In short, John M. Chu’s Wicked delivers. Dazzling visuals, superb costumes, precision choreography, and the chemistry between the two leads ties it all together very well. Yet, it’s the music that makes a musical special, and its transition from the live stage to the silver screen is as seamless as ever. Kudos to stars Arianna Grande and Cynthia Erivia for singing the songs live on set, which gives the film a “concert” feel normally found only on the stage. Their vocal and acting performances are one in the same, making the film more immersive.
The film’s opening number, “No One Mourns The Wicked”, picks up right where the original story ends, with Munchkin Land celebrating Elphaba’s defeat by the hands of Dorothy. Seeing a community glee cheerfully at her destruction is quite daunting, and even harder to hear once you watch the movie. We only see glimpses of “The Wicked Witch” toward the end, and even then, the film vilifies Madame Morrible and The Wizard so much that Elphaba seems anything but “Wicked”. This song shows how often the public is quick to vilify without trying to understand someone’s complexities or personal struggles. Then there is “The Wizard and I”, the song that quickly answers, “how can we convince the audience to root for the Wicked Witch of the West?” Elphaba’s self-esteem is so low at this point that she feels she must “prove my worth”, hoping that the Wizard can change her and accept her where everyone else hasn’t yet. All she’s ever wanted was to be loved, and Erivia’s performance only serves to elevate that very fact. Her whimsical actions as she gets more and more excited about the prospect of meeting the wizard is excellent, showing a childlike quality to the supposed “Wicked Witch”.
After spending some time in Schizz, “What Is This Feeling” explores the early dynamic of Elphaba and Glinda. We see and hear their distaste for each other through pranks and cruel high school-esque bullying. Glinda finds Elphaba “altogether quite impossible to describe”, but Elphaba just sees Glinda as “blonde”. Hilarious. The song also shows us how alone Elphaba is by pairing her in scenes where Glinda’s friend group is constantly at her side, chanting lyrics such as “You are just too good” and “Galinda you’re a martyr”. We also see her eating alone in the school’s cafeteria, where Glinda sits on the other side of the room with her posse right behind her. This really cements Glinda’s “Popular” status at Schiz as the lovable favorite at school. And that moment when Glinda stops her choreography at the end as she sees Elphaba getting closer with Madame Morrible, who has only shown disdain for Glinda thus far? Ariana’s reaction was pure gold, realizing that Elphaba has the one thing that she doesn’t.
“Popular” was equally compelling, no part due to Arianna Grande giving it her all and then some throughout the number. It’s fascinating watching her audition tape and comparing that with the final product. She was impressive right out of the gate, but she clearly did some fine tuning and impressed yet again. It’s interesting hearing about all the ways in which Glinda conforms to social norms and expectations. To her, fitting in is everything, and it’s exactly what Elphaba wants. The irony here is that Glinda isn’t special at all, lacking any signs of the magical power that Elphaba poses, yet Glinda garners all the respect and love from her classmates.
And, of course, there’s “Defying Gravity”. What a song. This is Elphaba’s turning point, or perhaps breaking point depending on how you see the heroine. Elphaba strongly declares her independence, singing “I’m through with playing by the rules of someone else’s game.” She no longer seeks acceptance from others, thinking that she is just as strong and powerful as Glinda, someone who depends on others. She is anchored to them, and Madame Morrible cleverly uses her to get through to Elphaba. The song hints at a powerful duo that should “work in tandem”, but Glinda collapses just as Elphaba rises above everyone else, both literally and figuratively. Ariana shows Glinda’s inner turmoil through her voice and her facial reactions, making for a powerhouse of a performance. However, it’s hard not to single out Erivo, who solidified her Oscar nomination with this song. If there was one song that needed to be perfect, it was this one, and it’s hard to imagine anyone besides Erivo (And Idina Menzel, of course) in the role.
Yet each musical has its weak link, and “Dancing Through Life” is no doubt the weakest in the album, at least vocally. Jonathan Bailey is good as Fiyero, but his voice just isn’t near the caliber of the leads, making for a “record-scratch” moment in the film. This is a shame, because the song also offers some of the most inventive set-design and choreography in the film. Bailey has experience in musical theater, but a more experienced singer would have made a better impression. The song also has a fair amount of conversational dialogue that is meant to move the plot along, which makes listening to it again and again frustrating. As for the rest of the cast, Jeff Goldblum impresses with his song “A Better Man”, where the opposite is true; Goldblum lazily just plays his real-life quirky self, but he can at least go toe to toe with Ariana and Cynthia vocally. Oh, and it was nice hearing Peter Dinklage dust off his vocal cords in “Something Bad”, albeit briefly. In short, this is an album that you may have to skip one track or two, but the others are on par with the original Broadway soundtrack, making for an adaptation that will no doubt succeed critically and financially.
