Stunningly Bold and Beautifully Sung, Wicked Soars Higher Than Hoped
It’s more than fair to say that the Broadway show Wicked is pop-u-lar. With more than one-and-a-half billion greenbacks earned since its debut back in 1995, the Stephen Schwartz penned musical with a book by Winnie Holzman based on Gregory Maguire’s novel has proven that its verdigris is more than skin deep. Ever since its storming the stage there’s been talk about a film version, with the project wrapped in development for these many decades, with generation upon generation of fan continuing to embrace its story of perseverance and powerful transformation while wanting something … more.
Enter Jon M. Chu, fresh off the global success of Crazy Rich Asians, as well as his most recent film, a sympathetically told version of Lin Manuel Miranda’s pre-Hamilton hit In The Heights. At long last Chu has managed to get the pieces in place for a big budget telling of the Wicked Witch of the West’s origin story, employing a mix of grand theatrical sets and CGI to both expand the stage musical and to bring this story to millions more around the world.
For those not already versed in the storyline, Wicked: Part One traces the early connection and complicated friendship between G(a)linda (Ariane Grande), a pink-frocked, privileged student with a cutting soprano and arrogance to match, and a green-skinned tempestuous young woman named Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) whose dark demeanor and gift for empathy make her a direct contrast to her newfound companion.
Of course, the storylines that Maguire mined are based on the beloved Wizard of Oz, the Dorothy and friends fable that L. Frank Baum wrote and Victor Fleming most famously presented on the big screen in 1939. Although Wicked’s stage production hinted at some of the cinematic antecedents of this storyline, Chu’s film leans all the way in, with sweeping helicopter shots tracing the yellow brick road seeing a familiar lion, scarecrow and tin man, with a young girl in gingham and her little dog too, traipsing towards the Emerald city.
It’s best to think of Wicked as not simply one of the the progenitors of the recent trend to “humanize” famous antagonists (with the Star Wars prequels, Joker, and a slew of recent Disney films like Maleficent being prime examples), but equally part of the tradition of the likes of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, whereby astute commentary of what came before is explored via extrapolation of what otherwise appear to be two-dimensional characters.
The film, following almost directly the bricked path of the stage production’s first act, begins with what sounds (and feels) like a final number, a boisterous choral part discussing the death of a Witch, aptly titled “No one mourns the Wicked.” The chords are dissonant and jarring, the scene of revelry after this demise akin to torch and pitchfork-wielding crowds in a Frankenstein tale. Smiling through gritted teeth, the Good Witch of the East arrives in her trademark bubble conveyance, popping it with her pointy wand and extolling the crowd to be thankful for their newfound freedom from the malicious one.
When someone in the crowd asked if it was true that Glinda once knew this beastly creature that’s been terrorizing everyone from Munchkinland to Emerald City, the story kicks into its flashback structure for the duration. We see a charismatic yet shadowy figure swilling a green elixir while wooing the otherwise married woman who would become Elphaba’s mother, witness the shock of the birth of a green-skinned child thought monstrous, and eventually follow the young girl as she chaperones her younger, wheelchair-bound sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) to the stately university named Shiz. It’s here that after an accidental outburst of magical prowess, the gloomy Elphaba is asked to attend private lessons by professor Madame Morrible (Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh), and the ever obsequious Galinda inadvertently volunteers to be roommates with the latest addition to the student body.
From here the oil-and-water tale of this oddest of couples unfolds, with tunes like “What is this feeling?” expressing effectively the sense of the loathing each has for each other. Naturally, as the storyline unfolds the two find deeper connection, yet there are still massive swings in this most challenging of relationships right through to the grand finale of this portion of the telling.
As is made clear from the title card that alludes directly to the flowing script of the 1939 film’s opening, this is simply Part One of the telling of Wicked, and with a running time in excess of two and a half hours that may be a fruit too poisonous for some to swallow. In deference to the director’s intent, the very thought of plopping the iconic “Defying Gravity” midway through a single film would be a heavy lift, and the stage play already suffers to live up to this grandest of exuberant theatrical tunes.
Finally seeing Wicked on the big screen, you appreciate the decision to allow the storyline to breathe, to employ elements excised from the book as well as more firm allusions to the characters previously played by Margaret Hamilton and Billie Burke over eight decades ago. Although the first half has most of the blockbuster songs and the most impactful moments of narrative, the expansion is one of the most welcome parts of this telling, and the promise of new songs in the second part to be released next year makes the anticipation all that more palpable.
With this much baggage at play, there’s lots riding on the two central figures at the heart of the story, and for the most part they pull it off. Although Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenowith will forever own these characters on a deep level, the casting choice of the already legendary Broadway talent Cynthia Erivo, along with an ever eager pop superstar Arianda Grande, are certainly worthy talents for such a grand canvas. Both artists have long been champions of the musical, and each brings both their own style and an obvious “theater kid” energy to their takes.
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