Speak Now Storyteller

Summary: Elphaba, a misunderstood young woman because of her green skin, and Galinda, a popular girl, become friends at Shiz University in the Land of Oz. After an encounter with the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads.

I am extremely familiar with the musical, I’ve never seen it in person on stage but I’ve seen slime tutorials lol. Also the Wizard of Oz is one of my favorite stories so anything related, I’m always willing to give a looksee. But Wicked is an amazing piece of art. But I will stress that while it does connect to the 1939 The Wizard of Oz, it’s not canon, it’s more like fanfiction.

There might be mild spoilers but I feel like if you’ve seen the trailers you should be fine.

Pros:

Cast and Characters. I think everyone in this movie does a great job. Very well casted movie. Shout out to Bowen Yang as Pfannee and Bronwyn James as ShenShen. They were funny and I enjoyed their interactions with each other and Galinda.

• Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba Thropp. Elphaba is a misunderstood young woman who was born with green skin. She’s had a rough upbringing in that her father is extremely distant due to her greenness and a younger sister who she has a good relationship with, but it has its strains. She goes to Shiz to see her sister off but ends up being admitted due to the showing of her potential power. We learn quickly that she “cares too much” and has an affinity with animals. She’s kind but defensive, she’s intense but she holds true to her beliefs and who she is. I think that’s pretty evident when you first meet her and as the film goes on. Cynthia Erivo was a fantastic choice as not only can she sing the house down, but the way she chooses to act in scenes, the way she chooses to act while performing the songs… I teared up both times I watched the movie in multiple parts of the film. “The Wizard and I” is the first song she performs and considering how she’s been neglected by her father, the fact that she starts off the song trying to keep her excitement under wraps was such a great character choice. Her emotions build throughout the song until the final note at the end. The same can be said from her in general with her emotions and the songs. It builds as the movie goes on and her emotions fully come out in “Defying Gravity”. It was a smart choice to have her continue to build up so it can come to a head at the end. I think some of her best acting is during the Ozdust scene. I’m not going to go into it because spoilers, but I teared up twice before this moment, but I actually cried a little here. Then the anger she experiences, you can see the realization as it’s happening on her face in the Emerald City. Then during “Defying Gravity”, the moment she realizes the choice Glinda makes. She’s extremely good in the role, I feel like Elphaba can feel a little one dimensional due to her being pretty straight forward, I mean she’s not one dimensional but she can feel like it, but I think Cynthia really manages to give her way more depth than I think has been shown before. I will never deny the talent this woman has because she truly has it. I’ve seen many actresses sing these songs on stage, I’ve seen clips of acting scenes, but having a film where the medium is different… she really shines. I really liked her in the role, quite a lot which always causes me to have so many conflicting feelings/thoughts because I really want to be a fan of hers but no, shan’t lol.
  • Karis Musongole as young Elphaba. A shout out to young Elphaba, we only see her in two scenes but I think she was great!
• Ariana Grande-Butera as Galinda Upland. Galinda is a young woman who comes from “perfect” upbringing. She’s popular, beautiful and always gets her way. We get to see two versions of her, one version just for a bit, before we’re introduced to a younger version of here that doesn’t have a weight on her shoulders/heart yet. In the beginning, we see her as “Glinda the Good”, this public figure who Ozians look to because she represents the “goodness” of Oz. But during “No One Mourns the Wicked”, if you’re paying attention, you can see that there’s something clearly weighing on her. When we flash to the past, where she’s in school, younger, “freer”, she’s a bit of a mean girl but it’s more than just because she can. She has desires and ambitions but while at Shiz, she’s constantly being forced to realize she can’t have everything she wants all the time because everyone isn’t going to like her which throws her off a lot of the time. There are choices she makes that begin to change who she is as a person but she also maintains a lot of her Glindaisms lol. I can’t get into too much on her because then it’s spoiler territory but I’m extremely excited to see Part 2 with her having even more emotional things to deal with. I wasn’t a naysayer for Ariana Grande’s ability to play Galinda. I think she’s extremely talented and I know she’s been a fan of Wicked forever, I’ve seen her sing songs from the show many times so I knew she care enough to take care of this character and I think she does a great job. If anything, I was concerned with her diction lol, she tends to mumble when she sings or her words run together but she definitely switched up her technique for the role which she talks about in interviews. But she’s so good as Galinda. The little quirks she does in her movements, the way she moves her hands, the little foot point she’s constantly doing, or the way she ‘toss toss’ her hair. I even like the way she speaks for Galinda because it works for her, there’s a little bit of old Hollywood in there sometimes. I feel like her acting really shines in “NOMTW” at the beginning because she plays Glinda as extremely conflicted and sad because she is but still trying to maintain this aura she has to the people. I’m pretty sure I gasped watching her and was already tearing up, especially when they rolled out that giant statue. I think she also does a great job in the Ozdust scene as well. I was already in tears anyway. She’s also so very funny but it doesn’t feel silly which Galinda can fall into the silliness but I think Ariana manages to not be that way. She’s so very good!
• Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero Tigelaar. Fiyero is a prince from Winkie Country who joins Shiz University a bit into the school year. He’s a bit of a troublemaker and can’t seem to stay in one place long enough as he continuously gets into trouble. He’s deeply shallow and self-absorbed, or so he says. He meets Elphaba on his way in and he’s unfazed outside of her being defensive. But he comes to the school and a little delinquent as he has everyone dancing in the library and damaging BOOKS! I’d have to fight him lol. But he’s a likable and fun guy so everyone is immediately smitten, I mean who wouldn’t be? He and Glinda do match almost immediately but as the movie goes on…? But another character I’m excited to see more of in Part 2. Jonathan Bailey is great, I thought that was great casting when he was announced and I think he’s so fun and charming. I don’t like his blonde highlights but everything else is great. He does great work with his eyes and how he looks at people, there’s a scene where he’s looking at someone and I was like “bro, please”. If you’ve seen his work as Anthony Bridgerton with the yearning… he’s very good at that. I knew he was trained in dance but I was quite impressed with him and I smiled the entire time, I knew he could sing but he sounds great in his only song in this film. He gets one more in Part 2 that I’m excited to hear him sing.
• Ethan Slater as Boq Woodsman. Boq is a munchkin attending Shiz University who is generally kind and has a major crush on Galinda. The few times we see him, he’s either fawning over Galinda, trying to let her know he’ll be waiting to dance with her at Ozdust or interacting with Nessarose. He’s another character that I can’t get too much into but Boq is a nice guy and Ethan Slater, who I am not familiar with outside of the jokes, is good in the role. The few scenes he’s in, I think he pulls a little focus because of his look but there are some quirks he does as Boq that foreshadows or are nods to his role in Part 2. I thought that was fun. We only hear him sing once and I think he has a nice voice.
• Marissa Bode as Nessarose “Nessa” Thropp. Nessa is Elphaba’s younger sister who due to circumstances, was born too early and is paraplegic. She is the “rose” to her father and he dotes on her, which informs her behavior going forward. But so far, it seems that her and Elphaba have a mostly good relationship but Nessa wants to have a fresh start, away from whatever baggage comes from their childhood and being connected to Elphaba. It’s really interesting to watch her as things happens, or to hear some of her dialogue in places. Marissa Bode is the first wheelchair user to play Nessa, which is cool and I’m sure very encouraging for wheelchair users who are interested in playing an iconic paraplegic role. I am curious to see what they do with her in Part 2 though considering what happens with her character but I’m sure it will be handled with care! I liked Marissa in the role, she has a beautiful smile and her hopefulness is cute along with the moments of her being upset. I’m excited to see her with a larger-ish role in Part 2.
  • Cesily Collette Taylor as young Nessarose. Shout out! She was only in one scene and had two lines but she was so cute! I literally went “aww omg,” when she spoke.
• Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible. Madame Morrible is the Dean of Sorcery at Shiz University. Glinda is interested in taking her seminar as she wants to be a sorceress but MM is not interested in her at all but she is interested in Elphaba after a display of power. I really can’t get into her without spoiling but I will say that while I think Michelle Yeoh is a great actress and overall good in the role, there was a time where I was like “huh… I’m not sure if I believe her right now” because it felt like she was flat. She’s also not a singer but what she did sing was fine. My favorite scene with her though was this scene in the Emerald City where she does this dramatic loud clap, you’ll know. I love that moment so much lol. Oh and the scene at the end with Glinda. It’s difficult because even when I felt she was flat, I thought it worked for her character. I’m interested in seeing her more in Part 2.
• Jeff Goldblum as the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. So I can’t do much here without spoiling, but just know that Jeff Goldblum was a great choice for this role because he has very kind and gentle vibes, very sentimental man, and you want to like him… but there’s also this under layer of… the opposite. That is all lol.
• Peter Dinklage as the voice of Dr. Dillamond. Dr. Dillamond is not in the film a ton but his presence is extremely important. What happens with him really pushes Elphaba into motion. Peter Dinklage has a great speaking voice, he’s great in the role. He has his one song and I like how dramatic he sings it.

