Theater UnderSTUDY - Wicked Movie Review

To celebrate the release of the Wicked Sing-Along now in theaters, Nikki and Gabby dive broomstick-first into a spellbinding review of the Wicked movie! From the enchanting performances to those unforgettable songs, we're unpacking all the magic (and the mischief) that makes this adaptation worth singing about.

Grab your popcorn and your best Elphaba impression—it’s time to celebrate the show that’s been “Popular” for decades! 🎶🧙‍♀️

Transcript

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hey everyone, welcome back to the Fandom Outpost. My name is Mark, as usual. I am one-third your host, and, oh, this doesn't seem right, does it? It is good to see me, isn't it? No need to respond, that was rhetorical. As usual, welcome back to the Fandom Outpost. I am going to be 50% of your host today, Galinda the Good Witch, or Gabrielle, and this is my partner. I'm Nikki, I will be playing Elphaba today, thank you. If it isn't already extremely obvious, today's topic is going to be about none other than Wicked. Specifically, we're going to be talking about the new movie adaptation of Wicked with Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as our beloved Galinda. Long time coming. I think it's illegal that I'm not in it, but it's fine. At least I got to finally watch it. It's fine. If I could have at least been one of the little munchkin people, I would have had a grand old time. I would have taken Odd Citizen number 87. Can I still be the ribbon spoiler? Yes. Actually, I'll be one of the flatheads. I'm not gonna lie, so I have never been able to watch the musical, meaning I have not been in person. Like, I've seen, like, all the really bad bootleg videos, you know, the slime tutorials, and, like, obviously listening to the music had the little, um, Nikki breakdown where you went, okay, so we set the scene, um, when you have your ADHD moment, and it's, um, a grand old time. My mind was just the entire time, I think I was just in such shock and awe that I just had to go like, the whole time. Uh, yeah, definitely dancing through life, specifically, I was like this whole time. Mouth open, agape, just could not breathe. And see, I'm glad that I was like, oh, I love Jonathan Bailey. I cannot wait to see this happen. Like, I'm glad that it was enough of a cast that I looked at it and was like, I know this is gonna be a good movie because every person, every role that they're ever in, ever, is always fantastic. I think the only one that, oddly enough, posed almost a little bit of a threat, I think, was Ariana as Galinda. I had hope. I had hope from the beginning. I fully had hope, don't get me wrong. People were hatin'. It was, I agree. But there was a moment where I was like, the most acting she's done was like, you know, her, like, Nickelodeon stuff where she was, but no. No One Mourns the Wicked came out and I went, oh my god, it's beautiful! I also think people forget that Ariana was a theater girly first. I was gonna say, she was theater trained. She was a huge fan. Correct. So, I think when you're a huge fan of something, you don't want to change it. You want to do the best version of that, and I think that's what we fully, fully got. Others stand out for me. We gotta talk about Michelle Yeoh. We gotta talk about Michelle Yeoh. Going in, being like, oh my gosh, she's so beautiful. She speaks and holds herself with such grace and honor, and she's just amazing to look at. Like, she's very big, like, her costume, she's so, and her blonde hair, never imagined. But, like, I know, like, I've seen Crazy Rich Asians enough times to, um, probably quote that movie front to back, back to front type thing, and her role in that was almost, like, the villain essentially. So, I've seen her be, like, more of a type of thing, but it felt so wonderfully different to the point where, I mean, even though I knew what happened, she still had me in that first half. I still was sitting there, I was like, oh, that's so good! I think the movie does a really good job of being a great adaptation and diverging when it needs to. Yeah. So, it was, you know, they didn't cut any songs. Thank God. All I want ever out of a movie musical adaptation. Stop cutting. Stop cutting songs. Stop adding in new songs. And it's not even about adding new songs, it's adding songs to replace other songs. Songs that should have been there. We're not gonna talk about Beauty and the Beast, that's not this podcast, that'll be a different one. So, anyway. I was gonna say Little Mermaid, but, you know. Same, same thing, same thing, why they're doing that? Anyways, what they did in this movie, which I think helps make it even more successful, is they take some of the goofiness and the pantomime, over-the-top dragness of Madame Morrible away and give it to the other Shiz character. Yes. I can't remember her title. Is Kayla Seat- Seat- Kayla Seattle? I can't remember how I can say her last name, but she's from The Greatest Showman, she was in