Wicked (2025.6, Wicked , Good Fun)

Wicked – Michael’s Moments

It is difficult to fully relate to the deeper “more serious” themes of the Maguire novel based on viewing this movie.  Although I’m fascinated myself by explorations of the nature of evil and, as a sociologist, by the ongoing nature vs nurture debate, it isn’t clear, by this movie, that we will get much more than a simple gloss-over.  Suggestions that the Wizard might be just a few steps away from being a “dictator” and the decision to cast a certain group as some kind of enemy in order to mobilize and energize another group have certain serious parallels in the current world.  But serious consideration of topics like this is not what endears us to Wicked.

It really is the character development.  Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba is, of course, different.  But she has power, and it is how she learns to use that power and the motivations that drive it that define this movie’s real message.  Couple that with the dizzying blondness of Ariana Grande’s Glinda, and you have two totally different people.  And yet, out of this unlikely pairing, we see them become best friends.  Their dance together on the Ozdust ballroom floor is emotionally charged.  It is more than obvious that  Erivo and Grande developed a powerful relationship while making this movie.

And don’t forget this is ultimately a feel-good musical.  The songs and the choreography— coupled with pitch-perfect costumes and elaborate set confections— and you have a wonderful evening’s entertainment.  There may not be moral morsels in Wicked, but it is sure a lot of fun looking for them.

Wicked – Story and Tone

When so much of a movie’s story and tone is already defined by previous work, it is difficult to assign much creative credit to the movie’s writers and director.  In this case, the screenplay was written by Winnie Holzman, who, it turns out, also wrote the book for the Broadway musical.  (BTW, “book” basically means the screenplay minus the songs!) She was ably assisted by Dana Fox, who wrote the screenplay for Cruella.  The point is that the story, as a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, was taken almost entirely from the 2003 Broadway stage play.

And that was based on a novel by Gregory Maguire, written in 1995, which, of course, is based on the Wizard of Oz characters created by L. Frank Baum in his book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, published in 1900.  The book has been adapted to multiple plays, other books, and, of course, the 1939 movie, which has often been listed as one of the best movies ever made.  Clearly, the characters and the plot are candidates for a lot of interpretation, and that’s exactly what this movie provides. 

The original Wicked book, which I haven’t read, explores the characters, providing background stories for at least two of the witches.  But, I understand, it also looks at the nature of evil and whether evil is actually endemic to someone’s character or rather is learned as a result of certain life experiences: was Elphaba wicked to begin with, or did she become that way because of the way people treated her for being green?  Wicked Part One raises the question but doesn’t really provide any definite answer.  It also explores social concerns such as terrorism and propaganda, which seem particularly resonant right now, even though the book was written thirty years ago.

One aspect of the dialog I particularly enjoyed was the ongoing stream of malapropisms.  Characters would intentionally add syllables to words, producing funny-sounding words that still conveyed the word’s meaning.  (These are particularly noticeable if you turn on captioning!)

Ultimately, though it is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of the story because this is just part one.  We are left with more questions than answers and can only hope the answers come in the Part Two movie, due out this November.

The director, Jon M. Chu, is best known for directing the hit Crazy Rich Asians as well as the musical In the Heights.  He has a keen eye for enabling rich character development as well as setting the tone of excitement and fun in the big song and dance numbers.

Related Movies:  In the Heights; Crazy Rich Asians (Direction) / Cruella (screenplay)

Wicked – Storytellers

Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) – Wicked is, ultimately, the story of the Wicked Witch of the West, who is known, in this movie, as Elphaba.  The movie tells her story, and so I won’t recount it here, but an important fact is that she is born green, in the land of Oz where green might be the color of the Emerald City, but it isn’t anyone else’s skin color.  She is an outcast – first by her father and then by her classmates, and, eventually, even by powerful people who want to use her to their own ends.  And that’s because she isn’t only green, but she also has some magical powers.  At the end of this movie, she moves to her rightful position.  The movie asks the question whether evil is born or is made, and the question is centered on Elphie’s life circumstances.

