Wicked Soundtrack Snippets Released!

Wicked Soundtrack Snippets Released, Musical Theatre Gays Rejoice!

If you are a musical theatre gay like us, you have been foaming at the mouth with anticipation of the upcoming Wicked film. It seems like this has been in development for years and the film's marketing campaign is fierce. Starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as Glinda and Elphaba, it features an all-star cast that includes Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Peter Dinklage, Bowen Yang, and the dreamy Jonathan Bailey. The film opens on November 22nd. Screenings are already sold out in most major cities. This is going to be the Thanksgiving holiday blockbuster for sure.

The Wicked film is based on the 2003 Broadway musical by Stephen Schwartz that is based on the 1995 novel by the same name written by Gregory Maguire that is based on the Wizard of Oz book by Frank Baum in 1900. There's some history right there! The film will be broken up into two parts with added characters, expanded storylines, and new music. The first film's running time is longer than the whole Broadway play. That's a lot of Oz! The second part will be released around the same time next year. Challenges like Covid and the writer's strike added a long pause in the filming, which is why this seems to have been churning for years. To be fair, Universal announced the film adaptation in 2012, over a decade ago! Wicked cast its lead characters in 2021 then started filming in 2022, paused filming in 2023, and resumed filming in 2024. Check out the film's featurette.

To add even more anticipation for the film's release, Universal has released snippets of the soundtrack, including a longer look at Glinda and Elphaba's signature songs. Check out Ariana Grande's version of one of the show's biggest hits, Popular. She puts her own spin on the character while paying homage to what theatre audiences expect from the character. Critics have already said that Ariana was made for this role and there is early Oscar buzz around her performance. To be fair, before she was a pop star, she was heavily into musical theatre.

 

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Keeping Elphaba's biggest song, Defying Gravity, under wraps for now, Universal released the Witch's other titular song, The Wizard and I. Cynthia Erivo softens up the song and adds subtle inflections and shades to the song that make it perfect for a film version. Check it out.

 

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Universal also released a video showing brief snippets of Wicked's full soundtrack, including a brief listen to Jonathan Bailey as Fiero. We love! This will be playing on repeat for sure.

 

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With what we have seen so far, this movie will far exceed the expectations set by Wicked fans. This film will also undoubtedly bring in a whole new audience unfamiliar with musical theatre to the genre. The soundtrack will be released the same day as the film, on November 22nd.

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