It’s good to see me, isn’t it? I’m a certified sentimental fan and infamously famous son of a witch. If you were to ask me my favourite musical, I’d answer like a mother would if asked her favourite child: I love them all equally but differently. Of course, I would be lying. In a film where no good deed goes unpunished, and the gold standard is a bygone dream, Stephen Schwartz’s Wicked stands out as a musical that not only defies gravity but expectations themselves. Upon hearing about the adaptification of Wicked to the silver screen, I was so happy I could’ve melted.
A tale of change which is as tragically beautiful as it is beautifully tragical, Wicked centres the untold story of the not-so-friendly friend of Dorothy’s: Wicked Witch of the West Elphaba Thropp, and her relationship with Good Witch of the North G(a)linda Upland. Cleverly named after the author of The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum, Elphaba endures the trials and tribulations of Oz all while acting, dancing, and singing—oh my! Through subversion and references, the adaptation expands on the preexisting world of Oz to remind us that there are two sides to every story. Wicked is representative of a New Age fascination with antiheroes and their origins, a genre of story that seems to be here for good. It is an invitation to return to a popular classic with new infinity glasses and reexamine our own perspectives.
Wicked is the musical on everyone’s mind, and as the story has worked its way into the hearts of so many, it has inevitably managed to get on some nerves. In a wonderfully weird interview between journalist Tracy Gilchrist and Wicked costars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, the phrase “holding space” took flight, igniting public discourse from internet cynics who point out the over-the-top saccharine sentimentality of theatre kids. The interview drew fame from Gilchrist’s tenderly “cringe” questions and Erivo’s emotionally-charged response to hearing that queer people are finding strength in “Defying Gravity,” a renowned song from Wicked about rejecting social convention and embracing otherness. Grande reaching out to comfort Erivo by clasping her index finger and gently tapping has since become its own viral image, recalling the Sistine Chapel’s Creation of Adam. Grande and Erivo have since discussed the hand-holding in a Variety interview.
“I didn’t know what any part of it meant, I didn’t understand the first sentence and then I definitely didn’t understand how you responded. And I just wanted to be there. Because I knew something big was happening and I didn’t know how to be there,” Grande recounted.
“After a while, I didn’t know how to be there,” Erivo said.
In many ways, Wicked has become the poster child for the modern pop musical. By interpreting The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Wicked cleverly works within the confines of a world audiences are already familiar with, while also delivering its own story with unique moral takeaways. It thus escapes the pitfalls of being a regressive screen-to-stage-to-screen adaptation. With Wicked available to stream on digital video-on-demand services, we can rejoycify and say there’s truly no place like home.
Though Gregory Maguire’s book tackles dark, uncomfortable political issues, including fascism, terrorism, and a newly introduced Ozian apartheid state, the adaptation fixates primarily on worldbuilding. The musical does a lot to sanitize the original story and make it more palatable to audiences by removing themes of sexuality and violence, erasing allusions to religious extremism, and focusing instead on forbidden romance. The movie adaptation strikes a masterful balance between Maguire’s macabre world and Schwartz’s family-friendly matinee. Wicked is able to fully engage with the more radical themes of its predecessors to feel more relevant than ever as we arrive on the precipice of great political change.
