Nessarose
Encyclopedia
Nessarose Thropp is the name of the woman who becomes the Wicked Witch of the East
in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
by Gregory Maguire
, as well as in the Broadway
adaptation, Wicked
. She is the beautiful but physically handicapped younger sister of Elphaba
, the Wicked Witch of the West
.
In both Maguire's novel and the musical version, the character is portrayed in a much less negative light than L. Frank Baum
's original Wicked Witch of the East
. Nessarose possesses sympathetic and admirable qualities, but these are ultimately overshadowed by her increasingly uncompromising and self-righteous nature. She earns her infamous title upon becoming the Ruler of Munchkinland, on account of her harsh measures and for the use of sorcery
to control her subjects.
She meets her demise when Dorothy
's house lands on top of her, leaving only her enchanted shoes intact.
, Nessarose is an exceedingly pious and religious character. She was born without arms, but is a beautiful and dainty girl nevertheless, and her sister Elphaba
is often expected to put Nessie's needs before her own. Raised in the Quadling Country
, Nessarose is constantly aided by her Nanny because, without arms, she lacks proper balance.
Having extreme pious and religious convictions (linking absolutely everything she sees to religion and morality
), Nessarose is often close-minded and vain, in keeping with Maguire's cynicism throughout the novel towards religion in general. In fact, the extent of her Unionist
religious dedication causes even her father, the intensely jealous Frexspar, to worry that she may be "too devout". Unlike in the musical version, however, Nessarose is not infatuated with Boq
, the Munchkin boy, or anyone for that matter, and lives a solitary life.
When Nanny is called to replace Ama Clutch as Elphaba and Glinda
's chaperone at Shiz University, Nessarose joins her, and thus begins her college education a year earlier than she had originally planned. Along with Elphaba and Glinda, Nessarose is chosen by Madame Morrible to be an Adept – a trained sorceress, with political authority over a particular area, in Nessie's case, the South (Quadling Country). Like the other two girls, she rejects the position, but, again like her fellows, she eventually finds herself ruling a province of Oz
, albeit a different one than Madame Morrible had suggested. When Elphaba drops out of university
without a word to her, Nessarose is both devastated and furious, and harbors resentment toward her sister for a long time. Glinda mentions that she helped Nessie through the aftermath of Elphaba's departure, and that the two became quite close.
With Elphaba missing and presumed dead, Nessarose inherits her great-grandfather's title of "Eminent Thropp", and as the Eminence of the East, she opposes the Wizard
's despotic regime, and makes Munchkinland an independent country from the rest of the Land of Oz
. During her reign in Munchkinland, despite her religious convictions, Nessarose allows certain ancient practices to take place – including ritualistic sacrifices, rumoured to even include those of animals and humans. In addition, despite originally having been opposed to magic
on religious grounds, her reign as Eminence finds her practicing sorcery (though she still claims to be a devout Unionist, referring to her spells as "miracle
s in the honor of the Unnamed God").
Not all of her subjects are too afraid of her to ask for boons, however. In one instance, a woman asks her to prevent her maid from marrying a local woodsman, offering her two cows and a sheep as payment. Nessarose casts a spell on the woodsman's axe
so that it will attack him and remove his limbs. She says that she knows from personal experience that an individual who doesn't possess limbs is much less desirable to the opposite sex. Her justification for performing such cruel actions is that she is so "righteous" as to do whatever she deems fit, although Maguire seems to suggest that her condition and her circumstances have left her embittered and hardened. It is implied that the unfortunate woodsman in question becomes the Tin Woodman
, as the incident perfectly mirrors L. Frank Baum
's original account of the Tin Woodman
becoming as he is due to the Wicked Witch of the East
's enchantments.
Nessarose is the original owner of the magical Silver Shoes
, given to her as a loving gift by her father, and later enchanted by Glinda (in the musical adaptation, the bewitched shoes are Elphaba's doing). Upon being enchanted, the shoes turn into the more famous Ruby Slippers
. These shoes allow Nessarose to walk and stand without assistance, and leave her overly confident and more proud, which only fuels her tyrannical reign over the Munchkin
s. It is Elphaba's quest to retrieve Nessarose's shoes from Dorothy that causes her demise, as she becomes obsessed with obtaining the objects that have always existed as a symbol of neglect and rejection from her father (who always favoured Nessarose), as well as a sign of fear and later reverence from the citizens of Oz.
