In 2007, when my family and I were living in the UK, my mum came home after spending the weekend in London with a friend. She was holding a CD case covered in black and white – and green.
From that moment on, the Wicked soundtrack was a regular for our family. My sisters and I would stand on the couch, a green shopping bag over our head, broomstick in hand, blanket draped across our shoulders, singing ‘Defying Gravity’ at the top of our lungs (our poor neighbours).
The untold story of the witches of Oz is one of magic, bravery, and the power of friendship – especially between women who on paper should be enemies, but come to find they have a lot more in common than the world tells them they do.
It’s a story that is close to my heart for many reasons. My love for the musical is shared with the people I care about the most, and many of my fondest memories suspiciously involve the soundtrack in one way or another – from carpool singalongs, to re-enactments of scenes at birthday parties, and of course watching the show in cities around the world.
Rumours of the Wicked movie in production made me tentative, as I know many fans of the show were. But Jon M. Chu’s film – Part 1 of the story – is a masterful, mesmerising, wonderful depiction of one of the greatest shows of all time.
The colours in the film are an enhanced but nonetheless perfect match to the aesthetics of The Wizard of Oz, a reminder for viewers of where the story of Elphaba and Glinda originates.
The Wicked movie features Broadway legend Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, known in The Wizard of Oz as the Wicked Witch of the West. She stars alongside Ariana Grande, who plays the effervescent Glinda the Good.
Grande is a well-established pop star, beginning her career on the Nickelodeon series Victorious and rising to fame in the pop music industry. Many, including myself, were worried how she was going to pull off such an iconic Broadway character, seemingly incomparable to the Tony award-winning Erivo. I could not have been more wrong.
By the end of the film, Grande was no longer Grande: she was Glinda, and she convinced me that there was no one else on earth (bar Kristen Chenoweth, of course) who could play that role. Every movement, smile and glint in her eye was Glinda, a girl that everyone and no one loves, a woman determined to make her mark in the world – whatever it takes.
Elphaba is every person in this world that gets beaten down just for being themselves. Erivo, a Black, queer woman, encapsulates this flawlessly. Her conviction and determination to make good in the world is palpable off the screen, and her voice – clear as a bell – is breathtaking.
The story of Elphaba also serves as a reminder of how easily a story can be twisted and tipped in favour of those in privileged positions. A man who is addicted to power and praise is hailed a wizard, and a woman who defies the norms is labelled a witch. As Glinda ponders in the opening number: are people born wicked, or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?
And while staying silent on important matters can shoot you to the top and get you to where you’ve always wanted to be, granting your heart’s desire, is the cost at the end really worth it?
I could’ve easily watched Part 2, which is expected to come out this time next year, immediately after the end of the 2.5 hour film. But alas, until then, I will continue to hold space for the lyrics of “Defying Gravity” and unexpectedly belt out the final note at random moments in time.