WICKED MOVIE soundtrack reaction and review

[@Barbara2.0]

Like this comment to hold space for the lyrics of Defying Gravity🙏 And let's hold space everywhere else as well because it's too powerful, we must hold as much space as we can 📷 INSTA: instagram.com/thatbarbara2.0 ⏲ TIKTOK: www.tiktok.com/@barbara2.090 🐤X: x.com/that_barbara​​​​​

[@kevinpace6121]

The guard at the entrance to the palace who says, “The Wizard will see you now!” is Stephen Schwartz. I think he alone gets a pass for delivering that line however he wants to.

[@celestinebuendia]

I had the honor of being one of the freaks who went into the Wicked movie practically blind to the plot, so I just wanted to comment on how I saw Michelle Yeoh’s performance. For me, I was completely sold on her as a nurturing and motherly figure to Elphaba, and was genuinely shocked by her betrayal. She came across as so wise and regal to me, and I never saw her as “just mean” in any way. She hated Glinda, sure, but she hated her entitlement and vanity just like the audience was meant to, and seeing this wise mentor figure be pissed off at Glinda bothering her was very funny to me. I saw a comment describing her singing as like “when your grandmother sings to you” and, while funny, I completely agree. It came across as comforting and wise. I completely disagree with the idea that sort of being extra and campy is the way to exude charisma in a performance as a manipulative character. Camp can sort of imply villainy to the audience the more over the top it is, and I think the best way to portray a manipulator is to manipulate the audience as well. Elphaba was craving a familial recognition and comfort and when she got it I was happy for her. I get that people never like adaptation changes though, and always want to hang on to the version of the character they love.

[@reneepope-munro8115]

I know the show intimately, and agree with every word you’ve said here. I personally believe that the traditional stage version of Morrible would have read completely inauthentically on screen.

[@majesticshrimp]

I agree with you, actually I never really felt any sort of positive vibes from the stage Morrible, she already gives off those villain vibes in my opinion, with how snarky she is to Glinda and just her demeanor in general! I really loved the change to screen, had I not known the musical already, I'd have definitely believed she was the mentor and mother figure Elphaba was looking for, and the betrayal would have hit so much harder! I'm happy for the people who are just discovering Wicked with this movie, they are in for a treat ❤

[@steviehills4256]

Ozdust Ball & Defying Gravity were my favourite scenes. Seeing her younger self in the reflection. Her past & future self reaching out to each other, they make contact & it's the broom she grabs. Her singing "it's me" is Elphaba realising that the thing she never felt that she couldn't find a word for was herself & that catharsis is what fuels her rise to singing "it's me!"

[@Barbara2.0]

Love this

[@ACinemafanatic]

“The wizard and i” was well done in my opinion. That empty field to the cliff is also has a plot point which is where according to Dr. Dillamond revealed the great drought which the citizens of Oz blame the animals for which is why “the best way to bring folks together is to give them a really good enemy” came from

[@ebbss4]

Right? It’s it’s kinda of foreshadowing elphabas “fate” along with some lyrics in the song.

[@renees4577]

Stephen Schwartz (the composer and lyricist of the music) is the one that did 'the Wizard will you now' line in the movie. He got the buildup he needs and can do it however he wants.

[@slchld.]

I have to disagree on your thoughts on Michelle Yeoh. She did phenomenal in the movie and for someone who admitted she is not a singer and who was initially afraid of this role she hit it out of the park. In the beginning of the movie she had me sold as someone who really cared about Elphaba and wanted to help her harness her powers.

[@JustaFairyStory]

3:23 there’s also a “Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead” reference but it’s only the first 5 notes, not in the musical but definitely another little touch to nod to the 1939 movie

[@david-jonballinger6638]

Gotta say I disagree about What is this feeling. I’ve always liked the song but felt it felt a bit one sided with half the cast with Glinda and Elphaba alone in the other side of the stage. Sometimes felt a little stale. Whereas the movie really allows Elphaba to have her own power and fight. And the change in locations keeps it feeling a lot more fresh. I also really enjoyed the understated ‘Blonde’. It got a lot of laughter in my theatre tonight 😂

[@greenschmoodle]

As a trained stage and film actor, I HAVE THOUGHTS. Ok, first, I think it's really interesting that they seemed to have used a technique called high/low status for Elphie and Glinda in the use of their diction. For the first half of the movie, Elphaba(who is meant to be seen as the weak character) does not enunciate her ending consonants where as Glinda(meant to be seen as the stronger personality) is super crisp, but as the film progresses, they swap, Cynthia having much better diction, and Ariana getting softer in hers. It was kind of annoying at first, but once I realized what they were doing, it made sense and I think really works for film. On the "The wizard will see you now!!" line being subdued, that is actually Stephen Schwartz(the composer and lyricist of Wicked), so I'm sure that has something to do with it(not sure why) AND the woman who says "He's a wizard! That's our wizard!!" or whatever the line is during the story part of One Short Day is Winnie Holzman(the musical book writer and co-screenplay writer/producer and such)...although to fact check myself, she's not listed in the cast so I COULD be wrong on that but I'm pretty sure that's her. Anywho, I think they adapted this show beautifully!!!

