A woman from Charlotte, North Carolina, went to see “Wicked: For Good” in theaters. Then, the ceiling collapsed halfway through the movie.
“We hear kind of a creaking, and it almost sounds like the fan, [which indicated that] the entire fan system at the top was all going to fall,” said Angela (@getawaywithang) in a video that’s gotten more than 153,000 views on TikTok. According to her account, everyone was “OK,” but some movie attendees left during the screening.
‘Wicked’ gone wrong
Echoing the sort of unfortunate events that happen in “Wicked: For Good” and its original Broadway adaptation, something was amiss during Angela’s screening.
“I was three seats over from where everything collapsed and I was next to three nice older women. The ceiling did actively fall on one of the women, but she wasn’t hurt,” Angela said. “She was just a little startled and they left early.”
The entire theater audience “freaked out.” For a second, many Regal Cinema customers thought the ceiling fan would fall on their heads, as the theater was “creaking.” Employees then came into the theater and monitored the ceiling.
Angela also stated that only a few people, including herself, left their seats. Everyone else, according to her testimony, wanted to stay and watch the ending of “Wicked For Good.” Angela even hid by a stairwell to see the rest of the film. “I just didn’t wanna skip the rest of the movie, so I just sat on the stairs on the other side of the theater and watched the rest of it,” Angela said.
How bad was the roof cave-in?
Based on Angela’s testimony, the entire ceiling did not give way to attendees. Rather, a small section of the rooftop caved toward moviegoers sitting in row D. No one was hurt, which made it a partial disruption to the viewing experience for attendees in theater 1.
In a later update, Angela posted a clip from her original video, highlighting the debris that fell from the ceiling that day.
The theater later played “Zootopia 2” in the same room at 5:20 p.m.. This was only 30 minutes after the “Wicked For Good” screening ended.
@getawaywithang 4DX taken to a whole new level #wickedforgood #charlotte #4DX ♬ original sound – Angela
The Regal Stonecrest at Piper Glen—really a mess?
According to commenters, you can expect a partial ceiling cave-in at the theater Angela went to. That is because the Regal Stonecrest at Piper Glen, located at 7824 Rea Road in Charlotte, North Carolina, is allegedly in desperate need of renovation.
“That theater is a mess,” said one commenter. “The back row has the bottom of the screen blocked because of how set back the seats are and the staff said people always have to change seats.”
“They really need to renovate that theater,” a viewer remarked.
Another commenter jokingly added, “5DX!” referencing an additional “dimension” added by the ceiling projectiles above screen connoisseurs’ heads.
To many commenters, it seemed like Regal Theatres was unconcerned with the poor screening experience.
The Mary Sue has reached out to Angela, Regal Stonecrest, and Regal Theatres for comment.
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