Katie Hamann ‘25, Social Media Manager
Wicked, the long-time theater phenomenon that has been performing since 2003, is coming to the big screen on Friday, Nov. 22. The new movie stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Ariana Grande as Glinda, and Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero Tigelaar.
Theater lovers are excited to see what changes may have been made to the show for the screen. Junior Katherine Phelka said, “I saw the show on Broadway in New York City, and I am so excited to see how the show gets turned into a movie.” Many other students in our school’s theater program feel the same way.
While people are excited to see the movie, they are also sad to have to wait a year for the second part to come out. An article by Steven Thrash on movieweb.com said, “According to the producer Marc Platt, Wicked was split into two parts to avoid cutting songs and to satisfy fans of the musical.” Senior Michael Lindstrom has an opinion many other fans agree with. Lindstrom said, “Prolonging the process kills the hype that people are feeling for the first one and they won’t feel the same excitement a year later.”
There has also been some controversy. A poster for the movie’s release was created to pay homage to the original Broadway Playbill. After the poster came out, many fans quickly noticed the differences between the original and the new version.
After fans made changes to the poster to look more like the original, Enrivo came out with a statement in an Instagram story saying “The original poster is an ILLUSTRATION,” Erivo added. “I am a real life human being, who chose to look right down the barrel of the camera to you, the viewer …because, without words we communicate with our eyes. Our poster is an homage not an imitation, to edit my face and hide my eyes is to erase me. And that is just deeply hurtful.”
Enrivo found that these changes covered the person she is proud she has become. While many feel she may have gone too far with her response to the poster changes, fans can also see how she was justified in her passion for her work and herself.
Despite the poster’s controversy, fans were pleased to hear that both Enrivo and Grande sang live during filming. Most films pre-record music and have actors lip-sync, but Enrivo and Grande wanted to do this one a little differently.
During the movie’s press tour, fans all over the world got to see the actors in person. The tour stopped in New York City, London, Los Angeles, Sydney, and Mexico City. Each city was transformed into a different magical location from the film, creating a fun and exciting tour for fans.Overall, fans are in suspense for the new movie to hit theaters and can not wait to see how it compares to the hit Broadway show. From flying monkeys to emerald cities, fans are not ready to see the world of Wicked come to life on screen. As the adaptation hits the screen, it will be spared no judgment from excited fans, but viewers of all ages have high hopes for what’s to come.
Lyon Life 