As a huge Ariana Grande fan and as someone who has wanted to see Wicked on Broadway for years and never got the chance to (until now), the release of the Wicked movie was the best of both worlds!
Wicked is a Broadway musical that has been running for over 20 years. The musical takes place before the events of The Wizard of Oz and before Dorothy follows the yellow brick road.
Wicked follows the story of Glinda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West, also known as Elphaba. Throughout the musical you learn how Glinda and Elphaba’s friendship began – and ended – and most importantly, you learn how Elphaba became the infamous Wicked Witch of the West.
The Wicked movie hit theaters on November 22, 2024 and stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda. The movie quickly soared to the top of the box office after its release, making $114 million during its debut weekend.
After its release, the movie quickly blew up all over social media due to its amazing soundtrack and the movie’s never ending, but super hilarious and chaotic press tour. (We know you’ve seen the “holding space” meme.)
The release of the movie not only allowed for the decades-long fans of the show to see one of their favorite musicals finally make it to the big screen, but it also allowed for new viewers to be welcomed into the world of Oz. (Like me!)
My sister and I saw the movie during its opening weekend, and unlike my sister, I went into the movie knowing nothing about the story at all. All I knew was that Wicked was a prequel to the timeless film The Wizard of Oz, and that it was the story about Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West. Needless to say I was in for a treat!
I loved every minute of the 2 hour and 40 minute film, and left the theater with one thing on my mind – I needed to see the Broadway musical. Back in January, I had the opportunity to finally see Wicked on Broadway, and to no surprise, I enjoyed the musical just as much as I enjoyed the movie!
Seeing Wicked on Broadway was such a special experience because I only knew what would happen in the first act of the show. During production of the Wicked movie, the director Jon M. Chu and the rest of the film’s team decided to split Wicked into two films so that the story could be brought to life in the best way possible. The Broadway musical has two acts, and the Wicked movie that came out in November is all of act one, and Wicked: For Good will focus on the second act of the musical and will be releasing in theaters in November 2025.
Although the Wicked movie follows the Broadway musical almost exactly, I did catch some small differences! Beware that there are some spoilers of both the Wicked movie and Broadway show below!
In the film, Glinda wears a gorgeous pink dress during the opening scene and in “No One Mourns the Wicked.” On Broadway, Glinda wore a similar dress, just it was blue. In behind the scenes photos from the second Wicked movie, there’s pictures of Grande in a similar blue dress. Without giving away too much that happens in the second half of the Wicked story, I’m really intrigued to see when Grande will wear the blue dress in the upcoming movie!
One of the biggest differences I found between the movie and the Broadway musical is the reason why Elphaba becomes a student at Shiz University. On Broadway, Elphaba is sent to Shiz to watch over her younger sister Nessarose. However in the film, Elphaba accidentally shows off her magical powers in front of everyone, and the university’s headmistress, Madame Morrible, offers Elphaba a spot at Shiz. These slight plot differences didn’t affect either portrayals of the story, but it made me wonder why the film decided to make that slight change.
Another slight change I found in the movie was that during “Something Bad” when Dr. Dillamond is sharing the growing concerns for the animals in Oz to Elphaba, they’re in a secluded room, while this number happens in Dr. Dillamond’s classroom in the Broadway version.
Since the Broadway version only has a stage to work with while the film has endless possibilities, I did notice some differences in the “What Is This Feeling?,” “Dancing Through Life,” and “Popular” numbers. On Broadway, “What Is This Feeling?” only takes place in the main school setting, while in the film there are multiple scene changes, including part of the number taking place in Glinda and Elphaba’s room.
In the movie, “Dancing Through Life” takes place in a library, while it doesn’t on Broadway. “Popular” was pretty much the same in both versions, just Grande had a longer solo part in the film, including her own dance number that doesn’t happen in the Broadway version.
After seeing the musical on Broadway, it became even more clear to me that both Erivo and Grande did an outstanding job bringing the characters of Elphaba and Glinda to life. Elphaba and Glinda were originally played by Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth when Wicked debuted on Broadway in 2003, and both Menzel and Chenoweth had a cameo in the movie. The song the iconic duo sings in the movie exists in the Broadway musical, but the characters they play in the movie don’t.
Overall, both the Wicked movie and the Broadway musical were amazing! I personally can’t wait for Wicked: For Good to hit theaters this November. I totally recommend that you go and see Wicked on Broadway, and in the meantime, you can purchase the Wicked movie on Amazon Prime Video!