When adaptations of people’s favorite books, plays or stage musicals are brought to the big screen, audiences always have high expectations and big biases. Living up to the source material is hard to do, and in many cases, the movie team fails to deliver. The movie adaptation of “Wicked,” based on the book “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” by Gregory Maguire and the broadway musical, faces the same pressure.
“Wicked” was essentially written as a prequel to the Wizard of Oz, even though it takes place before, during and after the events of Dorothy’s journey to find her way home. Act one of the musical is the true prequel, taking place during Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Galinda’s (Glinda the Good Witch of the South) time at Shiz University.
The first part of this movie musical follows the first act of the broadway show, while the second movie will take place within the second act. This means that the standard two-hour and 45 minute long stage act was turned into a two-hour and 40 minute film just for the first act. This led to even higher expectations, with people wanting more songs and a more in-depth plot.
“I was definitely expecting it to go into more detail than the broadway show since it had more runtime,” said Linganore High School (LHS) junior Jordis Dimmick.
Luckily, the movie adaptation had some major resources on their side, namely money. With a movie budget of approximately $145 million, the creative team was able to go full out with grand sets and costumes, while the graphics team successfully brought the world of Oz to life.
One of the most interesting things about the scenery was the tulip garden in Munchkinland, which is not created through computer-generated imagery (CGI), but rather is a field of nine million real tulips planted for the movie. With such a massive budget, it is no wonder that director Jonathan Murray Chu was able to make the movie world feel real.
However, extensive funding was not the only thing that the “Wicked” team had going for them. When news came out that there would be a “star cast” (a cast of celebrities elected as the main characters of a movie), some were worried that the big names would only be used to get fans into the theater instead of choosing actors who would create a genuinely good movie.
Stars such as Peter Dinklage (Dr. Dillamond); Jonathan Bailey (Fiyero Tigelaar); and, most notably, Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba) and Ariana Grande (Galinda/Glinda), faced backlash for being cast for these famous roles.
Grande herself told podcast “Sentimental Man” that had she been in the fans’ positions and only hearing songs such as her famed “7 Rings” or “Side to Side,” she would have been upset too.
“Something that I loved about auditioning for Wicked was that it has to be earned,” said Grande on the podcast.
Most people seem to forget that Grande has also been an actress for many years. Grande was first widely recognized due to her role as Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon show, “Victorious”, which helped shape her path towards pop stardom.
Prior to this, Grande had already performed in Broadway shows, debuting when she was only 14 years old as Charlotte in the musical “13.”
Given her notoriety as an actress in a childrens’ show, it is understandable why fans of a Tony-award winning musical would be apprehensive about Grande’s portrail of the famous Glinda.
Grande’s co-star, Erivo, also faced backlash in reference to the movie. Unlike Grande and worries about her lack of experience, fans were upset over Erivo’s reaction to a fan edit of the movie poster, which was modified to be similar to the original painting for the Broadway show.
In reaction to seeing the edited version of the poster, Erivo took to social media to share her opinion that the action was both degrading and equal to inappropriate jokes made by people online about the green color of Elphaba’s skin. Fans did not understand Erivo’s reaction, believing that she was acting irrationally and the fan art only wanted to make the real-life version a little more similar to the famous painting.
“She definitely overreacted,” said Dimmick. “It was just someone trying to call back to the musical posters, not dehumanize her.”
After the chaos of anticipation, when seeing the movie in-person, all worries about the two actresses and their co-stars were thrown out the window. Both Erivo and Grande’s performances were show-stopping and garnered both tears and applause from the audience.
“I think I was able to connect with the characters easily, and the way they portrayed Glinda and Elphaba’s friendship was honestly beautiful,” said Tuscarora High School junior Angela Kwon.
Both characters are very complex, making one contemplate who is truly the “wicked” one or if either of them are truly wicked at all. In their own minds, both Elphaba and Galinda try to do “good.” Unfortunately for Elphaba, although she is genuinely good, everyone perceives her as wicked due to her green skin. Galinda, on the other hand, is praised for everything she does yet has misconceptions about what is truly good versus what helps her fit into society.
Grande and Erivo portray Galinda and Elphaba as if they are the characters themselves, and this makes sense when you take into account how long both have been wanting and preparing for these roles.
Back when Grande was only 10 years old, she saw the original Broadway show starring Kristin Chenoweth as Galinda/Glinda. Grande won an auction to meet Chenoweth backstage, where she had the opportunity to sing a little of the “Wicked” song “Popular” and Chenoweth recognized her talent.
Grande would continue working on her acting and singing careers, becoming one of the most famous pop stars in the world, being recognized as a pop princess. Finally, on August 13, 2021, Grande had her very first audition for the movie.
Erivo also went through extensive training for her role in “Wicked”. Already known for being a singing powerhouse, award winning actress, and a dancer on top of it all, Erivo now had to do all of this while flying on a broom.
According to Classic FM, Erivo was up early each morning working out to prepare to perform the famously difficult song, “Defying Gravity,” all while whipping around on her flying broomstick.
Both actresses showed that they were willing to give this adaptation their all, so it is no wonder that there is already talk about both winning Oscars for their roles.
There was a lot of magic behind the scenes that made the movie even more spectacular, with two special additions rising above the rest.
Traditionally, when creating a musical, the actors sing all of the songs in a soundbooth and lip sync while doing the acting. Instead, Grande and Cynthia decided to sing live, meaning that the actresses were acting, dancing and doing stunts while singing simultaneously. This adds to the grandeur that the movie already has.
Additionally, there is one massive surprise feature in the movie that gives homage to the Tony-winning broadway version of “Wicked” in the best way possible.
“I think it was amazing and so special to have an ode to the original show,” said LHS junior Kaelyn Bass.
The only bad thing about the entire movie adaptation is that fans have to wait an entire year for “Wicked: Part 2” to see the second part of the story told on the big screen. The current release date is set for November 21, 2025. However, with how astounding this movie musical was, it is more than likely that the product will be worth the wait.