Character Chemistry. It’s extremely important for these characters to have chemistry with each other because no matter how good you are in a role, if you don’t have chemistry with the other actors, it really throws off the vibe of the character relationships. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande have amazing chemistry together, especially once their characters become friends. It’s like they really turned it on because now they’re no longer at odds but they still had chemistry even before then. I really enjoyed their interactions during “What Is This Feeling?” It was so fun. Galinda and Fiyero had chemistry but a different chemistry that we see with Fiyero and Elphaba in their scenes. Boq and Galinda had chemistry, which could be attributed to the actors in their personal lives, but it was a different kind of chemistry as their relationship is one-sided. I just feel like even with all the emotions going on throughout the film with the characters and how they interact with each other, is very palpable.

The Music/Vocals/Choreography. The music is something that’s coming from an already established place and I already loved it before the film. I listen to the original recording often, especially when I want to hold space for “Defying Gravity”. But I have really loved the new arrangements or riff additions they’ve done for the film. I also love that there are notes from other songs throughout the film as part of the soundtrack in general, like “For Good”, that’s crazy work. I really loved the extended ending for “Popular”. I liked her choices during “NOMTW” and even Fiyero’s ‘life’ in “Dancing through Life” was very nice. As stated earlier, both Cynthia and Ariana have amazing voices and have clearly done the work to prepare themselves for these songs. I’ve always heard that Wicked songs are notoriously difficult to sing properly. I’m sure I damage my own chords when I do my one woman show in the car listening to the OBC. Everyone sounds good (some better than others lol). OH and that “unlimited” addition in “Defying Gravity”, that’s powerful. The choreography is so fun! Christopher Scott is the main choreographer and I loved the walking choreography during “WITF” with the books ‘dear Galinda you are just too good’, I wanna learn it and I don’t even like to dance like that lol. Even the ending with the skippity skips. Fiyero’s dancing during ‘DTL’ was also so great, I smiled the entire time watching. I’m not sure if it was all Christopher who came up with Elphaba’s dance in the Ozdust scene or if Cynthia got to have input on that, but it was weird and awkward but also kind of… powerful? The munchkins’ choreography at the beginning, with the heavy stomps at the end of “NOMTW” was so good that I remember going “okaaay”. I think these three things married together, really produced great musical sequences.

Emotional. Y’all… I can be a crier. Also, I’m a contagious crier lol. Sometimes the smallest things in a movie/show can make me cry, especially if I feel like I can relate. And in some ways, I’ve always related to Elphaba and I think as a black woman, that’s not surprising. Elphaba is green, so anyone can play her, but her story is very black woman coded and seeing her be played by a black woman, I’m sure there’s an extra layer of emotion that black people and other minorities find themselves feeling. I’m not green, but I’m a plus sized black woman who is also quite nerdy in my interests lol. I’ve felt out of place in spaces because of my size or because I’m the only black person in the space and many other things… but this isn’t therapy lol. But outside of feeling a connection, just the acting choices made by the actresses, subtle and dramatic are really affective. As I mentioned before, Ariana’s choices at the beginning while interacting with the munchkins in “NOMTW” had me teary and that’s in the first 6 minutes! Cynthia had me teary during “The Wizard and I” especially in the sequence with the colorful chandelier thing. I was full on in tears during the Ozdust scene. Not sobbing but light sprinkles lol. Then “Defying Gravity” had me in emotions I can’t even really explain, it’s extended with a few extra scenes because of course, it’s a film, and I loved those additions. Crying. With that final shot of Elphaba in the sky with her cape and her war cry, my hands were on my face like Kevin MccAllister and I gasped out “oh my god” and I had to catch my breath. That was insane. Everyone isn’t going to feel or react the same, and it’s fine if you didn’t.. but I just know I felt the same the second time I watched too. I can’t wait for Part 2. Probably gonna be in shambles.

