Did you hear?!! Part One of Jon M Chu’s thrillifying film adaptation of the much-loved hit musical Wicked is now on general release. I’m joking of course, this cinematic event has been impossible to miss. Has there ever been a promotional build-up like it for any movie musical? The global media coverage plus all the associated promotions and merchandising have been dominating our social media feeds for weeks now.
To mark the occasion (see links below), I joined podcast supremo Andrew Tomlins on the West End Frame Show to discuss the momentous occasion.
In the first part of our chat we discuss Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande’s performances, Jon M Chu’s direction, some of the musical numbers, highlights, emotions and more (spoilers free).
In the second episode we ponder our favourite riffs, ‘Defying Gravity’, stagey cameos, changes to the story, ‘Popular’ and hopes for Part Two (watch out for spoilers!).
The first big question we needed to ask was: Does the movie live up to the hype? In my opinion, the answer is a resounding ‘yes’. For fans of the show, who have been waiting more than a decade to see Stephen Schwartz and Winne Holzman’s Tony Award-winning show reach the big screen, it more than delivers. In fact, a whole host of new admirers who have never engaged with the piece before are likely to come on board.
Not only did Universal Pictures’ film adaptation make an impressive debut, quickly becoming the top film globally on its first weekend with an estimated box office total of $163 million, the accompanying soundtrack had the biggest debut week for a musical soundtrack in the 2020s and earned the largest weekly vinyl sales for a musical soundtrack in the 21st century.
I doubt you need reminding, but Wicked Part One stars Emmy, Grammy and Tony-winning and Oscar-nominated performer Cynthia Erivo (Harriet, Broadway’s The Color Purple) as Elphaba and Grammy-winning and multi-platinum recording artist Ariana Grande as Glinda.
The film also stars Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Olivier Award winner and Emmy nominee Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater as Boq, Marissa Bode as Nessarose and Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard of Oz.
Pfannee and ShenShen are played by Bowen Yang and Bronwyn James, Miss Coddle (a new character created for the film) is portrayed by Keala Settle and Peter Dinklage provides the voice of Dr Dillamond.
The stage musical of Wicked has a score by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman, from the novel by Gregory Maguire. The screenplay is by Holzman and Dana Fox. The film score is by John Powell and Schwartz, with music and lyrics by Schwartz.
This visually spectacular movie adaptation pays homage to the original 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz and has huge respect for the beloved production that inspired it. Best of all it, Jon M Chu doesn’t attempt to replicate the stage show on film, but creates a beautiful, musically rich, wonderfully entertaining and empowering piece of art that in its own right deserves lots of love and lots of awards.
Wicked Part Two is scheduled to arrive on 21 November 2025. We’ve started counting the days…
To celebrate the release of the Wicked movie, The Mayor of Musical Theatre – in association with Musical Theatre Review – has released a never-heard-before interview with the legendary composer Stephen Schwartz back in 2021.
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