The movie-musical sensation “Wicked” broke the record for the highest-grossing film adaptation of a Broadway musical ever. It grossed over $750 million worldwide as of April 21, 2025. Though this is only part one of this musical, the acting, music and beautiful visuals has its fans hooked to see how they finish off this story. Wicked was originally a novel, written by Gregory Maguire, then later adapted into the musical it is most known for today. It tells the story of the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz, before they became what they are most known for. Glinda, the Good Witch (Ariana Grande) and Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West (Cynthia Erivo).
The story begins highlighting Elphaba’s childhood and how she was neglected by everyone for having green skin. She was born with incredible magical powers that make her the witch she becomes in her future. It’s very clear from the beginning that her father favors her sister over her, though he eventually lets them both attend the University of Shiz. In school, Elphaba and Glinda are roommates. Through most of the story they don’t get along at all. Little things like fighting over who gets which side of the room, but also larger scale acts such as Glinda often using her popularity to make Elphaba feel worse. It is apparent that Glinda is jealous of Elphaba’s power, the power that got her into Shiz in the first place. Elphaba and Glinda do eventually become closer friends, and when Elphaba is invited to go to the Emerald City to meet The Wizard, she asks Glinda to join her. Unfortunately for them, not everything is as it seems.
The original broadway musical is split into two parts, and this movie captured part one perfectly. There are cohesive and beautifully laid out colors as well as a cast of actors that truly embodied the original Broadway cast. The new cast featured the talents of Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Marissa Brode as Nessarose, Ethan Slater as Boq and many more gifted individuals. The music was wonderfully done, doing an excellent job of keeping the original charm but adding something new that can only be done by this cast. Anyone can tell that this cast enjoyed the time they spent working on this film, with many moments of passionate acting, singing and dancing throughout.
Some of the most popular songs in part one of Wicked include “What Is this Feeling?”, “Popular”, and “Defying Gravity”. “What Is this Feeling?” is a duet sung by Glinda and Elphaba when they first got to Shiz, expressing their hatred and jealousy for one another. Glinda’s song “Popular” is an upbeat song that she sings to Elphaba after they first become friends and Glinda is trying to help her fit in. “Defying Gravity”, the final song of part one, is another duet between Glinda and Elphaba that shows Elphaba’s rebellion against the opinions placed on her by unsuspecting individuals of this film.
All of the sets and props used for this film fit the Wicked aesthetic perfectly. They were all built in real life, some spanning many acres. For example, the small Munchkinland town in the opening scenes of this film spread 6.8 acres in the British countryside. There were over nine million tulips planted for this set, all grown from a local farmer. They captured the perfect mood in every one of these sets, from glamorous Shiz to the intimidating Wizard’s Palace.
The combination of amazing acting, effects, sets and music made this movie a joy for anyone to see. This introduced many more fans to the amazing world of Oz, and it isn’t finished yet. The second part of the movie is set to come out a full year after the first on Nov. 21, 2025. The Wicked community is already on the edge of their seats, eager to see how they wrap up the incredible story of Wicked.