The story reveals that Nessarose may be the child of Turtle Heart, the Quadling glassblower
who resided with the Thropps, and that she may have been born without arms as punishment for her mother Melena's infidelity to Frexspar. Frex confesses as much to Elphaba after Nessarose's death, adding that he and his wife Melena loved Turtle Heart equally. The implications of that statement are, however, never fully developed. It is because of the questionable parentage of Nessarose that Frex loves her more than Elphaba, as if the younger daughter had been conceived by the love that both he and his wife shared with Turtle Heart. Nessarose dies not knowing the debate over her parentage, or that her perhaps-father Turtle Heart was viciously sacrificed in a ritual similar to the ones she allowed her people to conduct. However, in A Lion Among Men
, the family trees confirm that Frex is indeed Nessie's father.
Nessarose and Elphaba
are almost diametrically opposite in terms of personality. Elphaba
is an atheist, who does not even believe in a soul, and Nessarose ends up provoking her sister's ire by constantly praying for Elphaba
's Godless soul. Nevertheless, Nessie pleads with Elphaba to stay with her in the East and help her rule Munchkinland, and although Elphaba spurns and abandons her younger sister, she later regrets it when Nessarose is destroyed (wondering whether she might have been able to save Nessie had she herself been there).
Nessarose's death, caused by Dorothy
's falling house, led several Ozians to come up with satirical slogans and witty catch phrases that strongly remind us of "There's no place like home" (though not using the same words).
. As in the novel, she is very beautiful, but the adaptation presents her as a more tragic
character. In an effort to shoo away a persistent love-struck Munchkin
named Boq
, Glinda arranges a date between him and Nessarose. Boq pretends to be genuinely interested in Nessa, hoping to impress Glinda by going out with a crippled girl, but Nessarose becomes inordinately attached to him. After becoming the Governor
of Munchkinland, following the death of her father (the former governor), she strips the Munchkin
s of all their rights and prevents them from leaving the Eastern province, all to make Boq stay with her. This earns her the title "Wicked Witch of the East".
As in the novel, Nessarose receives the Silver Shoes
as a gift from her father. Nessa at first feels bad that Elphaba
never received such a gift, and although she is embarrassed by Elphaba's sudden outbursts of magic, she is thrilled and excited when her older sister is invited by the Wizard to be his right-hand. Unlike in the novel, Nessarose does not oppose the Wizard, but rather respects and fears him like everyone else in Oz. In fact, she becomes incensed with Elphaba
when the green-skinned witch opposes the Wizard and goes renegade, especially because this leads to her beloved father dying "of shame". Nessa is not impressed by her older sister's attempts to rescue animals from the Wizard, pointing out that Elphaba
never thought to use her magical powers to rescue Nessarose herself from her wheelchair. Feeling guilty, Elphaba enchants the Silver Shoes
by means of a spell from the Grimmerie, turning them into the ruby slippers
and enabling her younger sister to finally walk.
Now that she is no longer disabled, Nessarose believes that Boq will choose to stay with her of his own accord, but the Munchkin
insists that he should now be free to go pursue Glinda instead, going so far as to brandish a knife in order to prevent Nessa from stopping him. Hurt and furious, Nessarose grudgingly tries to cast a spell from the Grimmerie to make Boq lose his heart to her, determined that he should love her. However, unlike in the novel, Nessa has had no instruction in sorcery whatsoever, and thus ends up pronouncing the words in the incantation all wrong. This leads to Boq literally losing his heart. While Elphaba tries to save his life, Nessarose reflects on how being "alone and loveless" has led to her wicked actions; she fears that she may deserve no one but the "girl in the mirror" as punishment.
Elphaba
gets tired of Nessarose, like in the novel, and leaves her younger sister for good, despite Nessa's frantic pleas for Elphaba to stay with her. When it turns out that Elphaba had turned Boq into a Tin Man
, so that he can live without a heart, a desperate Nessarose places all the blame on her older sister, and a horrified Boq runs away, leaving Nessa all on her own. Thus, she does not even get to enjoy the gift of being able to walk, and comes to regard her whole existence as a "sorry life".
Glinda unwittingly causes her death in the musical, by suggesting to the Wizard and Madame Morrible that Elphaba can be captured by spreading a rumour that Nessarose is in danger. Madame Morrible takes this suggestion to its most extreme level by creating a cyclone that brings Dorothy
's house to Oz
, which falls on and crushes Nessarose to death.
