I Think Wicked Is Impossible to Adapt to Film & Here's Why 

no THISSSS I agree so hard

I think we look to the past so much b/c the present looks scary and the future looks even scarier.

I’m not a fan of blanket terms like this that assume everyone is depressed, like I’m a really happy person but I do like watching remakes, sequels and prequels. Why can’t both be true? As a matter of fact wicked actually reminds me of a time I was in a deep depression and almost wanted to die and the wicked soundtrack is all that kept me alive

People have always been obsessed with retelling the same stories over and over again, and if you think things feel “uniquely” bad at this present moment in time… I have some news for you about literally the entirety of human history lol

I honestly think it’s just laziness

I agree 100%, when I first saw that headline I was like why don’t they just do the Sound of Music thing?

Yeah it’s such a hilarious reason 😆 People will be too emotional to keep watching after Defying Gravity? Audiences watched the Titanic sink and were able to pull themselves together to finish the film.

I keep thinking what The Sound of Music would be like if it just ended with Maria leaving the ball and going back to the convent.

The 1 minute intermission in the Disney Plus version of Hamilton was part of its charm.

Yeah I went to see a screening of 2001: a Space Odyssey and was so thankful for the intermission, I just couldn’t see films like Oppenheimer in cinema with the length

Same. some years ago finding out she's actually white and not Latina left me gobsmacked. also the time she used to talk with AAVE is yikes 😬

​@@Missjunebugfreak SO REAL 😭 I THOUGHT SHE WAS LATINA TOO 😭

@@Missjunebugfreakidk how anyone ever thought she was Latina? lol she never talked about being Latina, engaged with the Latin community etc when people say this it’s silly like not everyone who fake tans looks Latina or mixed. She was just an American girl with fake tan on

​@user-fe8uq9zp2g I don't think it's that baffling a concept for people to be misled by a celebrity/agency pushing the AAVE, skin-darkening, appropriative fashion/hair angles, and assume she's Latina after she's deliberately (and offensively) moulded the image.

Fr I straight up forgot she wasn’t Latina and I got so confused this is probably the first time In her life she wasn’t wearing a spray tan

Yes!!! When I went to see it in November immediately I was drawn in by the opening sequence with the monkeys and even before that the Dragon Theatre and the Map. It’s not really the story itself that is what brings in a lot of people, it’s the theatrics and quality of the show itself and showing such a magical place like Oz in real life. That’s what I love so much about theatre and it doesn’t have the same charm and wow factor on screen.

As a lifelong fan of Cats the musical and it’s biggest defender I absolutely know a way cats could’ve maintained it’s spectacle and that’s if it was done stop motion animation the style of Wes Andersons Fantastic mr. Fox. I think it would’ve elevated it into this artistic sphere that would’ve wowed audiences and retained the charm of it being actual cats and taken advantage of the benefits of film that stage can’t do (I.e. making the cats actually be closer to cats)

There’s concept art for a Stephen Spielberg version of cats that’s 2D animated and I think that would’ve been so good. I also think wicked animated in 2D would give it the same suspension of disbelief as watching it on stage while playing into the themes of the truth behind fairytales, with it seeming magical and Disney esque with the dark side slowly being revealed over time

​@@panmoncada7257 , or take some notes from The Cat Returns with how the cats move on 2 legs as well as Rocket Raccoon's movement in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy.

i personally disagree. a spectacle is still a spectacle wether or not it’s difficult to produce or to perform. it makes it cooler if it’s all done practical but that’s not the spectacle part. your not watching a musical and thinking “wow all the plaster walls and paint they used to make this set really makes it so cool!” you’re thinking “wow it looks so beautiful!” idk if i explained myself correctly but at least for me the awe of a spectacle is always at the forefront of my mind. and then later at home when i’m thinking about it all is when the logistics of how they made that possible come to my mind. i’d also like to point out that cgi is an art and hard to make look good and to master. but regardless im super excited for the movie adaptation and im crossing my fingers its at least decent

How was your school able to do wicked when the rights aren’t even out?

@@izzyc127 Maybe that's why it got cancelled, LOL

@@SolarisMusic yeah just look at the h***phobic production of Hamilton that got into a lot of legal trouble.

​@@izzyc127 idk how did illegal heathers happen?

