Growing up, one of my all time favorite movies was The Wizard of Oz. I don’t know why…perhaps the pretty colors, Judy Garland’s iconic performance as Dorothy, or the catchy score. But the one character that stuck out to me the most (and caused some childhood nightmares) was the Wicked Witch of the West. I always wondered how someone could be so mean and vile to a young girl, all over a pair of shoes…until the summer of 2010 when I discovered Wicked, the musical prequel to the 1939 film that explores the Witch’s upbringing, and just how she came to be wicked.

It was the summer before I started fifth grade, and I was in my school district’s summer camp. There were a variety of specialty programs offered, but the only one I cared about was musical theatre. Every summer we’d do a show at the end of the program, and that summer, our show’s theme was Wizard of Oz. But we weren’t just going to do songs from the 1939 film, we were also going to do songs from a later adaptation called The Wiz, and of course, we were going to do songs from Wicked. I remember our teacher playing all the songs for us, and as soon as our teacher played “Popular”, I loved the song so much I decided to audition for Glinda. A week or two later, I got the role, and I’d get to sing the song for the show, and as I got to work practicing my part and learning about the show, I fell in love with the story. 

A few months later, it was almost all I would listen to. My poor mother decided to buy me tickets to the show thinking once I saw it, I’d stop talking about it (unfortunately for her, that didn’t happen). I remember taking a tour of the Gershwin Theater before the show, getting to see some original costumes and set pieces. We also got to hear from Sean McCourt, a member of the original cast, about what it was like to work on Broadway. Later on, it was time to see the show, and as soon as Glinda came down in her bubble at the top of the opening number, that was when it hit me; theatre was something I wanted to do more than just watch. A couple months later, our music teacher announced the annual school musical, which, funnily enough, was The Wizard of Oz. After seeing . No not just seeing it, but devouring Wicked, I took it as a sign and decided I had nothing to lose by auditioning. And that marked the start of my theatre career. 

A few years later, I was old enough to understand the deeper themes that the musical conveyed. I always felt that the role of Elphaba was written for people like me. Her story of rejection and prejudice was one that hit close to home for me. As a neurodivergent person, I understood how it felt to be socially rejected for things I had little control over. Like Elphaba, I knew how it felt to be taken advantage of, and to do good deeds for people only for it to backfire on me. I knew what it was like to open myself up to people who betrayed me and turned their friends against me. But that wasn’t the only part of the musical I related to. What inspired me the most about Elphaba was her resilience and bravery. Anyone who knows the story knows that after being invited to meet the Wizard like she always wanted, Elphaba realizes he was using her and her talents to further his agenda of discrimination and violence against the animals in Oz, and she breaks free from his castle, losing her relationship with the Wizard and with her new friend, Glinda. The hardest part of leaving a toxic situation is flying solo, but on the other hand, the best part is flying free. 

14 years and 3 return trips to the show later, I was at the movie theater seeing the film adaptation of Wicked, after years of waiting and speculation as to who would portray the characters I knew and loved on the screen. My face lit up the same way it did the first time I saw the show and Glinda came out. As I was watching the movie, all I could think about was how much the show touched me over the years. I thought about the fact that I learned so many life lessons from this show; staying true to yourself, standing your ground and fighting for what’s right, and the value of friendship. 

As for the film itself, well, I don’t want to give away too much. There are so many fun little Easter eggs and surprises that fans of the musical (and the 1939 film) will enjoy. The production team really went above and beyond in bringing Oz back to the big screen, namely the film’s director, Jon Chu. His interpretation of this piece is absolutely genius, and his casting was spot-on. Cynthia Erivo leads the cast as Elphaba, and her performance was nothing short of phenomenal. I didn’t care for her too much before this movie, but I really feel like a star was born, and I can’t wait to see what she does after the second part releases next year. While I really enjoyed Ms. Erivo’s performance, I am still wonderstruck by Ariana Grande’s performance as Glinda. I’ll admit, I couldn’t stand her music back in the day, and when I found out she was going to play Glinda, I almost decided to skip the movie. But, she rose to the occasion for this one and gave so much depth to the character that I’d never seen before. Not to mention, she underwent one of the biggest vocal transformations I’ve ever seen. She made the role her own, but I saw so much of the original Glinda, Kristin Chenoweth, in her performance. I remember watching her video when she was cast and she promised she’d take good care of Glinda. I’m so happy to say she did. 

The cast is rounded out by Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, whose new take on Dancing Through Life I really enjoyed, Ethan Slater as Boq, who I was a little iffy about, but I think his relationship with Ariana brought Boq’s character to a new level. Marissa Bode played Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose. Nessarose is such a well-written villain, and for once, I felt bad for her condition (that being said, I can’t wait for the house to drop on her in the next film). Michelle Yeoh played Madame Morrible, and although maybe not quite there vocally, I enjoyed her more motherly interpretation of the role. And finally, Jeff Goldblum was the Wizard. Traditionally, the Wizard is cast older and I’m used to seeing a more fatherly/grandfatherly take on the role. Instead, in Goldblum’s performance, I saw more of a friend, someone who I thought actually cared about Elphaba and wanted to help her. For a moment, I forgot about how much the Wizard sucks. 

I wish I didn’t have to wait another year for the next part, but I cannot wait to see what they do with the next half of Wicked. If it’s anything like this one, I know it is going to be nothing short of wonderful.