THE STORY – Misunderstood because of her green skin, a young woman named Elphaba forges an unlikely but profound friendship with Glinda, a student with an unflinching desire for popularity. Following an encounter with the Wizard of Oz, their relationship soon reaches a crossroads as their lives begin to take very different paths.
THE CAST – Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh & Jeff Goldblum
THE TEAM – Jon M. Chu (Director), Winnie Holzman & Dana Fox (Writers)
THE RUNNING TIME – 160 minutes
“Wicked” was always supposed to be a movie. That was the original intention when Universal bought the rights to Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.” However, composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz told producer Marc Platt that this story was missing music. With Platt’s blessing, Schwartz, playwright Winnie Holzman, and director Joe Mantello adapted Maguire’s novel for the stage. The musical, which focused on the Wicked Witch of the West, Glinda the Good Witch, and the journeys that lead them to their positions during Dorothy’s stay in “The Wizard of Oz,” opened to mixed reviews in 2003. Yet, word of mouth was strong, and the show quickly started to sell out in Broadway’s biggest theater. By the 2004 Tony Awards, “Wicked” was nominated for ten prizes, including Best Musical, ultimately winning three (Best Actress in a Musical, Best Scenic Design, and Best Costume Design). While the musical didn’t win the biggest overall award, the production was clearly taking the world by storm. Today, it is the fourth longest-running show on Broadway and has been performed globally, making over $1.6 billion in ticket sales. Adapting the now-mega-hit musical has always been the plan since its success, but it seemed like a far-fetched dream. Over the last two decades, numerous people have been attached to the project, but the names and release dates were often dropped or pushed back (2019’s “Cats” and 2021’s “Sing 2” are some of the films to take its previous release dates). Due to the countless setbacks, it seemed like the film adaptation would never happen. But in 2021, “In The Heights” director Jon M. Chu signed on to direct, and production finally began. Now, twenty years since opening night on Broadway, the long-awaited adaptation is here. Or at least, the first half of it is.
From Universal Pictures, “Wicked” or “Wicked: Part 1” is the first half of the “Wicked” story. As an adaptation of the first act of the Broadway musical, the film centers on the college years of Galinda (Ariana Grande) and Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) before they become The Good Witch and The Wicked Witch of the magical land of Oz. As a fan of the original staged production this film is a faithful adaptation. Very little has changed from what is seen in the musical’s first act. From the lyrics to the dialogue, the film adaptation is mostly a cut-and-paste incarnation, but this allows Chu to focus on the cinematic aspects required to tell the story and let the characters and world breathe with a 160-minute runtime. This medium works in spades for the story, providing satisfaction to those loyal fans, including myself, who have been clamoring for this movie for twenty years.
Chu knows he is working with gold and wants to keep the winning recipe the same, which is why the dialogue and songs from the Broadway production are almost identical. But he doesn’t allow this notion to be an excuse for passive direction. Even though he is aware that most of the audience is familiar with the story, music, and setting of Oz, he still actively and brilliantly builds upon the world of Oz and the two leads with precision and care. With the extra time of having an entire film for the story’s first act, there is more of an opportunity for the audience to learn about Glinda and Elphaba’s goals and motivations, which are crucial to the story landing its emotional beats. The result is a magnificent adaptation of the stage production that conjures a sense of amazement through its epic spectacle and keeps the vital message of friendship and tapping into one’s inner power against a prejudiced society alive and well.
