Say there’s no future: The queer potential of Wicked’s Fiyero

Steven Greenwood

doi:10.1386/smt.12.3.305_1

ISSN: 1750-3159
E-ISSN: 1750-3167

Say there’s no future: The queer potential of Wicked’s Fiyero
By Steven Greenwood¹
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Affiliations: ¹ ISNI: 0000000419368649 McGill University
Source: Studies in Musical Theatre, Volume 12, Issue 3, Dec 2018, p. 305 - 317
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/smt.12.3.305_1
Language: English
- Published online: 01 Dec 2018

Abstract

This article demonstrates the queer potential and pleasure produced by the character Fiyero in Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s Wicked (2003). I mobilize two primary frameworks to examine Fiyero’s queerness; the first half of the article views Fiyero in the context of queer theories of temporality and utopia, while the second half is interested in the deep cultural history of gay men’s relationships with Broadway musicals. This analysis produces both theoretical and historical implications of Fiyero’s character as I explore how his representation disrupts heteronormative rituals and aspects of the social order, as well as how he produces a valuable figure for the communities of gay men that have historically developed around musical theatre. The queer possibility of Wicked’s women has been examined extensively in past scholarship – particularly through the insights of Stacy Wolf – and this article expands upon this previous work to account for the role of Fiyero in the musical and the queer possibilities he produces.

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2018-12-01

2024-04-19

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http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/smt.12.3.305_1

Article Type: Article

Keyword(s): adaptation; gay and lesbian; queer; sexuality; temporality; Wicked

Say there’s no future: The queer potential of Wicked’s Fiyero

Abstract

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