On November 22nd, 2024, Wicked aired on movie theater screens throughout the world. The movie Wicked is originally a Broadway musical about the background of the Wicked Witch from The Wizard of  Oz and was brought to Hollywood by director Jon M. Chu. Starring roles Elphaba and Galinda/Glinda were played by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. I have seen both the musical and the new movie and will be elaborating on their similarities and differences.

Both the play and the movie begin with Galinda descending on the Munchkin village in her bubble. The Munchkins are celebrating the death of the Wicked Witch of the West. This scene contains the song No one Mourns the Wicked sung by the Munchkins and Galinda. I personally think that Ariana Grande was a perfect final choice for the role Galinda. She not only possesses and carries out an amazing operatic voice but also acts out Galinda’s personality and nature perfectly compared to the Broadway show.

Moving on to the next scene where Galinda is beginning the story of how Elphaba and her became friends, the next bit of the movie is mostly at their university called Shiz. Galinda is praised at her arrival to Shiz much like in the play and the opposite for Elphaba. I saw a difference in character between the stereotypical Elphaba and Cynthia Erivo’s interpretation of the role. Elphaba in the play was more abrupt and sensitive to her green skin and I saw those traits more toned down in the movie but not in a negative way. The toned-down version really synced with Cynthia throughout the movie. Another main character called Madame Morrible enters the scene, played by  Michelle Yeoh. I think Yeoh did an amazing job playing Madame Morrible. She brought out her sarcasm, voice, and just overall powerful character to the movie like in the play.

After Madame Morrible and Elphaba’s meet each other, the song The Wizard and I, sung by Elphaba, begins which is one of my personal favorites from the play. Cynthia sang this song to it’s utter perfection and it was just lively to see it in the theater. This scene was one of many that perplexed me due to the background and scenery that the movie has and the play lacks in a way. The next general scene in the movie was What is this Feeling? I think this song was the most theatrical song out of the lot of them because of the similar choreography to the play.

For the most part after that scene, I then focused on the scenes with the songs Popular and Defying Gravity. Popular was very different scene-wise and we got to see more of the room and dorm of Shiz. While on the other hand, it was word for word and played to perfection by Ariana Grande. Now, where to begin with Defying Gravity! I definitely found the scene way more moving than in the play. The background, the setting, the effects, and of course Cynthia Erivo’s outstanding voice all made this scene far more emotional than the play in my opinion. Also, I thought it was clever that they did it as a two-part movie like how the play has intermissions.

Overall, I think the movie was an amazing rendition of the Broadway show and was even more complimented by Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, and other extravagant acting and voices. The only differences that I can take from it is the fact that the play is a more theatrical form of Wicked while the movie was more cinematic.

What did you take from Wicked? Tell us in the comments!