The musical “Wicked” that is considered a prequel of “The Wizard of Oz” came to Broadway in 2003, featuring the backstory of Elphaba- the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda- the Good witch. “Wicked” came out after “The Wizard of Oz,” but is set before it.
Now almost 21 years later, the witches are back in town. With Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as the starring actresses, I knew I was in for a wild ride.
Especially since I am a musical fanatic, I was thrilled to hear that I would finally be able to experience “Wicked” in theaters. As the lights dimmed and Grande made her first appearance in a pink bubble, I was not nearly ready for the vocals I was about to experience during the nearly 2.5 hour film.
The movie starts where “The Wizard of Oz” ends, with Glinda the Good announcing to the citizens of Oz that the Wicked Witch is dead. Grande and the citizens of Oz sing “No One Mourns the Wicked” with Grande as the lead vocalist, with the shockingly high note G#5.
After the song, the movie begins to tell the story of Elphaba. Elphaba is born green and from the jump gets made fun of by her peers and everyone she encounters. Elphaba attends Shiz, and the main conflict begins when she is forced to room with Glinda who is the exact opposite of Elphaba.
They describe how they loathe each other in the song “What Is this Feeling?.” The students of Shiz show their support with Glinda in the song as well singing, “We share your loathing.”
However, after the two share a sentimental moment, Elphaba and Glinda start working in tandem. They become best friends and Glinda decides that Elphaba will be her new “project” which kicks off the well known song, “Popular.”
Towards the end of the movie, Elphaba and Glinda travel to the Emerald City to see the Wizard of Oz. This brings the song “One Short Day” sung by the citizens in the Emerald City. India Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth make a feature, the actresses that were Glinda and Elphaba in the broadway musical “Wicked.”
The song that ends the film, “Defying Gravity” is arguably the best song in the musical, showing power and independence. Cynthia Erivo was the perfect fit for this role, her astounding voice blowing everyone away.
Regarding the casting, I couldn’t imagine more fitting actors for these roles. Ariana Grande perfectly fit the role of the pink preppy witch, making the whole theater adore her and in my opinion, she was the funniest character.
Cynthia Erivo again, was a perfect vocalist, but also really portrayed the role of Elphaba. I felt so much sympathy for her character throughout the movie, and she really became someone we were all rooting for.
Jonathan Bailey, who played Glinda’s boyfriend Fiyero was another character I found myself laughing at, especially in scenes with him and Glinda. His performance of the song “Dancing Through Life” was also great, and really fit his character.
The vocals of the whole film were just so unbelievable. All of the songs were immensely impressive, and I find myself humming multiple songs from the playlist at least once a day.
As for cinematography, there was a lot going on in this movie. Considering Oz is a place where animals talk and magic is real, the sets were intricate, colorful and beautifully done.
Along with this, throughout the movie there are several allusions to “The Wizard of Oz” showing similar filming techniques, and I found myself getting deja vu.
Overall, I know there was a lot of concern about making the musical into a movie, but this certainly exceeded my expectations.
While at the edge of my seat as the movie ended, we got a screen saying “To be continued.” This left me craving for more music and dancing. Alas, I still found myself feeling like I was flying on a broomstick out of the movie theater.
