Transforming a Broadway musical from the stage to the movie screen is always an arduous task – some would say impossible.
Stage plays and movies are totally different animals and to squeeze a play into a movie often changes the original material in unrecognizable ways.
When comparing a movie musical to its stage genesis, the stage play almost always wins. And it also wins in the case of “Wicked”, but not by much.
The current blockbuster musical to screen adaption is the remake of the 20-year-old Broadway musical, “Wicked", written by Stephan Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman. Although “Wicked” has been a massive hit on stages throughout the world, the show lost the best musical Tony the year it premiered to “Avenue Q”, a Sesame Street inspired show that few people now remember.
“Wicked” is not taken from the beloved 1939 Judy Garland film but rather the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel of the same name. It’s the backstory of how the witches become who they are.
Since the “Wicked” story is a true fantasy, it opens the door to creating a film that uses all the magic that only a movie can provide. And, boy, does this one jump off the screen with color and creativity.
But what makes this movie superb are the performances of its two stars, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. Most movie musical adaptations fail because the producers cast movie stars to play the leads, rather than real Broadway-type singers. Remember Russell Crowe in the movie of “Les Miserable” and you’ll know what I mean.
Here, both women have outsized talent to deliver the goods and sing most of their big songs live, rather than lip-syncing. Not only are their voices great but they both are sensitive actors who give their characters soul and substance.
John Chu, the director, did a miraculous job of creating a world that exploded with color and creativity. The costumes and hairstyles are unique to each character and are all eyepopping and imaginative.
This is one new release that doesn’t belong on your TV. This over-the-top production must be seen in a real live movie theater for the full effect.
A couple of major creative decisions caused this movie to not reach the “absolutely great” status. This is the first movie musical that couldn’t contain its plethora of ideas and decided to stretch the package into two separate movies. “Wicked 2” will be released for the 2025 Christmas season.
What resulted, is a movie that is 2 hours and 40 minutes long and had so much narrative storytelling, that one may forget they are seeing a musical. There are many side stories that are visually interesting but make the entire spectacle simply too long. Also, many favorite songs (like “For Good”) are not in this segment of the story and will be seen next year.
All the pomp and spectacle, however, sometimes takes away from the intimacy of the story. Director Chu attempted to include everything, even plot lines that speak to political issues of our day, but in the end, made the film overloaded.
The movie could have been tighter and served the story better if it were done in one film.
But despite this slipup, “Wicked” is still a very successful movie.
The big production numbers, like “Popular” and “Defying Gravity” are exciting and beautifully achieved. There is sparkling chemistry between Grande and Erivo, and their voices are beautiful together. Erivo, especially, has a warm, athletic and expressive voice that serves this role perfectly.
From beginning to end, Christopher Scott’s choreography is astounding. It was goofy, unusual, fun and exhilarating to watch. The screen was filled with people of every nationality and body size, which gave the movie a realistic feel.
“Wicked” serves as a perfect and joyous entertainment outing for the entire family, especially the girls in your house.
