From the moment I heard Ariana Grande hit that note in “No One Mourns the Wicked” during the opening scene as Glinda, I knew this musical film was going to be great. The movie Wicked came out on November 22, 2024, and is about a misunderstood young woman, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), who is bullied because of her green skin. She forms an unlikely friendship with Glinda who strives to be popular. Their bond is tested when they meet the Wizard of Oz, where they realize that their lives are going in two completely different directions.
Going into the movie, I was unsure of what to expect because I had never seen the musical. Many avid musical lovers feel very passionately about how the film represents the original show.
“I am always cautiously optimistic when musicals are turned into movies. While movies definitely have the advantage of “movie magic” being able to fix many of a show’s practical aspects, there’s something truly amazing about musicals and being in the present moment,” said Mrs. Johnson.
Ariana Grande was a perfect fit for Glinda because she captured her bubbly, passionate, and complex character so beautifully. It was how Glinda didn’t like Elphaba at first and was honestly not nice, but I had tears in my eyes when Glinda started dancing with Elphaba at the Ozdust dance because the students were laughing at her. The way their friendship started was something that really pulled on my heartstrings.
“I was really nervous when they originally announced the cast because I wasn’t sure some of them had the vocal range to play the characters. However, there have been enough sneak peeks of their talents that I am really looking forward to their interpretations of the characters,” said Mrs. Johnson.
One of my favorite musical numbers was “Dancing Through Life” which character Fiyero Tigelaar (Jonathan Bailey) sang and that whole scene was just unreal. The spinning wheels in the library where parkour street runners flipped through them on ladders during the song was truly incredible. The choreography in this scene was just amazing because there was a lot going on from people jumping and dancing on tables to people sliding around on books. Jonathan Bailey said in an interview that this whole sequence took over a week.
The ending scene and musical number sung by Erivo and Grande was really such a pivotal moment in the story. Elphaba singing “Defying Gravity” is about her finding who she really is meant to be and that people cannot bring her down. When Cynthia Erivo hit the ending riff on the song, it literally gave me chills and it was just everything it could be. The actor was singing while up in the air and “flying” around, and I think that just shows what an amazing singer Erivo is.
Most of the people in the theater and the lobby had some sort of Wicked merch on or even a costume of a sort, and I just thought that was very heartwarming. I heard some people in the theater quietly singing along to “Popular”, but I wasn’t mad because it is wonderful to see a lot of people come together in support of something they love. The amount of passion musical theater fans have is something that is truly inspirational.
“This musical [Wicked] is so well known that if it doesn’t live up to the hype, it would be devastating,” said Mrs. Johnson.
I would give this musical film five stars because it gave everything it should have. From the acting, to the singing, to the choreography, it was just spectacular. I would recommend Wicked to anyone who likes the musical genre or is getting into it!