Waitress. Oh, she's the- Doesn't matter. She works for the school. Yes. She's there to help Nessa Rose. They give a lot of Madame Morrible's sillier moments to her. Yes. And allow Madame Morrible, and Madame Morrible is only a professor, she's not the headmistress, mistress of Shiz. So, it allows her to be a little bit more menacing in a more reserved way, which I think is very successful. Plus, I think it helps that with changing it, she commands more of a presence and everything, and being this person that especially like Elphaba is like, oh, she's going to take me and I really trust her. And that Galinda is like, oh my gosh, Madame Morrible, I've heard so much about you. Yeah. Like, I need you to be my mentor throughout my years here at Shiz so I can be the greatest sorceress ever known to man, essentially. I think because- I think it's one of those, they definitely set it up as act one is going to be Elphaba. I think it would be nice to be like, okay, so this beginning, you know, being Elphaba's through Elphaba's eyes, and then having part two come in and really exploring more of the like, yeah, so Galinda just had her, you know, lesbian situationship in college. It's been a whole thing. Yeah. She's really sad about it, and now she's gonna take all that sadness and put it into that. The changes that happen in part one, I'm in- I have full trust in the entire team to make that a success for part two as well. Absolutely. But yeah, I do hope we get to see some- some Galinda magic in part two actually happening. I feel like it'd be a letdown. Okay, we have to talk about the Osdus Ballroom not being the most swankified place in town. It was underwater! We have to talk about- well, no, not that it wasn't cool. It's literally that he doesn't say the word swankified. He doesn't say that line, and it threw me so off. I was like, it's the most swankified place in town. It's the most swankified- it's swankified. Where's the swankified? And it didn't happen. I was a little upset about that, but, uh. I think I was too enamored by Jonathan Bailey's present. Everything. And you know what's really funny is I walked in, and my partner, who knows absolutely nothing about Wizard of Oz or Wicked, so I had to be like, how do I give you enough not to oddly enough spoil something, even though this has been around for who knows how many years now, but give you just enough to where when you walk in you have maybe just the tiniest bit of context? And the only thing I could say is, so the main love interest of both characters is an extremely gay man. Yeah. And me, who's in theater, being like, you're always gonna have that gay boy that all the girls somehow thirst over because that's just a theater thing for some reason? Correct. Um, I was like, I perfectly understand it. Don't worry. And then he walked on screen, and I was like, I was literally boating Yang against the thing, and being like, oh yeah. Boating Yang, first of all. When he slid on them books, mama, he was dancing through my heart and soul. Loved him. Loved the changes to his, like, him, his introduction is different, you know? Like, he's not just wandering into the crowd of people with his, like, footmen and stuff. Now it's just him and his horse, which first of all, there better be more of that horse in Act Two, or Part Two. It's so funny. So I'm so used to Wizard of Oz, and Wicked, and The Land of Oz having all this magic, so nothing surprised me. So when the horse started talking, I didn't think twice about it. But then my partner, who's next to me, was like, who's talking to him? And I went, the horse? And he went, huh? And I went, the horse is talking. And he was like, that's a thing? And I went, do you not remember Horse of a Different Color? Like, that's, like, do you not, I'm not seeing Wizard of Oz. Yeah, and then come to the end of the movie, and I'd be like, okay, so then we get to Act Two. Wizard of Oz is happening. And he goes, you know what's happening? And I go, I don't have time for you. You gotta tell him you can't hold, you don't have, you can't hold space for this. I loved Jonathan Bailey. So I, so Jonathan Bailey has been around for a hot second, but like, I started, started watching Bridgerton, which I knew, like, he was obviously really up in his character in Bridgerton, and then the character in Wicked are almost one in the same, where it's, they walk in, they have a certain gravitas to them, everybody has a perception of them, and expects him to basically follow in line with how it's supposed to be. You know, he's supposed to be with, you know, this person, and this is how it goes, but really, he fell in love with this person, and it's a whole mess, because those two people he's fallen in love with both have a really strong connection. So, like, in Bridgerton, it's two sisters. Yeah. You know, and then Wicked, I mean, they're not sisters, but they're, they're basically at the end of Act One. Sisters were close. Exactly. So, we have to acknowledge that, as long as your