Follow the Yellow Brick Road to this conclusion.
We’ve all seen the news of social media influencer Johnson Wen charging at Ariana Grande and trying to wrap his arms around her at the premiere of “Wicked: For Good,” and we’ve also seen co-star Cynthia Erivo trying to help security keep him away from her. Apparently, this guy does this crap at other events, including concerts for The Weeknd and Katy Perry. This is me telling this guy: “Are you insane? Does this make you feel good? Do you not know that celebrities are people with feelings, too? Are you trying to make Grande feel unsafe? Are you trying to make everyone feel unsafe? Well, you make me sick.”
At this point, Wen is facing a 3-month prison sentence and a $2,000 fine for public nuisance but got a lenient sentence of 9 days in prison. I met Erivo 6 years ago at a “Harriet” screening, but she also gave me permission to take a picture with her. I didn’t grab her, I didn’t force anything on her, I was calm and sane. Now that I’m seeing Erivo and Grande reprise their roles in “Wicked: For Good” on the big screen, it should cool down my emotions a bit. And it has. I took my mother to see it in Dolby, as I did last year, and we both enjoyed it.
The hit Broadway play, which we all know is based on “The Wizard of Oz,” has transitioned onto film in a 2-part epic, both directed by Jon M. Chu. This second part picks up where we last saw the characters, as Elphaba (Erivo) transitions into the Wicked Witch of the West after finding out that the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) is not the man he says he is, while her friend Galinda (Grande) becomes Glinda the Good Witch. Now, Elphaba continues to fight for Animal Rights, which these fascinating creatures are in danger of losing, while Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) continues to make her look like the bad guy. And Fiyero Tigelaar (Jonathan Bailey) as the new Captain of the Wizard’s Guards is caught between Elphaba, whom he is in love with, and Glinda, who he is reluctantly engaged to.
At the Monday night screening, some of the songs have the audience applauding at the end, as they do for when certain things happen. Thus proving that movie musicals and video games movies (thinking about “A Minecraft Movie”) celebrate in different ways, and when you see “Wicked: For Good,” you won’t get covered in snacks. Though I can’t really promise you there won’t be any singing in the audience, and maybe there will be a sing-along re-release, you might get lucky.
This second part is a half an hour shorter, which might be ideal for movie-goers. I know that in the Broadway show, Dorothy Gale was only seen in shadows, but in this movie, she appears without her face being shown, and no disrespect, but these scenes end up wearing out their welcome. We do get to see the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion (with the voice of Colman Domino, another actor who I got permission to meet) talking and having their faces shown.
Some rules are meant to be broken from the stage adaptation to the theatrical take, and while I feel some things could have been better, there are other things that pay off quite well. I can’t tell you what things in this article for the sake of spoiler alerts, but I can tell you about the tone and ambiance. It’s a little more serious than the first, but there is a nice little fight scene between the two main heroines that are comical and fun. And Erivo and Grande both continue to play their parts with the right kind of style and emotions that still makes them worthy of Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth.
Chu knows how to direct movie musicals and he helps bring the land of Oz from one perspective and elaborates it quite well. And he assembles the right people to sing Stephen Schwartz’ lyrics, and to feel the energy and emotions within them. “Wicked: For Good” is behind the first part, but my mom and I still had a fun time with it.
