You may have already seen the musical Wicked, which premiered on Broadway in October 2003. The musical is produced by Marc Platt, Jon B. Platt, David Stone, director Joe Mantello, and choreographer Wayne Cilento. The original production received seven Drama Desk Awards and three Tony Awards and the official soundtrack received a Grammy. 

Since its 21 years of existence, the musical has grossed the second-highest revenue, surpassing The Phantom of the Opera and falling behind The Lion King. Overall, the musical earned $1.7 billion in revenue. As of November 25, Wicked has earned $14 million, breaking 3 box office records.

 Now, the famous musical was adapted into a movie called Wicked. It will be broken into two parts. The first part was released on November 22, and the second part will be released one year later on November 21, 2025. Although you may not be able to stream the movie at home yet, it will be released on Peacock in 2025. 

What is Wicked?

 Wicked is a musical about the complicated friendship between two witches before Dorothy arrives in Oz and is told from both perspectives. The witches are named Elphaba and Glinda. Elphaba becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda becomes Glinda the Good Witch of the South. Throughout the story, their friendship is tested through their contrasting personalities, opposing views, mutual love interest, reactions to the Wonderful Wizard's corruption, and Elphaba's tragic end.

 The new film, directed by Jon M. Chu, stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Ariana Grande as Glinda, Jeff Goldblum as the Wonderful Wizard, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, and Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero. 

Based on the 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, Wicked features characters from the movie The Wizard of Oz, released in 1939. The film was based on L. Frank Baum's book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but the new movie takes place before the events of those stories. 

The Debate

Along with this movie came the big debate: Should moviegoers be allowed to sing and dance to the actors onscreen? It is commonly known that many musical theater fans enjoy doing so, but it might disrupt others' views during the movie. 

Many fans told NBC News that they plan not to sing but lip sync instead, but the stars of the movie, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, posted a video online saying they support belting out lyrics. So, what do you think? 

Fun Facts:

 "Defying Gravity"  from Wicked was played as an alarm for astronauts on a space shuttle in 2010.

9 million tulips were planted in England, where they filmed the movie, to create the Munchkinland scenes. Some of the flowers were then used to dye other parts of the set. 

The design of Emerald City was inspired by a display from the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, Illinois. 

The Emerald City Express, a 16-foot-long train generated with CGI, or Computer Generated Images, was inspired by innovations in 18-century France. 

Bibliography

Rosenblatt, Kalhan, and Tony Lee. ““Wicked” Fans Have a Message to Moviegoers: Don’t Sing along in Theaters.” NBC News, 19 Nov. 2024, www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/wicked-moviegoers-debate-singing-in-theaters-rcna180178.

“The Show | WICKED | Official Broadway Site.” WICKED, 2018, wickedthemusical.com/the-show/.

The Week Junior. “Wicked Coming to Theaters.” The Week Junior, 22 Nov. 2024.

Wikipedia. “Wicked (2024 Film).” Wikipedia, 28 Apr. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_(2024_film).Wikipedia Contributors.

 “Wicked (Musical).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 May 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_(musical) .

Elena Sun