Witch with a Capital B

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The Wicked Witch of the West wasn’t always a spiteful hag. When she was young, people liked her and called her by her name, which was Elphaba. But a rare skin disorder and some mean-spirited shenanigans at witches’ school led to her nasty disposition and her penchant for ruining people’s days.

At least according to Wicked, Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s enormously popular musical based on Gregory Maguire’s Oz-centric novel of the same name. The show has returned to Gammage Auditorium, where it played a couple of years ago to sold-out crowds. This time, it’s docked for the entire month of July, so it can repeatedly sell the notion that witches -- at least musical-theater witches -- are people, too.

Wed., July 1, 7:30 p.m.; Thu., July 2, 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Fri., July 3, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., July 4, 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Sun., July 5, 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Tue., July 7, 7:30 p.m.; Wed., July 8, 7:30 p.m.; Thu., July 9, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., July 10, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., July 11, 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Sun., July 12, 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Tue., July 14, 7:30 p.m.; Wed., July 15, 7:30 p.m.; Thu., July 16, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., July 17, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., July 18, 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Sun., July 19, 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Tue., July 21, 7:30 p.m.; Wed., July 22, 7:30 p.m.; Thu., July 23, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., July 24, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., July 25, 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Sun., July 26, 2 & 7:30 p.m., 2009