[@hanonondricek411]

I've been listening to reviews of some people unfamiliar with the show's flashback structure and how they initially were disappointed that Ariana (in the opening scene where she lights the pyre) seemed unenthusiastic and wooden - until they realize _that's the character not the actor_ - Ariana is skillfully playing exactly what Glinda is going through there - doing what's expected in this ritual ceremony in front of a slightly barbaric crowd and not quite hiding her true feelings about it.

[@slchld.]

Yes Winnie and Stephen are in the movie as well as a few others from the Broadway musical. Another one I think is Courtney who plays Elphaba's and Nessa's mom at the beginning :)

[@kalebjernigan]

I feel like Ariana was paying homage to Kristen’s galinda, but I don’t think she copied her! There were many vocal choices that felt fresh and I really appreciated them! I also didn’t mind Michelle’s singing! Yes it wasn’t the strongest, but I do feel like her acting shined through in that scene. Cynthia is just a goddess she was the perfect choice for Elphie

[@Barbara2.0]

Oh yes, Ariana definitely made her own choices, I just feel like in comparison to Cynthia, she was closer to Kristin's interpretation

[@howlingechoes1012]

The birds flying out of the field is actually an ode to the "blue birds fly", which by the why there was a rainbow in the sky when Elphaba was jumping as well, to the "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" song from the Wizard of Oz movie

[@howlingechoes1012]

Also, they extended the "la la's" bc once they saw the hallway set they just HAD to do something extra for Glinda, according to an interview I saw of the composers and writers for the musical. Schwartz just happened to have mentioned that when he brought it to Ariana she was concerned with it not being super true to the stage performance, and he reassured her that if he had this idea back when he was first writing the song it would have 100% have been included. Not to mention that he loves it so much that he is highly considering adding it to future showings of the stage productions, if it is at all possible.

[@JustaFairyStory]

One thing I liked about this version of Popular, and I haven’t seen the show so I’m not certain how they play it, BUT I adored how Glinda realizes throughout the song that Elphaba doesn’t really need changing, and they kind of subverts the makeover trope. Yeah they let her hair down and took her glasses off, be we had already seen her like that, lol. Idk I thought it was really sweet and showed that Glinda does in fact have a heart.

[@hanonondricek411]

"Personality dialysis" implies Oz is aware of diabetes and has health care measures for it? Some are a little hacked that "Defying Gravity" is chopped up and doesn't maintain the momentum of the live show, but I understand - in the play they're getting through the whole story in under 3 hours and have to go at breakneck speed; in the movie they needed to make it last longer and create a bigger finale to temporarily pause a plot that won't continue for a year and isn't just Elphaba being waved around on the end of a stick in midair. My biggest WTF moment - the Oz head is shiny wood, and I was convinced it was CGI through all the trailers and even seeing the movie until a few days ago when I saw a behind the scenes picture of the full-sized head being assembled. It's an actual puppet like the stage show, only bigger!

[@alexrcastaneda]

Dialysis is for kidney failure and not diabetes 🤭😭

[@david-jonballinger6638]

Okay so I assume the Oz Head is similar to the Train. They created a real prop but it is augmented or edited over with some cgi.

[@hanonondricek411]

@@alexrcastaneda I'm expecting perhaps an Alligator as the dialysis tech!

