37. Flying Wickedly high
If you weren’t familiar with the hit musical Wicked before this week, you should be by now. Broadway’s third longest-running musical was transformed into a silver screen spectacle by director Jon M. Chu and Wicked fans at large are expressing their gratitution (a word from the Ozian glossary, right under Galindafied). For those who weren’t a fan before, a quick Google search about the original Broadway casting and general synopsis might help you appreciate Wicked (Part One) more. I would specifically love you, the readers of this blog to enjoy the film as much as possible.
If you were a fan before this movie came out, we share that adoration and I can assure you this is a safe space, Wicked holds a special place in my heart. I was lucky enough to see it on Broadway in 2019 and in Melbourne earlier this year; I’ve been blasting the soundtrack in my car for years. Goodness knows, since I saw the film at the cinema a couple of days ago, it’s all I can think about. The soundtrack echoes through my mind all day uninterrupted; I haven’t had a coherent thought since.
Suppose you were to look inside my brain this week, much like in the film Inside Out, all of my personified emotions are dressed up as characters from Wicked. Joy is Glinda, Fear is dressed as Boq, Sadness dons a cloak like the Wizard of Oz (it’s what he deserves), Anger’s new uniform is the same as the students at Shiz and Disgust is dressed up as Elphaba because it’s her given right as a green being.
Due to my fondness before watching the film, this is more an appreciation piece than a review. It was like seeing an old friend with a fucking amazing new haircut; the same amazing friend, just who spent some money on a new ‘do and looks a million bucks. Okay, maybe spending USD 145 million on bringing an old classic film to the silver screen isn’t exactly the same as my friend's hypothetically life-changing new hair. Despite knowing I was going to love it, I trusted the casting alone to do the stage production justice. In director Jon M. Chu we trust; he directed the Justin Bieber movies and Crazy Rich Asians.
Before we knew to hold space for the lyrics of Defying Gravity or how well Jonathan Bailey can sing, it was evident in the press tour just how delicately, lovingly and seriously Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande-Butera were taking their respective roles as Elphaba Thropp and Glinda Upland. When watching any single interview of them together, it’s impossible to miss the dedication and emotion they bring to their iconic roles. I don’t have many notes, and I don’t want to critique this movie because I absolutely loved it and the subtle but important changes to each character, changing the context enough without damaging the powerful story of fearlessness, standing up for your morals and friendship that is the throughline of the story.
It’s no easy feat following two of the most iconic and beloved characters and stage actors/singers/performers/icons like Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth. I believe they’ve done it with grace and integrity. Aside from all my adoration, the ensuing TikTok trends and memes are hilarious and being able to understand them is reason enough to watch it. Enjoy, fellow Ozians.
