Though I am a fan of musicals, Wicked is one that I hadn’t gotten to see on stage. But with its basis in The Wizard of Oz stories and its biggest songs being engrained into pop culture, I went into the movie theater with a base knowledge of what to expect with the Wicked musical movie adaptation. I left with the understanding of why Wicked became the phenomenon that it is (and that’s only after seeing one half of the story).
In case you’re coming in completely blind, Wicked (based on the Broadway musical based on the book by Gregory Maguire) provides an alternative history to Oz and many of the classic characters that Frank L. Baum created in his original novels, specifically Glinda (Ariana Grande) and Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), aka the Wicked Witch of the West. The story tells of how the two characters became friends at school before their choices led them down diverging paths. The book and Broadway show cover more, but this Wicked movie is the first of two parts, with movie fans having to wait until November 21, 2025, to see the second half.