mind is out there in the world somewhere, and we're not listening to it right now. They have not imported it. It's done. It's done somewhere, for sure, and we can't. They have sat there and cried together listening to it, and gone, I'm so thankful for you, I'm so thankful for you, and yet I have to wait a whole nother year. I have to wait a year. I'm gonna. A year? I want to go back to Nancy Rose really quick, because I forgot, I wanted to mention how nasty of a nasty little bitch she is, okay? I don't, I don't like, I don't. I think the point is that she's not supposed to be that likable character. Well, no, she's not. To a degree. And, I mean, she does a lot of horrible things in all versions. Right, but, like, I feel like the movie was just enough to, like, paint her as this, like. Oh, it did a perfect job. While also being, like, she is the nasty, because she's not. She had the nerve, she had the gall, the gumption, and the absolute nerve when Elfie comes out in her cute little hat to dance, and. She's so embarrassed, she's like, I can't, I can't look. And she's embarrassed. First of all, those kids at the beginning. Those kids at the beginning. Oh, the ones that were making fun of Elphaba. Elphaba was like, I'm standing up to these people, go away, and she had the nerve to be like, mm-mm, Nancy Rose. Well, that's why I think it was one of those things where I sat there, again, my partner who has not. Yeah. Oh, but the actress is very beautiful and talented, I really like her. I do like her very much. Yeah. I just wanted to point that out, I think she's. There was nothing against her? Nope. It is all against the character. She was awful. But she played the character. So well that I hate her. So well. That's the thing, because she plays such an ugly character through and through. Yeah, she did such a good job of being that, like, innocent that everybody's like, you're so beautiful and amazing. Oh my goodness, yeah. But like. You know, go help that poor girl in the chair. Planting the seeds of, like, how she's gonna get to where she gets. Again, spoilers. I was, I was really upset when, uh, it was right through the Dancing Through Life. Yeah. And, you know, Glenda's all, Bic, go ask that poor helpless girl out to the dance. Yeah. It'll really mean so much to me, you know, stuff like that. And, you know, I was like, anything for you, Galinda. Um, and she goes back to Elphie and is like, you can't be mad at Galinda, because she just helped me get a date. Um, fuck anything that's wrong with you, by the way. Bro. Like, immediately turning on her sister. Like, this girl is torturing your sister in several ways. First of all, we have to talk about one of the best lines in musical theater history. Nessa, Nessa, I have something to confess a reason why Steven Schwartz, you mother. I was listening to this. I was re-listening to the soundtrack last night and heard that, and I was just like, yeah, that was good. Except I couldn't stop hearing SpongeBob. I felt so bad for Ethan Slater, because he really is talented, but he just. I'm not holding space for SpongeBob. Other standout moments of people who are along the lines of, you know, it reminds you of somebody else. We talked about this before, but Jeff Goldblum is always just Jeff Goldblum, but that's fine. But it worked. Because Jeff Goldblum is, again, one of those charismatic. Now, get rid of the moon. Get rid of the moon. He was so charismatic and so, like, like, he's one of those, like, if I walked into a room and was scared and felt like, like, you know, like, be like, I need a hug from a trusted guardian moment. Yeah. He is that guy that I would run to and be like, it feels like that dad hug when you need a dad hug the most type of dude. And I would immediately be like, I feel so safe. I would give you my drink to watch type of dude. If there's anybody in the world that's gonna come as a stranger into a foreign land and convince me to change the entire political structure of this place, you know, cause a coup. Force me to wear glasses every day. And build this vision of a better future. It's Jeff Goldblum. You have to recognize that. Absolutely. And he was great. I think he did an amazing job with, okay, normally, Sentimental Man is the skip song on the album. I mean, it's still technically for me, um, just if we have to be correct. But visually, what they did with that scene I think was so good. Like, I was, I was sat in my seat. I sat there and was like, wow, I really like this wizard guy. Even though I knew deep down. I knew. Oh, wait. I'm not supposed to like him, but it's hard. I have to like him. It's Jeff Goldblum. You have to. I also have to remember going into these things that not everybody is insane like me. Um, so I was catching all them little easter eggs left and right, right? Oh my god. Like when they're escaping right before and kind of during Define Gravity and they're up in that kind of attic space and there's a poster of Oscar Diggs. Um, I was like, boom. Caught