The follow-up to Gregory Maguire’s revisionist 1995 tale Wicked about Elphaba Thropp — better known as the Wicked Witch of the West whose watery demise is familiar to anyone who remembers The Wizard of Oz — is this year’s Son of a Witch, about Elphaba’s afore-hinted-to son, Liir. In the ruins of the Emerald City where many residents have been victim to the barbaric Yunamatas, travel caravan leader Oatsie Manglehand discovers the body of a badly-injured but still alive boy and takes him to the Superior Maunt, who in turn identifies the boy as Liir. The thin and mute Candle revives Liir with her haunting music and secret affections, and all the while we learn of Liir’s backstory, including scenes from his boyhood, his trek to the Wizard’s Castle with Dorothy, his search for the imprisoned princess Nor, and a long tour in the Munchkinland Army. However, nothing will prepare Liir for Candle’s shocking secret. Maguire fills his narrative with vivid characters and heartfelt lessons of love, loss, forgiveness, and moving on.