In the original Broadway production, the role was played by Michelle Federer
.
Other notable actresses to star in the role worldwide include Heidi Kettenrng, Stefanie Brown, Cristy Candler (Broadway), Jenna Leigh Green
(Tour/Broadway/Los Angeles), Deedee Magno Hall
(Tour/San Francisco), Marcie Dodd
(Los Angeles), Penny McNamme and Elisa Colla Australia
and Katie Rowley Jones
, Caroline Keiff
, Natalie Anderson
(all London).
Wicked Witch of the East
The Wicked Witch of the East is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum in his Oz series of books....
in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, is a parallel novel published in 1995 written by Gregory Maguire and illustrated by Douglas Smith. It is a revisionist look at the land and characters of Oz from L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, its sequels, and the...
by Gregory Maguire
Gregory Maguire
Gregory Maguire is an American writer. He is the author of the novels Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, and many other novels for adults and children...
, as well as in the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
adaptation, Wicked
Wicked (musical)
Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard...
. She is the beautiful but physically handicapped younger sister of Elphaba
Elphaba
Elphaba Thropp is a fictional character in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Broadway and West End adaptations, Wicked. In the original L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West is unnamed and little...
, the Wicked Witch of the West
Wicked Witch of the West
The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character and the most significant antagonist in L. Frank Baum's children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
.
In both Maguire's novel and the musical version, the character is portrayed in a much less negative light than L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
's original Wicked Witch of the East
Wicked Witch of the East
The Wicked Witch of the East is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum in his Oz series of books....
. Nessarose possesses sympathetic and admirable qualities, but these are ultimately overshadowed by her increasingly uncompromising and self-righteous nature. She earns her infamous title upon becoming the Ruler of Munchkinland, on account of her harsh measures and for the use of sorcery
Sorcery
Sorcery may refer to:* Magic * Maleficium * Witchcraft* Sorcery , a video game for the PlayStation 3 utilizing the PlayStation Move* Sorcery , 1995* Sorcery , 1974...
to control her subjects.
She meets her demise when Dorothy
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum, and the best friend of Oz's ruler Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels...
's house lands on top of her, leaving only her enchanted shoes intact.
In the Novel
In Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the WestWicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, is a parallel novel published in 1995 written by Gregory Maguire and illustrated by Douglas Smith. It is a revisionist look at the land and characters of Oz from L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, its sequels, and the...
, Nessarose is an exceedingly pious and religious character. She was born without arms, but is a beautiful and dainty girl nevertheless, and her sister Elphaba
Elphaba
Elphaba Thropp is a fictional character in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Broadway and West End adaptations, Wicked. In the original L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West is unnamed and little...
is often expected to put Nessie's needs before her own. Raised in the Quadling Country
Quadling Country
The Quadling Country is the southern division of L. Frank Baum's Land of Oz. It is distinguished by the color red, worn by most of the local inhabitants as well as the color of their surroundings. Like the Munchkin Country, the outer regions of the Quadling Country are rich, pleasant and...
, Nessarose is constantly aided by her Nanny because, without arms, she lacks proper balance.
Having extreme pious and religious convictions (linking absolutely everything she sees to religion and morality
Morality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
), Nessarose is often close-minded and vain, in keeping with Maguire's cynicism throughout the novel towards religion in general. In fact, the extent of her Unionist
Unionist
-United Kingdom:In the United Kingdom, British unionists are those people and political organisations who wish their area to remain or become part of the United Kingdom...
religious dedication causes even her father, the intensely jealous Frexspar, to worry that she may be "too devout". Unlike in the musical version, however, Nessarose is not infatuated with Boq
Boq
Boq is a minor character in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. He becomes a more prominent character in Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which purports to show the lives of some of Baum's characters from another perspective, and more...
, the Munchkin boy, or anyone for that matter, and lives a solitary life.
