Wizard of awes: Magnificent movie musical ‘Wicked’ exceeds its hype as cinematic work of ingenuity, thrills and fun
“Wicked” — 4 stars
The most popular song from the Broadway musical “Wicked” may very well be “Popular,” but the cinematic piece de resistance in Jon M. Chu’s magnificently mounted movie version turns out to be a jaw-dropping, retina-ripping, ear-drum-thumping number “Dancing Through Life.”
It takes place in the Shiz Library where Prince Fiyero (a charmingly spunky Jonathan Bailey) sings about his carefree philosophy while he and a flurry of lithe and lively dancers execute a meticulously choreographed marvel on a complex set constructed of three separately rotating wheels lined with book shelves and adorned with a constantly moving ladder.
The surgically edited, densely detailed “Dancing Through Life” ranks up there with the barn-building sequence from “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” the opening number in “Fiddler on the Roof,” and Fred Astaire dancing on the walls and ceiling in “Royal Wedding.”
Oh, wait.
“Wicked” actually used “Royal Wedding” as inspiration for this showstopping number.
For anyone just discovering this musical (based on Gregory Maguire’s novel), it takes place a few years before the events in the 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz.”
Chu’s lavishly spectacular origin story drops several references to the Judy Garland classic (poppies, anyone?) and shows us how that brick road became yellow and how those flying monkeys came into existence.
Most important, it tells the backstory of how Glinda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West once became best buds as students at Shiz University in the Land of Oz.
Emmy-, Grammy- and Tony-winning performer Cynthia Erivo brings a commanding voice and tear-inducing empathy to Elphaba, whose green skin (apparently the result of Mom’s infidelity with an extramarital lover) has made her a quietly seething outcast, well-accustomed to taunts and abuse.
Grammy-winning, multiplatinum recording artist Ariana Grande supplies a whimsical lilt and comical likability to Galinda (later to become Glinda), a self-indulgent, pretty-in-pretentious-pink pupil who can’t stand Elphaba, satirically referred to as “tragically beautiful.”
Radiant with combustible chemistry, Grande and Erivo play off each other with the testy flair of Olympic-class fencers. Grande leaps and bounces through intense dance steps with the grace, agility and power of a gazelle.
When forced to accept Elphaba as a roommate, Glinda tries to curry favor with Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), a savvy Shiz magic instructor, by appearing to be nice.
“Roommates do things for one another,” Glinda chimes, “or so I’m told!”
Elphaba’s cute kid sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) also attends Shiz. She uses a wheelchair as a result of her father’s ignorance and racist assumptions. (Bode uses a chair in real life.) Nessarose is interested in a fellow student named Boq (Ethan Slater), a lovable, frilly-haired Munchkin. But he has the unrequited hots for Glinda.
Never take any of these characters at face value. They all possess much more depth and complexity than we first suspect.
Especially the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, played by a singing Jeff Goldblum, who hilariously underplays the character as a self-deprecating autocrat who worries his scary giant-face facade might frighten Elphaba.
The hype for “Wicked” has been insane, and Chu’s movie still exceeds it with spellbinding set pieces, split-screen duets and elements reminiscent of the Harry Potter movies (and a touch of “Planet of the Apes”).
Not bad for a show that lost the coveted Best Musical Tony Award to the Sesame Street-inspired “Avenue Q.”
“Wicked” shares a Chicago connection by modeling Shiz University after the massive arch designs of Chicago’s Great Columbian Exposition of 1893, which author L. Frank Baum used as inspiration to create his Emerald City.
To top all this, “Wicked” has evolved into a freakishly prescient political allegory about a powerful leader who turns out to be a fraud, and uses a defenseless group (the talking animal academics at Shiz University) as scapegoats for causing the problems in Oz.
Not only does the leader demand loyalty from his minions, he institutes a Big Lie to silence Elphaba.
Apparently, you can make this up.
So how does Elphaba wind up on the dark side? Stay tuned for “Wicked Part 2.”
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A Universal Pictures theatrical release. Rated PG. 160 minutes