Premiering in 2003 and featuring original songs by
Stephen Schwartz
(Godspell, Pippen), the Broadway smash
Wicked
was loosely based on the 1995
Gregory Maguire
novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West rather than being directly adapted from the legendary 1939 film The Wizard of Oz or the
Frank L. Baum
books. As such, it offered a new spin on the characters for those only familiar with the
Judy Garland
classic. The 2024 film, in turn, is an adaptation of the 2003 musical. While featuring several songs that are unusually exposition-heavy and melodies that are wide-ranging but not exactly euphonious, the Broadway musical nevertheless has endured, likely due to its strengths as a vehicle for acrobatic belters and as a teen-friendly celebration of outcasts, including but not limited to anyone who's suffered from unrequited love. 2024's
Wicked soundtrack
delivers in the singing department, with
Cynthia Erivo
and
Ariana Grande
cast in the roles originated by
Idina Menzel
(the green-skinned Elphaba) and
Kristin Chenoweth
(the pearly white Glinda), respectively. And they don't merely pull it off, but impress. Although
Erivo
does hold back -- by design -- throughout most of this first installment of the two-film series,
Grande
gets to show off her nearly operatic skills from the very beginning of show-opener "No One Mourns the Wicked," a true rather than virtual exposition that plays out over seven minutes. The pop star goes on to feature heavily throughout the track list but gets her own song with the comically immodest "Popular." That's followed by
's earnest yet restrained "I'm Not That Girl," and she finally lets loose on "Defying Gravity," the musical's showstopper and a verifiable earworm. (
Menzel
Chenowith
's original went platinum in the U.K., a Glee cover of "Defying Gravity" hit the U.S. Top 40, and
's version charted in the Top 40 in places like the U.K., Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, as well as reaching the Top 50 stateside.) Some of the other members of the stellar big-screen cast include Olivier Award-winning actor
Jonathan Bailey
as Fiyero ("Dancing Through Life") and newcomer
Marissa Bode
as Nessarose, Elphaba's younger sister, who is a wheelchair user. Also in key roles -- but those demanding distinctive presences more than singing technique -- are beloved actors
Peter Dinklage
as Dr. Dillamond ("Something Bad"),
Michelle Yeoh
as Madame Morrible ("The Wizard and I"), and
Jeff Goldblum
as the Wizard ("A Sentimental Man"). With "Defying Gravity" closing Act I, the nearly hour-long soundtrack, and the over-two-and-a-half-hour movie, there's plenty more to come, and the performances by the leads almost guarantee a return audience. (While there are tweaks to some of the Broadway songs, there are no new numbers featured in the film.) ~ Marcy Donelson