When Nanny is called to replace Ama Clutch as Elphaba and Glinda
Glinda
Glinda is a fictional character in the Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is the most powerful sorceress of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Country south of the Emerald City, and protector of Princess Ozma.- Literature :Baum's 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
's chaperone at Shiz University, Nessarose joins her, and thus begins her college education a year earlier than she had originally planned. Along with Elphaba and Glinda, Nessarose is chosen by Madame Morrible to be an Adept – a trained sorceress, with political authority over a particular area, in Nessie's case, the South (Quadling Country). Like the other two girls, she rejects the position, but, again like her fellows, she eventually finds herself ruling a province of Oz
Land of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
, albeit a different one than Madame Morrible had suggested. When Elphaba drops out of university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
without a word to her, Nessarose is both devastated and furious, and harbors resentment toward her sister for a long time. Glinda mentions that she helped Nessie through the aftermath of Elphaba's departure, and that the two became quite close.
With Elphaba missing and presumed dead, Nessarose inherits her great-grandfather's title of "Eminent Thropp", and as the Eminence of the East, she opposes the Wizard
Wizard
Wizard may refer to:- Fictional characters :* Wizard or magician, a person in fantasy or mythology who has studied and practices magic** Wizard , a character in L...
's despotic regime, and makes Munchkinland an independent country from the rest of the Land of Oz
Land of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
. During her reign in Munchkinland, despite her religious convictions, Nessarose allows certain ancient practices to take place – including ritualistic sacrifices, rumoured to even include those of animals and humans. In addition, despite originally having been opposed to magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
on religious grounds, her reign as Eminence finds her practicing sorcery (though she still claims to be a devout Unionist, referring to her spells as "miracle
Miracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
s in the honor of the Unnamed God").
Not all of her subjects are too afraid of her to ask for boons, however. In one instance, a woman asks her to prevent her maid from marrying a local woodsman, offering her two cows and a sheep as payment. Nessarose casts a spell on the woodsman's axe
Axe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
so that it will attack him and remove his limbs. She says that she knows from personal experience that an individual who doesn't possess limbs is much less desirable to the opposite sex. Her justification for performing such cruel actions is that she is so "righteous" as to do whatever she deems fit, although Maguire seems to suggest that her condition and her circumstances have left her embittered and hardened. It is implied that the unfortunate woodsman in question becomes the Tin Woodman
Tin Woodman
The Tin Woodman, sometimes referred to as the Tin Man or the Tin Woodsman , is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum...
, as the incident perfectly mirrors L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
's original account of the Tin Woodman
Tin Woodman
The Tin Woodman, sometimes referred to as the Tin Man or the Tin Woodsman , is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum...
becoming as he is due to the Wicked Witch of the East
Wicked Witch of the East
The Wicked Witch of the East is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum in his Oz series of books....
's enchantments.
Nessarose is the original owner of the magical Silver Shoes
Silver Shoes
The Silver Shoes are the magical shoes that appear in the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as Dorothy Gale's transport home. They were originally owned by the Wicked Witch of the East but passed to Dorothy when her house landed on the Witch...
, given to her as a loving gift by her father, and later enchanted by Glinda (in the musical adaptation, the bewitched shoes are Elphaba's doing). Upon being enchanted, the shoes turn into the more famous Ruby Slippers
Ruby slippers
The ruby slippers are the shoes worn by Dorothy in the 1939 MGM movie The Wizard of Oz. Because of their iconic stature, they are now among the most treasured and valuable of film memorabilia. As was customary for important props, a number of pairs were made for the film, though no one knows...
. These shoes allow Nessarose to walk and stand without assistance, and leave her overly confident and more proud, which only fuels her tyrannical reign over the Munchkin
Munchkin
The Munchkins are the natives of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. They first appeared in the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in which they are described as being somewhat short of stature, and wear only blue...
s. It is Elphaba's quest to retrieve Nessarose's shoes from Dorothy that causes her demise, as she becomes obsessed with obtaining the objects that have always existed as a symbol of neglect and rejection from her father (who always favoured Nessarose), as well as a sign of fear and later reverence from the citizens of Oz.
The story reveals that Nessarose may be the child of Turtle Heart, the Quadling glassblower
Glassblowing
Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble, or parison, with the aid of a blowpipe, or blow tube...
who resided with the Thropps, and that she may have been born without arms as punishment for her mother Melena's infidelity to Frexspar. Frex confesses as much to Elphaba after Nessarose's death, adding that he and his wife Melena loved Turtle Heart equally. The implications of that statement are, however, never fully developed. It is because of the questionable parentage of Nessarose that Frex loves her more than Elphaba, as if the younger daughter had been conceived by the love that both he and his wife shared with Turtle Heart. Nessarose dies not knowing the debate over her parentage, or that her perhaps-father Turtle Heart was viciously sacrificed in a ritual similar to the ones she allowed her people to conduct. However, in A Lion Among Men
A Lion Among Men
A Lion Among Men is the third novel in Gregory Maguire's The Wicked Years and was released in the UK on October 2, 2008, October 8 in the US, and on October 14, 2008 in the rest of Europe....
