10 months after its trailer’s premiere during Super Bowl LVIII in February, Universal Pictures’ “Wicked” finally hit theaters on Friday, November 22, 2024. Starring Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Eriva as Elphaba, the movie was highly anticipated by fans of the hit broadway musical.

Already beloved for its story, characters, and soundtrack, the script had a solid foundation and fanbase to build off of. It would be a matter of how well the production was executed, and whether or not it did justice to the musical.

“Wicked” is a prequel to “The Wizard of Oz” and tells the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, while laying easter eggs for Dorothy Gale’s story. Central themes include what it is like to be different, the beauty of female friendship, and choosing what is right despite an unpopular favoring. The musical highlights Elphaba’s time at the magical school Shiz University, and how her friendship with Glinda was fostered, and how she ultimately became “wicked.”

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Eriva Dazzle On Screen

As the two female leads, Grande and Eriva were responsible for shouldering much of the film. Brilliantly cast, both leads brought a fresh read on already beloved characters. However, they could not measure up to the giants that walked in the ruby slippers before them: Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth.

Grande perfectly executed the role of Glinda in terms of personality and manner, moving across the screen with grace and even a touch of comedy. But she vocally fell short to Chenoweth’s original Broadway performance, delivering too much of a breathy sing-song voice at times in the film where there needed to be a heavier vocal sound. However, her character work was flawless.

“I thought that she was amazing. She really channeled Glinda,” Lily Friel ‘26 said.

Eriva was certainly dedicated to the role of Elphaba, revealing that she spent 4 hours getting painted green every day on the set of the film. Her vocals shined through in her performances, especially during the iconic number “Defying Gravity.” Eriva’s acting was consistent throughout the movie, holding a multitude of emotion in her eyes during many scenes. However, there are points in the film that leave the audience craving more emotion from Eriva in the rest of her features. But overall, she did Elphaba justice.

“Ariana and Cynthia have great chemistry together, even if you don’t like their acting or singing,” Liz Gormley ‘26 said.

Lighting and Set Design Setbacks 

From Glinda’s pink, flowy wardrobe to Elphaba’s iconic black hat, the wardrobe was beautifully done in the film, taking heavy inspiration from the stage. However, the set design feels disconnecting. While there was a great effort by the filmmakers to build authentic sets and turn away from special effects, the set feels straight out of a computer during certain scenes, especially in the Emerald City.

One aspect of the film that fell miserably short was the lighting. Lighting is essential to a film like this where there is a constant change of emotion and plot and lighting is needed to indicate that. But the lighting remained too consistent throughout the film, not reflecting what was happening in the plot. There were countless missed opportunities to play with color palette and set design to heighten the emotion, perspective and colorful world.

Perhaps a more vibrant color palette would have elevated the film. “The Wizard of Oz” from 1939 has colors so vibrant that they pop right through the screen, highlighting the magic of Oz. It was a missed opportunity to not incorporate an aspect of that filmography into “Wicked.”

Translation from the Stage to the Screen

Some musical numbers translated well onto the screen, such as the gut punching ending of “Defying Gravity,” but some songs did not give the audience the same firecrack of emotion as the musical did on stage, such as the opening number “No One Mourns the Wicked,” which was essential to set the tone of the film.

This movie also only highlighted the first half of the show, running at almost 3 hours. While the movie was fun to watch, the viewer began to grow tired towards the end of the film. A few scene cuts may have been beneficial.

“It was really powerful. I think it spoke to people about friendship,” Sophia Benamar ‘26 said.

Overall, the movie did a great job of sticking to the musical and characters, but it doesn’t completely translate from the stage to the screen. If you liked the original broadway musical, you will probably enjoy this movie, but not as much as the onstage production.