In "Wicked" what did the giant dragon represent?

Question

I saw it in Chicago so i'm not sure if they had it in New York or not.

Answer 1

In Gregory Maguire's book "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" (that the musical is based on), the dragon was a clock.  "The Clock of the Time Dragon" was part of a "pleasure faith" religion in Munchkin Land.  Elphaba was born inside of the relic and it shows up several times in the book.  Later, when she comes upon the clock it shows her that the Wizard is her father and not the man she thought (She and Nessarose have two different fathers).

Though it is not explained in the musical, many believe that like the show the clock put on for Elphaba in the book, "Wicked" is a show that the clock is putting on for the audience.  Even if you don't buy that, it is there to generally set the mood and to reference the book.

Answer 2

The giant dragon, along with all the clockwork mechanics around, are based on The Clock of the Time Dragon from the book Wicked by Gregory Maguire.

PG 11:

The Clock of the Time Dragon is mounted on a wagon and stands as high as a giraffe. It is nothing more than a tottering, free-standing theatre, punched on all four sides with alcoves and proscenium arches. On the flat roof is a clockwork dragon, an invention of green painted leather, silvery claws, ruby jeweled eyes. Its skin is made of hundreds of overlapping disks of copper, bronze, and iron. Beneath the flexible folds of its scales is an armature controlled by clockwork. The Time Dragon circles on its pedestal, flexes its narrow leathery wings (they make a sound like a bellows), and belches out sulfrous balls of flaming orange stink.

----------------

There are also references to the Clock made in the show as well:

ACT 1

In No One Mourns the Wicked-

Glinda: According to the Time Dragon Clock...

ACT 2

Farmhouse Scene-

Elphaba: Now, wait just a clock-tick.

---------------------------------

The Dragon and all the exposed cogs and wheels represent how everything the Wizard does is really all just mechanics, there isn't really any magic to it.

When Elphaba reveals her magic she becomes a threat to The Wizard because she can expose him for the fraud he is.

The Dragon moves 3 times in the show, and always foreshadows something dark and extremely life altering is going to happen.

~The very beginning

~After the Wizard reveals the monkeys who he tricked Elphaba into putting wings on

~After As Long As Your Mine Elphaba goes to Nessa, but finds she was too late

-------------------

Some productions have the Dragon, others do not. It's a custom built puppet that Eugene Lee, the set designer for Wicked and Saturday Night Live, designed because he was determined to use the dragon and clockwork in the set.

----------------------

Because in the book the Clock of the Time Dragon is a theatre that supposedly 'predicts' future events, in essence the entire show of Wicked is the show performed in the Time Dragon Clock. It's a religious icon in the book of the Pleasure Faith, or Pfaith.

Also, of the many creation myths of Oz, the origin of the Dragon is from the Pleasure Faith, or Pfaith. It states that the Time Dragon sleeping beneath Oz has dreamt everything into existence and when it awakens it will burn away everything it created.

Answer 3

they had it in DC I think it just sets the mood  of the magic and it's cool when it spits fire! Wicked it awsome!

Answer 4

It's just to set the mood of magic, It doesn't really represent anything significant as the German production (Wicked, die Hexen von Oz) doesn't actually use it and the dragon was missing from the West End (london) production up until last year.