After years of development and pushed release dates this weekend, audiences finally got to see the theatrical version of Wicked: Part 1. Wicked began as a novel by Gregory Maguire that posited a backstory for Wicked Witch of the West based on the original L. Frank Baum book series. Essentially, what happened before Dorothy arrived and then once she comes from a different POV. The stage musical is an adaptation of the novel, one that distilled the major themes, made them more family-friendly, and emphasized the coming-of-age themes present in the novel but made them more apparent with “I want” songs written by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman, who is best otherwise known for creating My So-Called Life. Wicked: Part 1, directed by Jon M. Chu with Dana Fox joining Holzman on the screenplay (though Holzman gets credited once individually and once with an ampersand with Fox), with a running time of 2 hours and 40 minutes is about the same length of the entire stage musical, but it only covers act one of the show. Looking at the released track listing, they don’t appear to add additional songs (though there is a new addition within a song, a song within a song), so much speculation has been about where the extra hour and change is coming from for act one of the story.
Well, a lot of it is to do what film is capable of doing that is much harder to do on stage. There are lots of times when the film slows down and lingers on small moments to great emotional effect. These are small moments of character intimacy that would not be able to be captured and played to the rafters in a theatre setting but work with the use of close-ups and lingering shots. This was especially apparent in Dancing Through Life during the turn when Galinda (played by Ariana Grande) joins Elphaba (played by Cynthia Erivo) in her dance. This moment has always been an emotional turn in the show, but the depth of emotion and understanding captured by the camera and the movement by taking time added to its weight. It was because moments like this were elevated so much more by the care that some areas that you can usually overlook in the scheme of the musical started to look more underbaked when, in a fast-moving musical, they weren’t so glaring. I’m speaking of Fiyero (played by Jonathan Bailey) of it all.
Because of how much more intimate they played the budding Galinda/Elphaba friendship in those small moments, even with the fun banter between Fiyero and Elphaba, it becomes more of a question of why she would leave him as the only person affected by her spell when Galinda stepped out on that dance floor with her and dried her eyes as she cried. The only explanation one can come to, and you do get the song that relates to it after the scene with “I’m Not That Girl,” is that Elphaba is in the throes of a first crush/love, and that is what’s driving her. Their relationship did not feel as earned and grown despite having the opportunity to explore it in smaller moments. But, points where they are due, Bailey radiated enough chemistry with both Erivo’s Elphaba and Grande’s Galinda that you can see where both their later confusions arise.
Jon M. Chu’s early career is filled with dance-heavy projects, from Step Up sequels to the LXD projects, as well as several music videos. He’s already directed a musical feature adaptation with In The Heights, but the film was released in June 2021 when theatres were still struggling to get audiences back, and it was released on HBOMax (now Max) and OnDemand streaming rentals the same day. Wicked, as they say, is a horse of a different colour. Audiences are back in theatres, and a sing-a-long release of the film is already planned for release on Christmas Day. It will be a while before we get the final Box Office numbers for Wicked, but I would not be surprised if it ranks as one of the top films of the year, if not the top. Treating many audience members to fabulous choreography that revisions the numbers in exciting ways. The gamble of a two-part release looks like it will pay off for Universal. I already plan to go again with my family. The Wizard of Oz was an annual broadcast tradition for many; perhaps Wicked will become one such film for families.
Wicked: Part 1 is currently in theatres. Part 2 is set to arrive on November 21, 2025.
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