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Wicked: Tiny Desk Concert

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

Copyright 2024 NPR

Josh Rogosin (he/him) stumbled into NPR HQ in 1999 on his way to mixing shows at The Shakespeare Theatre in downtown DC. Since then, he has been at the controls for all of NPR's flagship newsmagazines and gathered sound in far flung places like Togo and Benin, West Africa, Cambodia and Greece for the Radio Expeditions series. He has engineered at NPR West and NPR NY and spent two years as Technical Director at Marketplace Productions in Los Angeles. He served as Senior Broadcast Engineer for New York Public Radio and Studio 360, and was an originating producer and sound designer for NPR's Ask Me Another.