Wicked (2024)

Loved it! Nominated for ten Oscars, dozens of wins and hundreds of other nominations, this extravaganza delivers. I don't think I have to tell you the story is about the early years of Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) becoming besties with Glinda (the Good Witch of the North) in school--okay, I just did. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are delightful in those roles with their amazing vocals, supported by Jeff Goldblum as the wry Wizard, Michelle Yeoh as stern Madame Morrible, Jonathan Bailey as dancing Fiyero, and cameos by Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth (original to the roles on Broadway). Listen for the voice of Peter Dinklage as the voice of the professor-goat, Dr. Dillamond.

My only quibble is it's overlong at 2:40. That's not a big problem for home viewers like us. The other reason I didn't want to see it in the theatre (in addition to my usual reasons) is that I heard many stories of audience members singing along or causing other disruptions.

Director Jon M. Chu keeps all the balls in the air--wait 'til you see the Dancing Through Life scene––from the script by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox. Holzman also wrote the book for the Broadway musical, which as based on Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel and premiered in 2003. Amy, Emily, Marilyn, and I saw it in New York in 2006.

Stephen Schwartz's Broadway songs are available on on Apple Music and are supplemented by John Powell's instrumentals, also on Apple Music. Speaking of Dancing Through Life, watch this YouTube video about the making of the scene.

Also recognized by Oscar are production designer Nathan Crowley and costume designer Paul Tazewell.

Erivo was last blogged for Respect, Goldblum for Le Week-End, Yeoh for Everything Everywhere All at Once, Menzel for You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, Dinklage for Cyrano, Chu for In the Heights, Fox for Cruella, Powell for Don't Worry Darling, and Tazewell for West Side Story.

Grande (birth name Grande-Butera) has done some acting, notably Penny Pingleton in the TV movie Hairspray Live! and a small part in Don't Look Up, but is best known as a pop music singer with a four octave range. Bailey has dozens of credits, but, to me, he's the sexy Lord Anthony Bridgerton in nineteen episodes of Bridgerton. Chenoweth, also with a remarkable vocal range, has nominations (including for Wicked) and wins from the Tonys and Emmys (including for Pushing Daisies and Glee).

Holzman wrote ten episodes of Thirtysomething, 19 of My So-Called Life, and 13 of Once and Again, as well as Executive Producing the latter two. Schwartz, Oscar-nominated with Powell for this score, shared two Oscar wins with Alan Menken for the score and Colors of the Wind in Pocahontas (1995), and was nominated for three songs in Enchanted, which is one of the five movies I wrote about on my very first day of blogging, September 3, 2008. This is Crowley's seventh Oscar nomination and we've seen them all, The Prestige (2006), The Dark Knight, Interstellar, Dunkirk, First Man, and Tenet.

Rotten Tomatoes' audiences and critics are kind, averaging 88 and 95%.

We intended to rent it days after it dropped for streaming, but paid more to buy it on January 5 because of the extras (including a sing-along version to share with my chorus buddies), and today it's available to buy on the major streamers for what was then the rental price of $19.99. 55 trivia items give even more depth to my enjoyment. Read them if you like!