As established in the “Step Up” sequels and “In The Heights,” Chu is clearly at home in the movie musical genre of cinema. He understands that music and movement are integral to “Wicked’s” world and can adapt that notion to the screen with a flair that few other directors can match. The film never feels like someone placed a camera on a stage and made performers sing and dance in front of it. Oz, Shiz University, the OzDust Ballroom, and the Emerald City are all breathtakingly brought to life in a manner that recalls the Golden Age of Hollywood musicals while incorporating the latest in visual effects technology to make it feel modern. The lavish production design, costumes, and choreography take inspiration from the stage production, and they all translate wonderfully to the screen to fully immerse audiences in the fantastical story. The musical numbers are where these elements shine the most, as they mingle together to create a version of Oz that feels somewhat familiar to the setting we know from the 1939 film and 2003 production but still comes across as otherworldly and distinct for what Chu’s vision of “Wicked” is. Within the film, one is not confined to a single stage setting, and Chu takes advantage of this specifically within the musical numbers, taking his characters into the many different aspects of Oz and, as a result, expands the world and deepens the characters. This enables the audience to feel more entrenched in the story and its characters, and multiple set pieces benefit from this, including Galinda and Elphaba’s dorm room during the poppy, confrontational “What Is This Feeling?,” the campus life of Shiz University through Jonathan Bailey’s (Fiyero) incredibly sexy, confident and fun rendition of “Dancing Through Life,” and the Emerald City during the extravagant “One Short Day.”
The heart of “Wicked” is the relationship between Glinda and Elphaba; if you don’t care about the girls and their connection, then the story will not work. Thankfully, both Grande and Erivo provide spellbinding performances that keep the heart of Glinda and Elphaba alive on screen in ways that weren’t previously possible to capture on stage. Grande has been a degree of separation from “Wicked” for some time, from co-starting with Kristin Chenoweth, the original Glinda, in “Hairspray Live!,” to performing “The Wizard and I” for Wicked’s 15th-anniversary special to being featured on both Chenoweth and Idina Menzel’s 2019 albums, it seems that Grande’s entire professional life has been leading up to this moment. And it’s safe to say that she absolutely delivers her best performance to date as Galinda. Chenoweth’s pageant queen-like bubble-gum essence is alive and prominent in Grande’s interpretation. Still, Grande also utilizes the camera and the medium of film to portray the complexities of Glinda from the inside out, something that is not entirely highlighted in the stage production. She provides excellent comedic relief throughout the film (her multiple glorious hair whips and the emotional support she receives from Bowen Yang and Bronwyn James, who play her classmates Pfannee and ShenShen, all provide some great laughs) and, of course, her rendition of “Popular” is an enormous delight, but the inner battle between Glinda’s growing conscience and perceived public image as the admired girl at school is always prominent. There is a pitiful somberness when it comes to Glinda; she is someone who does learn to care about others in the film – she has that capability – but she will always pick (at this point in the story) popularity, security, and go with the crowd. That clash is ever present in Grande’s performance, which makes it both an entertaining and moving piece of work from the famed pop star. She perfectly balances the character’s tightrope, making it one of the year’s best performances.
Erivo takes a more unique approach when it comes to Elphaba. Her Elphaba is more reserved and is not as harsh or spunky as she has been portrayed onstage. Walking into the shoes created by Idina Menzel, a theatrical powerhouse in a multitude of ways, is a tough job for any actress, and Erivo cleverly decides to go in the opposite direction. A more reserved Elphaba, one who is not constantly mad at the world but is always looking for a way to connect with it, stretches the material and is appropriate when adapting this character to film. Granted, the character still has underlying anger, but Erivo layers it with hope and optimism for a better future for Oz. Elphaba is constantly giving her world many opportunities to become ideal for the better, yet there is always an element of frustration and consternation when that doesn’t occur, and society continues to shun her for being different due to the color of her skin in this case, green. Erivo plays an Elphaba who dares to dream first despite her lived experience. She is proud to be a citizen of her world and is excited about her potential (the telekinetic magic she possesses) to do good. She knows she’s just; she knows she’s good. She doesn’t need to prove that to anyone. She just needs one opportunity to prove that to the world, which makes the final 40 minutes of the film utterly heartbreaking as she meets the supposedly Wonderful Wizard of Oz (a perfectly cast Jeff Goldblum), and her dreams shatter as she clashes with a world that doesn’t want to give her that opportunity and instead wants to use her otherness to do more harm than good.