Cynthia Erivo obviously knows something about how skin color can affect the way people react to you.  As Elphaba, Erivo manages to project an underlying frustration and some anger covered in a veneer of passive submission.  Until, of course, she isn’t submissive.  But examine the supreme confidence in the way she handles the humiliation of the crooked “witches” hat when she goes to the Ozdust ballroom.  Facing down the jeering stairs of dozens of onlookers, she composes herself and then creates a series of movements – a dance that firmly establishes her resolve and, ultimately, her control of the situation, inverting the originating circumstances. 

My only other experience with Cynthia Erivo was in her title-role performance in Harriet (Tubman).  I only gave that movie 3 stars, but of Erivo I said that “she held her five-foot frame proudly tall and spoke with a powerful confidence that carried her actions believably forward.”  She delivers the same kind of acting in Wicked.

Galinda/Glinda (Ariana Grande) – While Erivo was sublime as the leading character, Grande was absolutely terrific as the “Good Witch of the North.”  The exuberance of her performance and the huge degree of sheer enjoyment Grande experienced in this role comes out in her totally nailing it.  The way she tossed her hair, the way she says “hmm” to Fiyero, her giggle – they all convey with perfection the notion of a spoiled college “mean girl” blonde.  And the chemistry between Grande and Erivo is evident in how their two characters bond.  Pay particular attention to the Ozdust dance when Glinda, overcome not just with guilt, but also with genuine feeling towards Elphaba, is where their friendship truly begins.

I always thought of Ariana Grande as a pop singer and not one I would be much inclined to indulge in.  But she excels in this role.  Her four-octave high-soprano voice is amazingly powerful coming out of such a tiny woman.  And she exudes such a wonderful understanding of her co-star that she is the key behind making this movie work so well.  For what it’s worth, her eye condition (strabismus) actually adds a mesmerizing bit of interest that helps absorb you into her character. 

The Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) – You can’t have a story about Oz without a Wizard, and Goldblum fills the role.  He’s okay, but you don’t get the enthusiasm from him that you do from the others.  And he certainly isn’t into it like he was in the Jurassic Park movies.

Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) – Oscar-winning Yeoh (for Everything Everywhere All At Once) is the female overseer of the two young women.  Although she may not be exactly what she projects,  Yeoh enjoyed her role and provides what might be thought of as the stepmother figure in Wicked.

Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) – The only reason I added this character to my Storyteller list is because he is the male side of an interesting triangle between him, Glinda, and Elphaba.  His character is necessary to make a lot of the story work.  And he has a delightful centerpiece song in the library.  Bailey is known to us for his romantic role in the Bridgerton TV series.

 Related Movies:  Harriet (Erivo)/ Don’t Look Up (Grande)/ Isle of Dogs (Goldblum)/ Everything Everywhere All at Once; Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Yeoh)/ Bridgerton (TV) (Bailey)

Wicked – Movie Magic

While much of what happens in Wicked is based on practical effects, there are plenty of places where visual effects add to the magic.  There are talking animals in this movie, and some scenes where, unfortunately, it is kind of obvious that they tacked on some CGI background (like the initial waterfall scene with the flying monkeys). It is all in good fun but not central to the movie, so it works just fine.

Cinematography in a musical, especially with elaborate dancing scenes involving multiple people, is an especially difficult proposition.  Alice Brooks, though, has experience with two previous musical movies, Tick, Tick…Boom!  and In the Heights.  Here she manages to combine close-up shots of focal individuals (the Ozdust dance with Glinda and Elphaba) as well as global perspectives, even incorporating the Busby effect of old-time musicals shooting the kaleidoscopic images of the dancers from overhead.

Myron Kerstein did receive a nomination as film editor.  She also worked with Brooks in the same two movies cited above and was nominated for her work on Tick, Tick… Boom!.  Wicked never really drags, but you still have to wonder why it is going to take two-three hour movies to tell the story that the stage play tells in just half the time.  Since I haven’t seen the Broadway play, I can’t tell why there is such a difference between the stage and movie versions of the same musical.

