The highly anticipated Wicked film adaptation of the original Broadway musical by Warner Brothers came out last month in time for Thanksgiving. It earned more than $214M in its second weekend and has gained $358M worldwide. Wicked will stand as the fourth highest-grossing movie based on a Broadway musical after Mamma Mia, Les Miserables, and Grease (D’Alessandro). Just recently, CNN reported that Wicked has been nominated for an Oscar in four categories.
In a recent poll conducted by Eye of the Gale, nearly 53% of people who responded said that they already saw Wicked in theaters. A total of 197 people replied to the poll. A few were interviewed about their reactions, favorite characters, and opinions about the movie being split into two parts.
LHS sophomore Emma Loudon said she enjoyed the film.
“I thought it was one of the best movies I have seen. It was such a creative movie with such talented actors, the thing that amazed me most about it was that Cynthia Erivo, who played Elphaba did all of the stunts while singing because she wanted to experience it without having a stunt double! I went with my family, and we decided to go because we all love Wizard of OZ and we thought it would be fun to see because one year for Halloween we were all of the characters from Wizard of OZ,” said Loudon.
LHS English teacher Courtney Carlo expressed similar enthusiasm.
“I really liked the movie! The singers were so amazing and it was fun to watch. It has such a good message. I saw Wicked on Broadway a couple years ago with my husband, so we were pretty excited to hear that they made a movie. I also really like musicals,” said Carlo.
LHS junior Lilee Byers said that she thought the movie was impressive.
“All of the actors played their parts really well and it was a wonderful interpretation of Wicked from Broadway. I decided to see the movie because I’m very involved in theatre and enjoy watching and doing different performances. Having an easy access way to see Wicked so similar to an actual performance was definitely something new and exciting,” said Byers
Staff member Nikki DeLeon said that she was excited to revisit the world of Oz.
“I loved it! I remember as a child always being excited to watch the original Wizard of Oz movie when it would air on TV periodically before streaming was possible. I was anxious to learn the story behind the story,” said DeLeon.
With the large cast of characters in the film, favorites are definitely to be had.
“My favorite character would probably be Glinda because I grew up watching Arianna Grande on TV shows so it was very cool to see her play that role,” said Loudon.
“My favorite character was definitely Elphaba. She is the underdog of the story and I definitely found myself rooting for her. She has a very bold personality and I appreciate her self awareness,” said Byers.
Deleon said that she appreciated the character of Prince Fiyero.
“I loved that he understood how special Elphaba was and recognized her beauty,” said DeLeon.
Loudon, DeLeon, and Byers are all excited for the second half of the story to debut in theater, however, Carlo was disappointed to learn that she has to wait for the next half of the story to be released next year.
“I am so excited for part two to come out because I bet it will be just as good as the first! I also can’t wait for the singing and all of the new songs,” said Loudon.
“My family and I have already decided we will see part two together as well and cannot wait until it is released in 2025,” said DeLeon.
“I am so excited to see part two and what they do with it! I know Wicked is known for not having the greatest Act 2, so my prediction is that they will add some new songs to the mix,” said Byers.
However, Carlo was disappointed to learn that she would have to wait another year to see how the story ends.
“I was so bummed that it [Wicked] was only half of the story,” said Carlo.
Wicked Part Two comes out on November 21st, next year. Until then, keep dancing through life.