[@houselemuellan8756]

Yeah unlike most tech advancement in Oz being easily attributed to the Wizard since he's from the late 19th century (ei the 2nd industrial revolution), dialysis might indicate that oz id way more advanced in terms of medicine since dialysis is from the 30s

[@JustaFairyStory]

My problem with Defying Gravity isn’t so much that’s it’s split up, it’s that in the movie, the tension kind of drops, because they have this chase scene and it’s established that the guards are not far away ramming down the door, but it kinda feels like the girls just stop caring about getting away to safety and so that was the only time where the singing felt a little dumb and unnatural, because in my head I was like “what are you doing, get out of there NOW!!” So it’s not the momentum of the song that I don’t like, I can listen to the whole song on the soundtrack, I don’t see the problem. It’s the tension of the scene itself that dissipates because it’s a tiny bit logic breaking until she finally actually leaves. The urgency completely leaves the room. And that’s not really the movie’s fault, I assume that’s basically the same situation as the play, but in the movie it’s more obvious how much of threat they’re under, so despite the song being beautiful, it undercut the emotion for me. And part of that is because for the entire movie up to that point, all of the songs felt natural and logical and you understood why they were singing and where they were and the geography of where everyone was in space, and then they get to that bit, and it’s like “FLY YOU FOOLS!!”

[@waltergabrielpolettolima]

The finale is E6 by Ariana

[@yee-raplantar-maximoff4318]

I love "I'm Not That Girl" but I definitely love other Wicked songs way more haha

[@playingtheladyrebel]

Not to bring up the demos when I already got you to react to making good over on Patreon, but ‘unlimited’ motif did crop up a lot more in early versions (we even get it in early versions of no good deed) so I can see why they brought it back to being even more prominent in the film! I actually went back and listened through a bunch of them following the movie because I was convinced the opening of the movie was very similar to the planned opening of the show- and yep, in the workshop recording they specifically describe opening on the hat lit up by a single shaft of light. There’s also a quiet moment in defying gravity which seems to have re-emerged in the film too- I think it’s really interesting to see a couple of old ideas coming back!

[@Barbara2.0]

That's so cool to know, thanks for sharing!

[@JustaFairyStory]

I’ve never even listened to the whole wicked cast album or been a fan of the play until this week. But No Good Deed just might break my next year

[@marabanara]

Having just come home from seeing the film (and having seen the musical in person a few months ago and bootlegs before that), I loved it but felt it a bit underwhelming compared to the musical. And this is because I think they kept in mind that modern audiences expect naturalistic acting. So even Ariana’s more comedic moments were subtle, and Cynthia gave a very nuanced but again subtle portrayal of Elphaba. Madame Morrible and The Wizard were pretty back too. I think Jonathan Bailey had the perfect balance personally, between the two acting styles.

[@TiaMat99]

gonna see it next week, I can't wait!!! Also, Twisted live action next please Hollywood!

[@rygregory]

3:01 You mention the introduction of the first motif in the song ("I see a nose, I see a curl") isn't technically an Easter Egg as it is more of a recurring musical theme. However, in that same passage, you did miss an actual Easter Egg of a few notes of "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" from The Wizard of Oz.

[@kalebjernigan]

Ily but I’m not that girl is one of my favorite sequences

[@conypaintt]

LOVE THE MOVIE 🥹❤

[@loubug9309]

I kinda get what you were saying with the ending of the Wizard and I, but I think the thing that kinda makes it a bit better is that Jon put a Wizard of Oz reference in it. When she flys a bit, she flys over a rainbow and blue birds fly when she lands. And you can see those blue birds fly over the rainbow when she looks out. Such a sneaky way to reference Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

[@Barbara2.0]

Excellent point, I didn't even remember that

[@Keahilovestheater]

Hi❤❤❤

[@VirtualBookClubGirlies]

Morrible was more stern than just mean and was also quite funny in her snarkiness like a McGonagall type. If she were over the top or more funny i think i would have hated it honestly

[@adamfatima3003]

I think the choices Jon Chu made left Yeoh in no other position but to play her more subtle, I think the cartoonish approach may have stuck out in a way that didn’t work on screen

[@JustaFairyStory]

14:38 Yeah I was pretty surprised when they went with the very subtle version of that joke. Like you expect it to be so blatant from the cast recording. I get maybe she couldn’t go too over the top, and it did get a laugh in my theater, but it was a bit underwhelming

[@andresbedoy9826]

I would have love to see your very first reaction to the “Popular” new ending or Ariana’s vocals in No one mourns the wicked

[@ferenczliszt]

Please when you get a chance react to A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder!! It's one of my favorite shows, but despite sweeping the Tony's the year it came out I feel like it's largely gone under the radar of popular musicals - the music, original cast, costumes, sets, plot, humor, are all 10/10 for me. In many ways it feels like an earlier era of the medium, but is still completely fresh. I hope you get a chance to check it out ✨

[@aviendhaandreoli4078]

I get to see it tonight! Can’t wait…

[@Barbara2.0]

Enjoy!!!

[@helenavara9783]

I love you! ❤❤❤

[@crossoverbunchshow8793]

I’m making a crossover of wicked because of peppa pig wedding special