, the family trees confirm that Frex is indeed Nessie's father.
Nessarose and Elphaba
Elphaba
Elphaba Thropp is a fictional character in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Broadway and West End adaptations, Wicked. In the original L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West is unnamed and little...
are almost diametrically opposite in terms of personality. Elphaba
Elphaba
Elphaba Thropp is a fictional character in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Broadway and West End adaptations, Wicked. In the original L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West is unnamed and little...
is an atheist, who does not even believe in a soul, and Nessarose ends up provoking her sister's ire by constantly praying for Elphaba
Elphaba
Elphaba Thropp is a fictional character in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Broadway and West End adaptations, Wicked. In the original L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West is unnamed and little...
's Godless soul. Nevertheless, Nessie pleads with Elphaba to stay with her in the East and help her rule Munchkinland, and although Elphaba spurns and abandons her younger sister, she later regrets it when Nessarose is destroyed (wondering whether she might have been able to save Nessie had she herself been there).
Nessarose's death, caused by Dorothy
Dorothy
Dorothy may refer to:*Dorothy , a given name *Dorothy, the title of an Old English dance by Seymour Smith*Dorothy , a comic opera...
's falling house, led several Ozians to come up with satirical slogans and witty catch phrases that strongly remind us of "There's no place like home" (though not using the same words).
In the Musical
Like many other characters in the musical adaptation of Wicked, Nessarose is portrayed very differently from the novel. In the musical, she is not chosen to be a sorceress by Madame Morrible, and was not born armless, but instead crippled, thereby requiring the use of a wheelchairWheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
. As in the novel, she is very beautiful, but the adaptation presents her as a more tragic
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
character. In an effort to shoo away a persistent love-struck Munchkin
Munchkin
The Munchkins are the natives of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. They first appeared in the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in which they are described as being somewhat short of stature, and wear only blue...
named Boq
Boq
Boq is a minor character in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. He becomes a more prominent character in Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which purports to show the lives of some of Baum's characters from another perspective, and more...
, Glinda arranges a date between him and Nessarose. Boq pretends to be genuinely interested in Nessa, hoping to impress Glinda by going out with a crippled girl, but Nessarose becomes inordinately attached to him. After becoming the Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of Munchkinland, following the death of her father (the former governor), she strips the Munchkin
Munchkin
The Munchkins are the natives of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. They first appeared in the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in which they are described as being somewhat short of stature, and wear only blue...
s of all their rights and prevents them from leaving the Eastern province, all to make Boq stay with her. This earns her the title "Wicked Witch of the East".
As in the novel, Nessarose receives the Silver Shoes
Silver Shoes
The Silver Shoes are the magical shoes that appear in the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as Dorothy Gale's transport home. They were originally owned by the Wicked Witch of the East but passed to Dorothy when her house landed on the Witch...
as a gift from her father. Nessa at first feels bad that Elphaba
Elphaba
Elphaba Thropp is a fictional character in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Broadway and West End adaptations, Wicked. In the original L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West is unnamed and little...
never received such a gift, and although she is embarrassed by Elphaba's sudden outbursts of magic, she is thrilled and excited when her older sister is invited by the Wizard to be his right-hand. Unlike in the novel, Nessarose does not oppose the Wizard, but rather respects and fears him like everyone else in Oz. In fact, she becomes incensed with Elphaba
Elphaba
Elphaba Thropp is a fictional character in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Broadway and West End adaptations, Wicked. In the original L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West is unnamed and little...
when the green-skinned witch opposes the Wizard and goes renegade, especially because this leads to her beloved father dying "of shame". Nessa is not impressed by her older sister's attempts to rescue animals from the Wizard, pointing out that Elphaba
Elphaba
Elphaba Thropp is a fictional character in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Broadway and West End adaptations, Wicked. In the original L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West is unnamed and little...
never thought to use her magical powers to rescue Nessarose herself from her wheelchair. Feeling guilty, Elphaba enchants the Silver Shoes
Silver Shoes
The Silver Shoes are the magical shoes that appear in the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as Dorothy Gale's transport home. They were originally owned by the Wicked Witch of the East but passed to Dorothy when her house landed on the Witch...
by means of a spell from the Grimmerie, turning them into the ruby slippers
Ruby slippers
The ruby slippers are the shoes worn by Dorothy in the 1939 MGM movie The Wizard of Oz. Because of their iconic stature, they are now among the most treasured and valuable of film memorabilia. As was customary for important props, a number of pairs were made for the film, though no one knows...
and enabling her younger sister to finally walk.