Costumes/Set Design. Paul Tazewell did the costumes and I was surprised to be reminded that he did the costume for The Wiz Live! which I always really loved those as well. So that’s awesome. He also did the costumes for Hamilton and West Side Story (2021). I love how both Galinda and Elphaba have Shiz uniforms but they are vastly different from everyone else’s samey uniforms. Galinda wear stripes but hers are pink and soft and they match, whereas Elphaba’s stripes don’t connect and are black and dark colors for the most part. Even Fiyero stands out in his clothes. Everything we saw Madame Morrible wear was amazing, and the white hair on Michelle Yeoh was fantastic. I know Cynthia and Ariana had a lot of input in their characters’ mannerisms and attire. Elphaba’s nails were amazing but Cynthia Erivo tends to always have great nails in general. All of Galinda’s outfits were amazing, her Ozdust dress was beautiful. I was concerned about things looking too washed out or “unrealistic” in a cartoony way, but I feel like they did a good job with making things colorful and unique but not garish. Even in the Emerald City. From what I read, the set was practical with CGI supplemented throughout instead of using blue/green screen. They planted actual tulips for Munchkin Land, which I think is amazing. I thought the dorm room was nicely designed, the Shiz library was definitely a standout location with that clock thing. Even the attic area that Glinda and Elphaba are in at the end was a cool location.

The Story/Impact. Just in case you ignored my little message at the top, Wicked is fundamentally a fanfiction of The Wizard of Oz and nothing that happens in it is canon to the 1939 movie or the original story. I do think the jokes are funny but sometimes I can’t tell if people are being serious or just being funny in their conversations about Dorothy as a character or how Wicked informs the story. So whenever I look at Wicked, while it does bleed into the story as we know it, I always look at it separately because it is lol. But anyway, that’s my little rant. But I think the story that we’ve seen set up so far is very interesting and how the characters interact with the story and their own character arcs, is handled very well. Elphaba I think is pretty straightforward in who she is but her journey is still extremely interesting because many people can relate to feeling different and not fitting in because of how they look or something about them. In feeling so strongly about things that when your dreams are shattered, you try not to bend to the easy path. There’s obviously more to see. With Galinda, I think she’s a little more complicated but her story isn’t complete but we see some growth from her and choices she makes that will have people talking and especially with the way Ariana plays Glinda’s thoughts and emotions. But with the overarching story, what’s going on in Oz with the animals, what’s going on with these characters on a personal level, is actually quite topical in a lot of ways. It’ll be great once this intermission is over and we have more story to go into.

Cons:

Story Change. I almost feel like I’m grasping at straws with this con BUT I do think this is a miss because both times I’ve seen the movie it’s been on my mind. In the song “What is this feeling?” Elfie and Glinda are singing about not liking each other, which tracks but at the beginning, they both sing “there’s been some confusion over rooming here at Shiz” but there was no rooming confusion because Elphaba wasn’t enrolled at the school. In the stage show, Elfie was attending Shiz as well, and I think she was supposed to be roomed with Nessa (or assumed she would be) but the Headmistress assigns her to room with Galinda which then causes Elfie to react and pull the magical stunt where she pulls Nessa back to her because she didn’t want to be separated from Nessa. But here, they change that, which I think is fine but it clashes with the beginning of the song. I don’t think it was necessary to change that Elfie was never enrolled at Shiz but I didn’t mind the change because of what it does for Elphaba’s character but it was a noticeable thing, since they didn’t change the lyrics.

Feels Long. I was concerned about the movie being split into two parts because sometimes that just feels unnecessary. Obviously the stage show is the about the same length with a 15 minute intermission, but after seeing the film, while I think it works, I feel like the movie does feel long at times. My two friends who I first saw it with, both commented how they felt it dragged. I didn’t feel fatigued watching it either time, but the second time I saw it, I did feel my attention waning just a tad at a certain point. But the problem with that is, now that I’ve seen the movie, splitting it was a great idea and definitely needed for this story, there’s nothing I would have cut to make it shorter either. It just felt long at a point lol. Such a weird criticism but valid lol.