We weren’t allowed to the drama teacher did not get away with it the show was canceled

You are so right!!!

Just you and l, Applying Gravity!

@@kc-lp6wg 🎵Kiss me goodbye, I'm applying gravity! And you can pull me down...🎵 Grande, come with me... Think of what we could do, together... 🎵Limited, together we're limited...🎵

@@SpectreSaunders Together we'll be the greatest grift there's ever been.

😂😂 you’re so wrong for that

Agree. I need one, like, yesterday.

OMG YESS i live in argentina so i would never be able to actually see the musical and it makes me so sad since i'm the biggest musical fan. it would be so awesome to have a professional stage recording to finally be able to watch it 😭😭 this is a reason why i'm so excited for the movie but having a stage recording would be awesome

yeah like it’s like a two and a half hour musical when you do have the intermission in there. like what are they doing to it that it’s gonna be at least four hours of content?

They are adding in things from the book itself that aren’t in the musical

Oh no. Oh very no.@@user-fe8uq9zp2g

The book has a ton of lore (and things I definitely don't want to see on a big screen), so there's plenty to draw from there.

@@cerrida82exactly

Phantom goes so hard, good choice

Tasteful

I would agree overall, however some are just bangers that could go both ways. Two of my favorite movie musicals are Top Hat and Cover Girl. I also LOVE An American in Paris, and consider it a true work of art. It works well on the stage, too, but really needs a special cast. Sort of like Phantom of the Opera in that way I guess? Stage musical wise I absolutely love Little Shop of Horrors (also love the film), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, 42nd Street, A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum, and Cats. Basically I like bits of all of them! Some adapt better to film than others, some were MADE to be films, some should ONLY be films, and some are only best on the stage. I think it heavily depends on the writing team and who they can cast

Chicago is probably the best example on how to make the perfect broadway musical to movie adaptation. It's amazing.

@@elizrebezilmadommdo1662 even musical-haters enjoy the film - it's that good! I hold out any hope to fully convert my husband, but still!

So that’s why everything feels plastic! I’m so glad I have an explanation now.

I've listened to the Wicked soundtrack countless times and have never seen the actual play. The summary in this video is the first time I've heard the full plot. I learned some new things that I didn't get from the music alone, but I don't think that any of it added to the story in any meaningful way. So if one can just listen to the songs alone and the story is great, then it seems they shouldn't have any problems including all the songs and just cutting out a lot of the other subplots that only serve to tie the story in with The Wizard of Oz.

The actual musical is under 3 hours and kids sit for that all the time. There have been 3 hour MCU movies. Universal is just being greedy and trying to double dip.

could’ve cut dancing through life for sure lol

I agree with you 100%. It washes Ariana out.

They should’ve left her brows dark and given her bouncy curls. It’s why I don’t trust that Ariana isn’t 100% in the role like she says she is because they pop washed Glinda for sure

@@panmoncada7257they definitely haven’t. Ariana is a die hard Wicked fan. She would not let them ruin the integrity of the character. In recent interviews she has talked in length about how she had to transform not only her look but her singing voice. There’s a reason we no longer see the tan or iconic ponytail. She didn’t want “pop star Ariana” to interfere with Glinda

same with the costumes honestly, the stage ones are so whimsical and everything I've seen from the movie promo looks like the shein version

​@@jo_elbYou act like she has a choice, she has no power in the writing room or over the director. Like she's a singer doing a movie, she's not Meryl Streep. Once she signed a contract she has to act in the movie the way they tell her too. At most she can hope the director works with her

Cynthia’s voice is incredible, but, despite there being multiple different actresses who have played Elphaba on Broadway, in international versions, on tours, etc. in the 20 years since Wicked debuted on Broadway, the role is forever tied to Idina Menzel, who is an absolute POWERHOUSE vocalist and Cynthia is clearly trying to match that or do something like it and she just.. is not on that level

It is supposed to be a battle cry but that clearly doesn’t mean anything 🙄

@@erikdaniels0nshe has been on broadway for years. Every Elphaba has added their own twist to the defying gravity riff at the end, why is hers any different? I personally like it because it sounds like Elphaba is in excruciating pain.

