“The World Unwraps Itself”: Tracing Utopia in Gregory Maguire’s <i>Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West</i> and Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s <i>Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz</i>

Fans and critics alike have frequently remarked on the tonal and narrative differences between Gregory Maguire’s complexly political 1995 Wizard of Oz reimagining Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s lighter 2003 Broadway adaptation Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz. While these differences are undoubtedly present and are tied to questions of intended audience and media/genre norms, both versions find common ground in their engagement with the ideas and potentials of utopia. Thinking with Bloch, Muñoz, and Levitas, this article traces constructions of concrete and abstract utopia across these adaptations, ultimately suggesting that despite their differences in approach, each version serves to evoke, anticipate, and effect potential futures both within their narratives, and for their respective readers and audiences.