Timeline/Relationships. This is a newly added con after thinking about it some more because I was thinking about it the first time but decided not to include it since it’s only half the story but after seeing the movie a third time, I decided it needed to be included. I think this con is attributed to the musical as well, I think it would be hard to add more when the musical doesn’t have this as a baseline, but I do wish we got to see what the timeline is for the movie. Maybe they should have shown obvious seasons change, OZ could be different from our world and that the seasons aren’t the same but I think that would have been a great way to tell. Clearly by the time we see the first class with Dr. Dillamond, it’s been some time as he references their previously written essays, though he could have earlier explained to Galinda about the pronunciation of her name. Or there could have been a shot of a calendar in the girls’ room or something to show us that there is a passage of time because we just don’t know.

Because of this, once “Dancing Through Life”/”Popular” happens and Fiyero is introduced and Elphaba and Galinda are now friends, we have no idea how long it’s been between that happening and Elphaba being summoned to the Emerald City. It seems like it’s only been a couple of days between these moments. “Popular” happens then “I’m not that Girl” happens seemingly the day after that (or same day because “Popular” happens in the morning), then “One Short Day” maybe a day or two after that and then it’s the same day during “DG” as “OSD”. So it seems that Galinda and Elphaba haven’t been friends that long, or considering the relationships between Galinda/Fiyero and then Elphaba/Fiyero. Considering how the movie stretches out the story for its runtime, I do think there could have been something extra in there to show the friendship between Elphaba and Galinda. I would have liked to have seen a sequence with both girls in Madame Morrible’s Sorcery Seminar, or have them have another scene in their room or something. But that would make the movie longer and I don’t think I would have cut anything out. Maybe some sequences could have been shortened, but personally I like some of the extended scenes.

I would assume that “Wicked” in its entirety takes place within a 3 – 5 year time span maybe. There will be definitely be a time jump between Part 1 and Part 2 as time has passed after intermission in the show but it’s just unclear how much it will be and I hope they make it clear.

Overall, not that I’ve seen every movie musical in the world or every broadway musical adapted into a movie but I do think what has been done with Wicked, was an amazing feat. It has a very strong foundation with interesting characters and amazing music but the movie has truly elevated the material. In the stage show, actors do have the opportunity to make fun acting choices but most times, the back of the theater can’t see their faces, which is why they tend to be over the top. But with a movie, the actors get to be subtle in their choices and those choices really made these characters pop to me. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande have made their mark on this story, these characters and these songs. The supporting characters are also very good and well portrayed. The familiar and iconic music has been arranged to fit the movie and the extended sequences well. The costumes and set designs were nice. The story isn’t finished as it’s only part one but what we’ve seen I think has been well executed and ends on an extreme high note for anticipation for part 2. My two cons are minor things but I really didn’t have many things that I felt were bad or missteps. Maybe in subsequent watches things will come to light but as of right now, outside of the movie feeling like it starts to drag a bit after “Popular” and that little story change that I think about every time because it doesn’t match the lyrics of a song, there’s nothing glaring to me.

Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars.

As you can tell, I loved the movie. I’m excited for Part 2 as there are a lot of story elements I’m excited to see.

I recommend!

This isn’t part of the review but just something I was thinking about lol. We don’t know how old the characters are but I think we can assume that Galinda and Elphaba are between 18-20 entering Shiz. Nessa is probably 18 and Galinda could also be 18 as this seems to be her first year at Shiz though I think she’s returning? The way the other students react to her, makes it seem like she’s returning BUT it’s probably because she’s from the Upper Uplands and she’s just “famous/popular”. It’s hard to say exactly but I think Elphaba is probably 19/20 as she’s older than Nessa and wasn’t even attending Shiz in the first place. Galinda could have taken a year off before attending. Fiyero is definitely older as he’s been in various Universities before coming to Shiz, so maybe 20 – 22. But I do think them being young attributes to their characters. Especially when you consider their upbringings. I just hope Part 2 helps put some things into perspective for people because I’m starting to get lowkey tired of people’s takes on the movie and on The Wizard of Oz by extension lol.

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