. This is awesome.

[mulvinarowe]

I love that their outfits directly reflect their characters but in a modern way. Awesome!

[emilierapportmunro]

Mackenzie’s rendition of Popular was amazing! She so totally embodied the character

[HurrairaJamal]

Stephen fondly glancing over his shoulder, he knows what he did. Especially with Defying Gravity, I will never get sick of that song!

[gretchenela]

For Good made me cry in the first 5 seconds omg

[laserbeamlightning]

Having Stephen actually explain a lot of his logic behind his decisions in writing the musical is fascinating

[sujovian]

Mackenzie Kurtz wow. Never heard of her, but she’s destined for greatness. I’d never heard anyone approach Chenoweth’s performance on “popular”, and yet she surpassed it.

[daniellebelisle]

Alyssa Fox (Elphaba) sounded incredible and SUPER healthy singing Defying Gravity. It makes me happy when you can tell it doesn’t hurt while singers hit those notes and belts!

[papaya]

My father grudgingly took me to see Wicked when I was a child and ended up tearing up by Defying Gravity and proceeded to take me every single time the show came to town. It was our thing. Can't hear it without crying now. Love this. <3

[byronwilliams]

THEY CAME IN HOT WITH DEFYING GRAVITY and then add on the storytelling element with Stephen giving the songs even more depth and meaning as you come to understand and appreciate the amount of effort out into these shows and songs, this was PHENOMENAL!

[michellebollmeyer]

WOW she’s an incredible Glinda. Her take on popular was so good

[emily_bucci]

That was my most favorite rendition of “popular” ever. Her presentation was HILARIOUS and genius. 😂 I was cracking up the whole time

[TheDudeSmashTrash]

NPR, please keep bringing in broadway shows for tiny desk concerts! this and the lion king one are both among my favorites!

[bryanbarnes]

At 2:46 you can see the composer and McKenzie both smile as they both know Alyssa just completely nailed it.

[martimpardal]

For Good always kills me and I love that it seems physically impossible for any performers not to hug after doing it. This was lovely. Like others said, it's great to have Stephen give his stories behind these songs.

[prsident_skrb]

After 20 years, to see the joy Stephen Schwartz still gets from his work is just amazing 💚