that. When they are at Shiz and they're like, Professor Mom. Boom. There she is. Yeah. Still had a good time even without understanding all the like little references because they slid them in so well to where if they weren't in the movie or I didn't get them. Yeah. I still was enjoying whatever was being said, sung, done on screen. But me knowing I just had that much extra of a better time being like, I caught that, you know, and it's funny because my partner caught the one moment during popular where she throws her the red shoes and he actually tapped me and was like, Oh, Hey, is that them? And I went, so no, right there. Um, I had a conversation with people that I went to see it and they were talking about like, it's the, I have to, I have to remember that people don't know what's going to happen with this thing. So they were like, she's going to eventually get the Ruby slippers. Right. Meaning like Nessa Rose. And I was like, dude, she's already got them. They're literally on her feet. They were shown at least eight times right. And they didn't understand that, you know, in the original silver slippers. Yeah. This is the Aragorn broke his foot, kicking the helmet of wizard of Oz is the Ruby slippers were originally silver. Did you know that's that, but I still have to remember that there are those people that don't know that when he presents them, they're in like a Ruby lined case. Right. So they're still throwing as many hints at you as possible to be like, Hey, here it is, you know, setting off those alarm bells. I'm going back to Bowen Yang. I need, I need Bowen Yang in every movie, musical Bowen Yang, get your agent to get you in. It could have been worse. We could have had James Corden. Don't even, we're not even talking about that, but I loved all of the world building extra bits. We get to see more and more of these characters and, and it really helps their backstory motivations and stuff. And leading into the, what is this feeling scene? She's asking about, she's asking her parents and she's like, you can't respond because this is a letter. So I can only guess what you're thinking. Hook me straight up. And that's why I think it was when it first came out and it was like, okay, so we're going to be doing this in two parts. I was like, but why? I have to admit I was a bit of a skeptical. And then being able to see a little bit of that aftermath of like everyone in the world reacting to these things. And it's like, it made that just all the more powerful to everything that happened. I think it boils down to it not being a specific new plot point that's introduced or a whole new scene that we didn't even see any part of really. It is more of, hey, let's take these moments that happen in the show and give them a little bit more context. So let's give Elphaba a little bit more of a moment as a child. Let's, which then ties back into when she was, oh my God, in Defying Gravity. She's falling and she flies and she reached out for her young. I think it was all in all, I should have left the theater right then. I was gross, sobbing, disgusting. I was, I think Defying Gravity like what's happening. And I was watching her, you know, big and nobody in all of Oz, no wizard that there is, or was, I was like, oh my gosh, let's go. Let's go. Let's do it. Even though in the back of my mind, I was like, well, this is, this is the end, but I sat there still being like, oh my gosh, we're just getting started. And then yeah, credits rolled. And I was like, shit. Fuck. Oh my God. Like I need, I need more now. This is, I think the definition, I think this is the almost perfect example of how to transition things, meaning from a Broadway adaptation to the big screen. I think this was beautifully done. Those two and a half hours. I couldn't have cut a single, like, well, yeah, I mean, yeah, I probably could have trimmed 30 seconds here or there, but like it didn't feel bloated and it didn't feel like it was dragging. It really felt like it was keeping a pretty good steady pace. And I think everyone that was on screen, no matter what time it was, took so much attention in a good way. Cause I know that can also be a bad thing. Those two hours passed like it was nothing. And again, even though I was like, well, defying gravity is the end of act one. I still was just like, where's my, what, wait, what? Um, I could have used less of that for good theme intercut into everything, making me sob like a little baby every time I heard it could use less of that. Cause when they were at the Ozdust and they started doing their little dance, I was unwell. They understood everything and more that needed to be done to make this successful. Like I can't recommend it enough. Obviously as a theater person, I think it's different for me to recommend to other theater people, because it's easy for you and I to go, Hey, this movie musical is happening, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But to somebody who maybe isn't all about musicals or doesn't even