@@lonellfletcher you try it then

THIS! I was thinking the same thing it’s like me and my mother are looking forward to her doing this, but we both thought she sounded awful at the end

That is true. I think if they gave Ariana more mature hair styling and costuming- she would have looked over 30, at least for the latter half of the movie

Yes, the actress playing Elphaba looks a lot older.

Well the original characters were literally in their mid 30s when they played this, age shouldnt been a issue unless if they cross the 20th or 45th mark, their ages are okay.

​@@moonlightespt1946the difference is that on stage you are far away enough you can suspend your disbelief. On films... not so much.

@@cinderellaskeleton6720 I know that but this case is different, because both Ariana and Cynthia look young.

So true! I really wanted to see the recent revival on Broadway with Jeremy Jordan, but tickets were so expensive :(

Facts!

So much cgi so little practicals 😭 esp for a show where the set design is so dynamic and iconic idk how they keep making dumbass cgi decisions like this

@@panmoncada7257this is wrong. Most of the film is practical and only the surrounding environments are cgi enhanced. The emerald city, Shiz and munchkin land were all physical sets that they filmed on

it reminded me of ONCE UPON A TIME lol

​@@jo_elbEXACTLY. THIS! THIS! People are just finding reasons to complain at this point. I believe this movie will be AMAZING 🤩

Uh no. "Wonka" was trash and wicked is actually gonna be good. They also filmed on actually sets built from the ground up.

Preach!

🎶 let’s start at the very beginning 🎶

@@KatieLHall-fy1hw🎵 a very good place to start

So true. It’s just magical. Though Mamma Mia is my favorite but I think Sound of music is genuinely a perfect movie

@@sketchycat6223 absolutely agree

The agressive zoom, the bad singing, her voice, the angle, I CAN'T 😭😭😭

you are exactly right, i've been saying that too with ariana playing galinda

I hate how they didn’t cast someone who needed the platform to elevate their career into stardom. Ariana is talented(?) and does not need this role. I’m sure many more talented people auditioned. But you’re right…. I only see Ariana, not Glinda. Lol

I keep hearing they are adapting both which is the real reason why it is 2 parts. The size of the book is a perfect reason to divide the film. The book has many complex themes the play could not tackle. I hope they combine them well.

And someone said the roses are real. There are practical sets and props, but they needed to use CGI for the stuff they can’t physically do.

I was hoping they’d someday turn the books into a tv show. I think they originally planned to turn the book into a film way back, but then it was in development purgatory for forever and Marc platt got ahold of it. Hope they don’t skip out on the gay stuff

Actually, to adapt the books WAS the original plan! Marc Platt had the adaptation rights to Wicked first, but Stephen Schwartz asked to give him the rights for a stage musical instead. Marc did, and then waited 20+ years to adapt the musical version of the movie he wanted to do in the first place.

@@gabrielleduplessis7388 oooooooh. If that's the case I am actually cautiosly excited for this? I see the musical and book as almost separate entities because of the tone so seeing those mixed could be interesting? Right?? I hope we're right :')

especially in kaylas voice was perfect i cant get over it

Honestly listen to the snippets of her singing no one mourns the wicked she sounds very good. I think people will be shocked

She Used To Be Mine is one of my favorite songs ever, based choice

@@kaylasaysShoshana bean OWNS that song. It’s truly on of the greatest songs ever made.

Huge Waitress fan as well.

I LOVE WAITRESS 💙

​@@kaylasaysdid you watch the movie/proshot???? It was incredible

That might have been Howard Ashman, the lyricist for the first few films of the Disney renaissance. He took inspiration from musical theatre when writing the songs.

That makes perfect sense and I agree.

oh yes I am a Great Comet Truther lol, really enjoyed it when I saw it. I think it came out like 5 years too early imo it was so ahead of it's time

@@kaylasays They should definitely revive it or at least do a concert version!

WAIT THAT WOULD'VE BEEN SUCH A GOOD CHOICE

That was my personal pick as well

Along with Dove Cameron as Galinda

@@FormalFilmsProductions you literally read my mind because Dove was also my choice to play Glinda.

@@FormalFilmsProductionsDove is in her emo era though I doubt she’d take a role that brings her back to an image she left behind to be more authentic.

I’m pretty sure the show will be fine I wouldn’t worry that much.