Unlike the many actresses who have played Elphaba, known for her multiple “big money singing notes,” Erivo’s big moments are her quiet ones, such as during “I’m Not That Girl.” Sure, the C#5 Erivo hits during “Defying Gravity” is great, but it’s the moments where Elphaba is first quietly accepted by Glinda in the OzDust Ballroom and their climatic goodbye before the girls part ways during “Defying Gravity” that gently reaches into the audience’s soul and stunningly portrays the magic of being seen authentically by someone who truly cares about you. Erivo and Grande are at the top of their game in “Wicked,” each deserving of the other’s talents and producing phenomenal performances that do justice to the roles fans have been emotionally invested in for many years. It’s obvious these characters mean the world to them, and they were evidently placed in the right hands, proudly joining the legacy that Chenoweth and Menzel started and kept alive by the hundreds of women who played the roles along the way. Much like how Chenoweth and Menzel inspired Grande and Erivo to be the performers they are now, Grande and Erivo will surely inspire a whole new generation of witches.
Both are supported well by the rest of the cast, which includes the previously mentioned swoon-worthy Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh as Professor Madame Morrible, the Headmistress of Shiz University who works with Elphaba to unlock her potential, multi-Emmy Award-winning Peter Dinklage as the voice of Doctor Dillamond, a kind CGI goat who teaches history at Shiz but is coming under threat from society as a portion of the people of Oz wish to silence animals and place them in cages for their “otherness” instead of having them actively positively contribute to society. “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical” actor Ethan Slater brings the proper levels of nervous nice-guy energy to Boq Woodsman, a Munchkin in love with Galinda, while Marissa Bode makes a warm impression in her feature film acting debut as Nessarose Thropp, Elphaba’s paraplegic younger sister.
“Wicked” is as much Glinda’s story as Elphaba’s. The story is about both of their journeys and understanding why they made the decisions they made, leading them to become the characters we’re familiar with in the classic 1939 film. Dividing the stage production into two films, one dedicated to each act, provides an opportunity for Chu and screenwriters Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox to expand on the themes and characters. No new original songs or different parts of the novel not already found in the Broadway musical are incorporated into this adaptation. While the film allows all the characters to breathe in this timely story, the central focus is predominantly on Glinda and Elphaba’s relationship.
Much like the theatrical production, it is slightly weaker when the film doesn’t feature both women. This doesn’t take away from Chu and his team’s new additions to the screen. However, they seem only supplementary and solely exist to extend the film’s length so that the property could be divided into two feature films. There is nothing new that is wholly necessary or expands upon the relationship dynamics; instead, it emerges as a product of not having enough story to make up an entire film. In addition, the cinematography from Alice Brooks begs much to be desired, as it is shot with very pale and faded colors, often giving a hazy look to the film’s visual effects, which are prominent throughout, resulting in one of the more baffling-looking movie musicals in quite some time from a major movie studio. Considering how influential a film like “The Wizard of Oz,” one of the first to use Technicolor, is in cinema history, this style and approach is borderline an embarrassment on the property.
“Wicked” is inherently a political story, as Maguire was inspired by the Gulf War when writing the novel. The musical opened on Broadway two years after 9/11, and the film will be released 17 days after a polarizing American election. No matter the times we’re living in, it’s about a young girl who realizes the leader of her world is just a small man behind a mask who strengthens the majority of the population by restricting the rights of a specific group and turning people against a common enemy to establish a level of control over them. “Wicked” is about that young girl who consciously decides to go against that man and stand up for what is right, knowing she’ll be villainized for doing so. It’s about harnessing one’s inner power and deciding how to use your voice for the benefit of society. Do you take the high road, the known and easier path? Or the road less traveled, where you’ll inevitably face resistance and hardship because you are actively going against the status quo in the name of righteousness.
The material of “Wicked” works, no matter the time or the medium. It always has and always will; the story of the underdog fighting for what is honorable and good will always be powerful. But it works more effectively now in a post-2024 election world where much of the very fabric of society feels under attack from those in power while a naive portion of the country goes along with it against their own self-interest. “Wicked” is a celebration and a call to action to stay true to one’s beliefs, no matter what power system seems to control you. Although this is only the first half of the whole story (and Part 2 will inevitably be trickier to translate to the big screen without the addition of some of the show’s more recognizable and beloved musical numbers found in Act One), the musical numbers are dazzling, its performances are entertaining and moving, and its story is relevant and impactful. “Wicked” is precisely what the world needs right now, making it one of the best movies of the year.