Related Movies:  tick, tick…BOOM!; In the Heights (Cinematography)/tick, tick…BOOM!; In the Heights (Film Editing)/The Irishman; No Time to Die; Ready Player One; Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 (Visual Effects)

Wicked – World Building

Wicked deservedly won the Oscars for Production Design and Costume Design and likely would have won Makeup & Hairstyling if The Substance hadn’t had such outrageous prosthetics.  There is the obvious effect of making Elphaba green, but it was Erivo’s idea to give her hair full of micro-braids and, obviously, that took a lot of work.  Over 3,500 wigs were employed in this production, including ten for Elphaba.  Pay attention to the very unusual styling on just about everyone in Oz.

To match the hairstyling, Costume Design won Paul Tazewell the Oscar.  (Tazewell received a previous nomination for his work on West Side Story, and he also did the costume work for Harriet, another Erivo movie.) In Wicked, notice how he gives each main character a distinctive style and color: Glinda is all fluff and pink; Elphaba is hidden and black; The Wizard is fantastical and green; Madame Morrible, regal and gold and beige; Fiyero is dressed in dashing blue.  The costumes serve their purpose of defining the characters.

Wicked also won the Production Design Oscar.  Here is where the $150 million budget is most obvious, incorporating huge and elaborate sets.  The Emerald City was patterned after the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and the Chicago cityscape of skyscrapers.  Munchkinland included an elaborate town center as well as some 9 million tulips that were actually planted and raised to provide the field the Munchkins run through— in just a couple of scenes.  When Fiyero does his main song, Dancing Through Life, the setting is the Library at the University of Shiz, with a cylinder bookcase with moving cross-bar ladders which become choreographic focal points.  This is all big-time stuff, and it magnifies the realism and gives the entire film a very rich feeling— dazzling the senses and stimulating the mind.

Related Movies: Tenet; First Man; 1917 (Production Design)/West Side Story; Harriet (Costume Design)/Grand Budapest Hotel; Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (Makeup & Hairstyling)

Wicked – Sound & Music

Wicked is a musical extravaganza, based on the Broadway show of the same name.  Opening in October 2003, it is still playing on Broadway after more than 8,300 performances, the fourth longest run in Broadway history.  The musical opened with Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth playing Elphaba and Glinda, and they make cameo appearances in the movie in one of the key songs.  

The music for the musical was written by Stephen Schwartz, who has received numerous awards for his work on such musicals as Godspell and Pippin, as well as Wicked, and wrote the lyrics for several movies, winning three Oscars.  John Powell added additional music to this Wicked movie and was previously recognized for his score to How to Train Your Dragon.

The best songs in this movie are those sung by Elphaba and/or Glinda.  Reportedly, both Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande insisted on singing their own songs as the filming was proceeding.  Usually, actors record the songs without the extra pressures of acting at the same time, and the recorded version is dubbed over the soundtrack.  Both actresses, who are also well-known singers, refused to do that, and their singing is occurring at the same time as their acting.  The chemistry between the two is reflected most particularly in a song they do together, What Is This Feeling?.  But each of them also shines on their two most important solos, Grande’s  Popular and Erivo’s  Defying Gravity.  Grande’s choreography during her solo is especially entertaining.

Recording, mixing, and editing the soundtracks for musicals is an especially challenging task, but the Sound team, also nominated in this movie, has depth of experience in other movie musicals such as Elvis, West Side Story, La La Land, and, especially, Les Misérables.  This is a musical, and so the sound and music are key elements of the movie’s success.

Related Movies:  Les Miserables; NoTime to Die; The Batman; Elvis; West Side Story; La La Land; In the Heights (Sound)/ Prince of Egypt; Pocahontas; How to Train Your Dragon (Music)

Wicked – What Others Think