Holding space and finding power

During a special premier event I watched Wonka in theaters last year and like many others I was shocked to see it turned out to be a musical. It certainly wasn't marketed as such in its trailers. Maybe if I had done some research before buying my movie ticket I would have known, but what fun would be in that. I can definitely say that the movie wasn't fun at all. Sure, it had some good moments thanks to great supporting actors like Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman and Tom Davis, yet that doesn't make up for the rest of the movie. It had too many villains and Wonka's obsession with his mother just didn't feel right for the character. Besides that, the songs we're forgettable and generic because it seemed that they weren't written for this movie specifically. This made the movie feel soulless. Nearly one year later and unfortunately I can't recall any of the tunes. In comparison, I saw the movie version of Hello, Dolly! in 2020 and I still hum and sing the songs from time to time. This just goes to show how memorable that movie is. This year I had planned to go to the special premier event for Wicked, but unfortunately we already had made other plans. However, when I went to go see the movie, the moment before I entered the cinema hall I was pretty scared: I hope they don't mess up one of my favorite musicals.

Wicked: The Grimmerie, a Behind-The-Scenes Look at the Hit Broadway Musical by David Cote and Joan Marcus (2005)

Ticket from my first Wicked show on West End (2025)

From the start my husband and I noticed that it was the musical nearly verbatim, with a couple of changes to the costuming: Glinda wearing a lot of pink tones and Elphaba being clad in black since childhood. A change to the story that is immediately noticeable is the emphasis on Elphaba's powers, which were remarkable since birth. On a second thought, I would consider this to be more of an enrichment of what was already there than a change per se, because we don't get to see Elphaba's powers until she's at Shiz University turning it into quite the surprise. Furthermore, they highlight Elphaba's affinity with animals since her nanny Dulcibear immediately took care of her when her father rejected her for her being green. I feel rather conflicted about this as I feel that giving Elphaba a personal reason why she cares about animals is just not that pure of heart to me. I always felt that the reason why she cared about all beings is that she is an equal rights activist with her always having been shunned by others. By adding her relationship with Dulcibear this becomes secondary and makes it feel as if she only cares about animals is because she was simply raised by them.

Wicked: The Grimmerie, a Behind-The-Scenes Look at the Hit Broadway Musical by David Cote and Joan Marcus (2005)

My only issue with the film is who they casted for the role of Prince Fiyero. I love Jonathan Bailey as Lord Anthony Bridgerton, but in Wicked he clearly looked his age and lacked a good singing voice which wasn't swankified at all. I also didn't feel like splitting Madame Morrible's role in half wasn't the best decision either. Her being the headmistress was necessary to showcase the entire school as being corrupted by her policy of animals only being seen instead of heard. Michelle Yeoh's singing was a bit off too. I don't know much about singing technically so I can't really elaborate further on it. When it comes to the overall look of the movie, I would say it lacks color and definition. This really comes to the forefront when they aren't at the school which was clearly a physical set. The digital sets looked a bit like a bland videogame that's trying to be whimsical.

Wicked: The Grimmerie, a Behind-The-Scenes Look at the Hit Broadway Musical by David Cote and Joan Marcus (2005)

Wicked: The Grimmerie, a Behind-The-Scenes Look at the Hit Broadway Musical by David Cote and Joan Marcus (2005)

When it comes to the movies costuming I must say that I love it from beginning to end. The costume designer Paul Tazewell managed to capture Oz's quirky upside-down atmosphere perfectly. However, when it comes to the bubble dress I feel he missed the mark when it comes to the skirt. In my opinion, the skirt ruines the beautiful bodice. This might be the case because I've linked skirts like these to live-action flops like Beauty & the Beast from 2017. I saw that dress again a couple of days ago and I still think it looks like such a disappointing mess. I'm very sorry, Paul Tazewell, but your vision has been ruined for me. Well, that was until I saw the original sketch. Then I realized that it was the realization that ruined his vision because the sketch is just wonderful. I wish the final product looked more like it.

Thank you, and take care.