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 (1900). In Baum's subsequent Oz books, it is the Nome King who is the principal villain; the Wicked Witch of the West is rarely even referred to again after her death in the first book.

The witch's most popular depiction was in the classic 1939 Hollywood movie based on Baum's book, where she was portrayed by actress Margaret Hamilton. Hamilton's characterization introduced green skin and this has been continued in later literary and dramatic representations, including Gregory Maguire's revisionist Oz novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995) and its musical stage adaptation Wicked (2003), the 2013 film Oz the Great and Powerful, and the television series Once Upon a Time.

In Baum's books

Machines of Grace is an American hard rock band from Boston, Massachusetts. The band features two former members of Savatage, namely vocalist Zachary Stevens and drummer Jeff Plate. Zachary Stevens is also the vocalist for Circle II Circle and Jeff Plate is the drummer for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Metal Church and violinist Mark Wood. The band plays varied genres of hard rock including; heavy metal, acoustic rock and melodic metal.

History

For a period of eight years, from 1992 until 2000, Zachary Stevens and Jeff Plate were members of Savatage. After four albums and several world tours with the group, Zachary left citing family reasons. During the winter of 2002 Zak started his own band called Circle II Circle, co-writing with former Savatage lead singer Jon Oliva and guitarist Chris Caffery. The remaining members of Savatage eventually turned into the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, of which Jeff Plate is a founding member and is currently the east coast band's drummer.

Zak and Jeff played in a band called Wicked Witch previously. With Mark Stewart on bass Boston area guitarist Matt Leff. Matt and Zak first met while attending Musicians Institute in Hollywood California. Upon graduating they moved to Boston Massachusetts and met Jeff. These three musicians have reunited under the band name "Machines Of Grace". When it was time to bring in a bassist, Chris Rapoza was called. Matt and Chris played together for several years in the Boston area metal band "Trigger Effect". Trigger Effect was chosen as one of the top unsigned bands in the USA by Sam Goody Record Stores, worked with Grammy winning producer Neil Kernon, and toured the Northeast as an opening act for Iron Maiden, Queensrÿche and Rob Halford.

Wicked Witch is a name for:

It may also refer to:

Other characters in the fictional land of Oz:

See also

West is a cardinal direction.

West or The West may also refer to:

Geography

Global context

National contexts

Media

Roads in the United Kingdom form a network of varied quality and capacity. Road distances are shown in miles or yards and UK speed limits are indicated in miles per hour (mph) or by the use of the national speed limit (NSL) symbol. Some vehicle categories have various lower maximum limits enforced by speed limiters. Enforcement of UK road speed limits increasingly uses speed guns, automated in-vehicle systems and automated roadside traffic cameras. A unified numbering system is in place for Great Britain, whilst in Northern Ireland, there is no available explanation for the allocation of road numbers.

The earliest specifically engineered roads were built during the British Iron Age. The road network was expanded during the Roman occupation. Some of these survive and others were lost. New roads were added in the Middle Ages and from the 17th century onwards. Whilst control has been transferred from local to central bodies and back again, current management and development of the road network is shared between local authorities, the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the Highways Agency. Certain aspects of the legal framework remain under the competence of the United Kingdom parliament.

The West is a 1999 electronic music album by Matmos.

Track listing

Reception

The West received positive reviews from music critics. John Bush, reviewing the album for AllMusic, described it as "seriously done but really playful, groovy even while it's slightly academic sounding, and experimental but undeniably entertaining."Pitchfork's Mark Richardson wrote in 2003 that The West was then considered by many fans to be the duo's masterpiece. He also writes: "The West contains guitar and other stringed instruments that, in places, evoke the Sergio Leone "big sky" of the Western landscape, but it also has a fair amount of abstract electronic noise without any particular association."

References