Agreed!

Music Man slaps

This is why I like when they film the stage play and show it in theaters.

I really doubt they’ll use the book’s ending. If a major reason they’re splitting it into two films is because they were adamant on keeping all the songs, then the plot has to be that of the musical. Changing the ending of the story you’ve been telling for 99% of the runtime to match that of a completely different story - with the reasoning being ‘to be more book accurate’ makes absolutely no sense. Especially when it’s darker and undoubtedly less marketable. If they have decided to go with the book’s ending they’re doomed. Pretty much everyone will be seeing a Wicked movie because of the musical, and many - probably most - of those people won’t have read the book. Because in this instance, the musical is the equivalent of the book. If they were going to straight up adapt the book, people might be understanding enough, but it’s the musical, and ending it like the book will leave people going WTF. I honestly don’t know how much from the book you could include; because they’re both wildly different. Shiz is more or less the same, but nothing that happens after that in the book is even remotely close to what we see on stage. There’s very little you could add that wouldn’t derail the plot entirely. I could see them inadvertently ruining the plot somewhat, with the reasoning of being more book-accurate, but I doubt they’ll flip the switch at the last minute and end it like the book. Like everything in Hollywood, they won’t want to take any risks, and I think they would see doing that as risky. (And honestly, in my opinion a bad idea.)

They said they are adding things form the book and that’s why it’s two hours long!

@@user-fe8uq9zp2g I don’t think adding stuff from the book is impossible; they’d just have to be careful with what they chose and how much detail they went into. The first part of the book is Elphie’s childhood, and the second part is Shiz, so they can probably include bits from those no problem, but anything after that is such a complete 180 from the show that it’s impossible to tell both stories with the same amount of detail, so they’d have to be very careful about not having it derail the musical’s storyline as the main plot. BOOK SPOILERS BELOW: As an example: I could see them giving Fiyero the childhood arranged marriage thing he has in the book and maybe Elphie could even meet his wife when she flees to castle for ‘No Good Deed.’ But you couldn’t give it the same level of detail as it gets in the book, because that goes at odds with what happens in the show.

i think it'd be really awkward to combine the two, even though i wish for that too, because i also really love the book. it'd be awkward because book elphaba and musical elphaba are two completely different characters; are they going for a sweet, misunderstood fiery girl in search of love? or the girl born with shark teeth who's both given up on the world while still desperately trying to "save" it, because she can't help it. book elphaba was 5 minutes too late in killing madame morrible; she doesn't believe herself to be in possession of a soul, she hates children, she's a creep at times; and she can never win, though you keep wanting her to, because you find yourself rooting for her (it's ironic that someone with so much passion and heart cannot see the undeniable soul that lies within). musical elphaba wins some and loses some; book elphaba is genuinely tragic. musical elphaba gets the guy (the one saving grace; the love triangle storyline). book elphaba loses fiyero to murder and, upon losing everyone else in her life, while not quite allowing herself the time or space to properly grieve, goes insane. it'll be interesting, but i don't think such a combo will end up working too well though i could be wrong!

@@michelle58947 i was just thinking the desperately trying to save the world part. And the dynamics between her and Nessa a bit more. I felt the play did not delve into it that much. Oh and I wanted to see Liam make an appearance for the second half if they were following the book. Is there a way we can do that and have both of his parents live? Unsure.

i saw that too! back in 2015 :) such an amazing production

I was hoping Mean Girls would have been successful so we could have gotten a good Legally Blonde musical movie!

Incredibly true

Omg YES

Same. Lord of the Rings movies are long, so there's no excuse. A movie CAN be long

I adore Elisabeth. I would love an English soundtrack.

Genuinely asking are you assuming that Cynthia is imitating Idina? Because I saw it as Cynthia Erivo making it her own.

@@izzyc127 no, it's the complete opposite! I much rather have singers make songs their own instead of mimicking someone else's performance. My issue is that, thematically, opting down doesn't make any sense for this song

@@LukasBolini okay thanks for clarifying!

Thank you! I think both acts are great. They just have different tones.

We’re in the same boat. The Wizard of Oz (and all of the Oz books by L Frank Baum) were my very first special interest! That led to my Wicked special interest, which led to a general theatre special interest.