understand musicals, I was talking to a friend afterwards and was just like, I really think you should go see it. And they were like, for what? Like, why would I do that when I'm not? And I was like, because this is something that can appeal to everyone. Yes. It is one of them singing pictures and some people are just not about that life. I get it as a movie person. Yeah. It's a great movie overall. Again, knowing the sets were practically done, you know, the scene, the behind the scenes footage of it that, you know, Ariana and Cynthia saying live through their stuff, like all felt so genuine where I was like, yeah, I'm in Oz right now. I'm having a good time. I do need to really touch on what made me literally shout in the theater. Sorry to the people around me. I mean, everybody shouted, so it was fine. I saw before watching the movie, literally the day, don't look at the track listing of the soundtrack if you don't want spoilers. And I was like, I know everything. So what that's talking about is Jeff Goldblum being credited on No One Mourns the Wicked because he is the man with the big elixir. Yes. So that's what I was like. I didn't look. I didn't look at the track. I didn't look at the track listing, which is great. And then I once found out watching the movie that they are referring to Idina and Kristen being credited on One Short Day that I had no clue what's going to happen. This passing the torch moment was just like, oh, like something in my brain told me they're probably going to show up. I think it would be really shitty. I thought it would be like a brief, like, like, like, you know, not them getting a whole freaking moment. I mean, she did her little thing on moment, you know, and she did her little defying gravity riff. And then when they like, honestly, when they took them like separately and were like kind of up as they were on stage as like their version of passing the torch, I was like, this. I was on well. Yeah. Also, Rip Norbert, you could have been in that scene. Why weren't you the guy that was like announcing the play? Why weren't you that guy? Where was Norbert's agents? Unavailable, clearly. NLB should have been in this movie. It's fine. It's fine. I'd like to do a lightning round of things really quick before we wrap things up. Number one, what is what was your favorite change to a song in the movie? I loved the end of popular. Yeah, very strong. I really liked, it's a slight change in defying gravity. It's basically Elphaba's asking Glinda to come with her. And she doesn't respond in in the musical. It goes right into the song continuing on. But in this, that's the break where she went and grabbed the coat to put over her. And basically, we were able to see her answer with that gesture in her eyes that she can't go. Yeah. And that I felt was like so strong. Them running away from all the guards. There's a couple moments that obviously had changed now that they have the ability to be on screen. And one being that Glinda for a second did not hesitate to jump on that. And how if it had not gotten caught, she would have gone with her. And that crushed me being like, Oh my god, you're right. She would have just gone and what would have happened? Like at that point, she probably would have been made, you know, a traitor as well, because she went with her, even though it wasn't as it was, yes, her choice. But at the same time, when you're in fight or flight like that, what else are you supposed to talk about Madame Morrible coming up and going? Okay, I guess you'll do moment and hugging Glinda. It's so again, Michelle, yo, great. It's so great. Oh, yeah. I think I could talk a million more years about this a lot. The only thing I can say again, as a movie and musical person is I would watch this movie time and time again, probably not get bored of it ever. I will consistently recommend it as of right now seeing the public perception of people who are not theater or musical people going to see this movie and being like, Oh, I have been changed for good. It needs to win a lot of awards. Yes, it needs to be next year already. Because I need to get Cynthia up there for her EGOT status. He has got to get an EGOT. Um, all she needs is that ask a baby she was. I can't I think I could not talk about her in this moment, like in this recording, because she left me so speechless that I, I just thought she was so much space for her. I'm only too much space for her right now. So um, there's a lot more that could be said. And maybe we'll do another moment of this. Who knows? Well, obviously, when part two comes out, we got to revisit we got to read. What happened there? We got to revisit. Um, but yeah, so thank you all for joining us on the fandom outpost presents theater understudy. I have been Nikki, and I am a Gabrielle the good please make sure to like subscribe, comment, follow do all of the things that everybody always tells you to do. Be a good little Ozzy and and join us on the Albuquerque road for more adventures.