Now that she is no longer disabled, Nessarose believes that Boq will choose to stay with her of his own accord, but the Munchkin
Munchkin
The Munchkins are the natives of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. They first appeared in the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in which they are described as being somewhat short of stature, and wear only blue...
insists that he should now be free to go pursue Glinda instead, going so far as to brandish a knife in order to prevent Nessa from stopping him. Hurt and furious, Nessarose grudgingly tries to cast a spell from the Grimmerie to make Boq lose his heart to her, determined that he should love her. However, unlike in the novel, Nessa has had no instruction in sorcery whatsoever, and thus ends up pronouncing the words in the incantation all wrong. This leads to Boq literally losing his heart. While Elphaba tries to save his life, Nessarose reflects on how being "alone and loveless" has led to her wicked actions; she fears that she may deserve no one but the "girl in the mirror" as punishment.
Elphaba
Elphaba
Elphaba Thropp is a fictional character in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Broadway and West End adaptations, Wicked. In the original L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West is unnamed and little...
gets tired of Nessarose, like in the novel, and leaves her younger sister for good, despite Nessa's frantic pleas for Elphaba to stay with her. When it turns out that Elphaba had turned Boq into a Tin Man
Tin Woodman
The Tin Woodman, sometimes referred to as the Tin Man or the Tin Woodsman , is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum...
, so that he can live without a heart, a desperate Nessarose places all the blame on her older sister, and a horrified Boq runs away, leaving Nessa all on her own. Thus, she does not even get to enjoy the gift of being able to walk, and comes to regard her whole existence as a "sorry life".
Glinda unwittingly causes her death in the musical, by suggesting to the Wizard and Madame Morrible that Elphaba can be captured by spreading a rumour that Nessarose is in danger. Madame Morrible takes this suggestion to its most extreme level by creating a cyclone that brings Dorothy
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum, and the best friend of Oz's ruler Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels...
's house to Oz
Land of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
, which falls on and crushes Nessarose to death.
In the original Broadway production, the role was played by Michelle Federer
Michelle Federer
Michelle Federer is an American film and theatre actress.-Early life and education:Federer is the daughter of John and Claudia Federer...
.
Other notable actresses to star in the role worldwide include Heidi Kettenrng, Stefanie Brown, Cristy Candler (Broadway), Jenna Leigh Green
Jenna Leigh Green
Jenna Leigh Green is an American actress and singer best known for her performances as Libby Chessler on the television show Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and on Broadway and on tour in the musical Wicked.-Early life and career:...
(Tour/Broadway/Los Angeles), Deedee Magno Hall
Deedee Magno
Deedee Lynn Magno Hall is an American actress and singer, formerly a member of the pop group The Party. She also lent her voice to the Disney show The All New Mickey Mouse Club. She also appears as Jasmine on the Aladdin a Musical Spectacular Soundtrack...
(Tour/San Francisco), Marcie Dodd
Marcie Dodd
Marcie Dodd is an American stage performer, best known for playing Elphaba and Nessarose in various US companies of the hit musical Wicked.- Early life and career :...
(Los Angeles), Penny McNamme and Elisa Colla Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Katie Rowley Jones
Katie Rowley Jones
Katie Rowley Jones is a musical theatre actress best known for her portrayal of Nessarose in Wicked.-Early life and education:...
, Caroline Keiff
Caroline Keiff
Caroline Keiff is a British theatre performer, best known for her portrayal of Nessarose in Wicked. She was member of the original London cast and performed on the show's opening night of September 27, 2006. She performed in the ensemble and understudied the role of Nessarose. From July 2007, she...
, Natalie Anderson
Natalie Anderson
-Personal life:Anderson was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. She married fiancé James Shepherd at a ceremony in Harrogate on 6 June 2008.-Biography:...
(all London).