Support The Daily Orange this holiday season! The money raised between now and the end of the year will go directly toward aiding our students. Donate today.

Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

The audience gasped in unison at the AMC Burbank 16 when Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) sang the first few words of “Defying Gravity.” Little kids, middle-aged couples and teenagers alike stopped rustling candy bags and crunching popcorn to “hold space” for the classic song.

Before the “Wicked” (2024) premiere, theater kids everywhere enjoyed cast interviews like this viral one with Out magazine. But the classic show appeals to a wider audience than just Broadway fans. “Wicked” began as a novel by Gregory Maguire, then debuted on Broadway in 2003 and garnered critical acclaim as one of the best musicals of all time.

“Wicked” isn’t the first hit musical to be adapted into a film in recent years, but it’s the most successful. In 2021, Stephen Spielberg directed a new adaptation of “West Side Story,” and an adaptation of “In the Heights” from “Wicked” director Jon Chu premiered the same year. Even “Into the Woods” (2014) didn’t have the same success as “Wicked.”

“In The Heights” may be too niche or too long of a show for general audiences, while “West Side Story” suffered from an unfortunate casting decision and “Into The Woods” strayed too far from its source material. “Wicked” is different from other movie musicals because of its cast, its aesthetic, its reputation and, above all, its ability to toe the line between homage and reinterpretation.

An adaptation that’s identical to the original has no purpose. “Wicked” manages to include the essential components of the original story while taking advantage of the film medium. Using the techniques that come with a screen adaptation, the show adds montages and creative cinematography to songs like “Popular” as well as elaborate set pieces during songs like “Dancing Through Life.”

The film fills in the blanks of the musical to bring Shiz University and the Emerald City to life. With post-production effects and computer-generated imagery animation, Oz becomes a fleshed-out world with magic that doesn’t require a tech crew working just offstage.

Cole Ross | Digital Design Director

Despite these additions, the movie maintains the story’s classic message and atmosphere, largely due to its casting. Many audiences know Erivo is a Tony award-winning actress, but might not know Ariana Grande, who plays Galinda, started out in theater. In 2008, her career began on Broadway in the musical “13,” long before her pop stardom.

Grande and Erivo take advantage of the film’s many close-up shots to show off striking facial expressions and dramatic physical movement. Grande kicks her legs like a child and prances across the screen, while Erivo remains serious and contained until she lets go in the final song.

The star-studded cast may have contributed to the movie’s general public appeal, but it preserves the story’s integrity as well as unknown actors would have. It doesn’t feel like the audience is watching pop star Grande sing “Wicked” songs, it feels like an actress is playing Galinda.

The musical numbers hit the mark with Broadway-style dance breaks and choreography that wouldn’t have looked out of place onstage. The costuming and acting is bold and bright, just like the original musical. Despite muted colors, the silhouettes of the costumes create drama on the screen.

Not everything is reminiscent of the original show. The film is darker, focusing more than the original musical does on Elphaba’s motivation to combat animal mistreatment in Oz. The film uses CGI to acquaint the audience with more animal characters, while the musical is limited to just one with allusions to others.

The film also adds depth to some of the main characters. Galinda’s character in the musical is often played as a flat, ditzy girl, but Grande’s version has intelligence and layers beyond the surface. Elphaba’s sister Nessa Rose (Marissa Bode), who is a woman in a wheelchair in both the musical and film, is more developed too. In the movie, she has more autonomy and a complicated relationship with Elphaba, rather than the one-dimensional personality she has in the musical.

Besides the “Wicked” musical and book, the film makes references to its screen source material, “The Wizard of Oz.” When Galinda pulls red slippers out of her bag, she clicks them together three times in reference to the original film. Her costumes in certain scenes, like when she wears pink instead of blue in “No One Mourns The Wicked,” are another homage.

“Wicked” looks as if a camera has broken through the barrier between the stage and the audience and landed in Oz. Future musical adaptations should follow its lead, reimagining the original show while preserving its heart and soul.

Published on December 2, 2024 at 11:35 pm