Oli-view: Wicked Pt.1

Oh, My Wicked...

If anyone wonders, as I am writing this blog, the Wicked OST is on blast on my speaker. As of today, I have officially watched The Wicked in the theatre five times (+ 1 time in the Theatre version in 2011 when it premiered at Marina Bay Sands). Thus, it is safe to say that I am one of the super fans of Wicked, and I will finally try to read the book in the coming days.

What I know about the movie... (Spoilers - skip this if you know the Oz 101)

It all started with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a novel by L. Frank Baum back in the 1900s. It is one of the classics. Then it became a movie in 1939, with Judy Garland. This is where we are introduced to Somewhere Over the Rainbow. It tells the story of Dorothy, a girl from Kansas and her dog Toto. A big storm flew over their farmhouse into an unknown land, later known as Munchkinland of The Land of Oz. The house fell over Nessa, The Wicked Witch of the East - Thus the people of Munchkinland are celebrating the death of the sister of The Wicked Witch of the West. Glinda the Good, tells them to follow the yellow brick road that will lead them to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, so they can find their way home. Throughout the trip, Dorothy and Toto meet the Scarecrow who wants a brain, the Tin Man who wants a heart, and the Lion who wants courage. You see, the Wizard can grant one's heart's desire. This trip will face many challenges from The Wicked (Witch of the West) as Dorothy kills her sister and takes her Red Ruby Slippers. It ends with Dorothy killing The Witch by throwing a bucket of water, which causes the Witch to melt away. It is also revealed that The Wizard is a normal man from Kansas (Omaha), who flew via a hot air balloon to Oz with no magical power whatsoever. But in the end, Dorothy returns to Kansas simply by using the red ruby slipper, while the Wizard accidentally flies away via the balloon back to Kansas.

The second part is when an author, Gregory Maguire, wrote an adaptation of the original book, entitled: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. This book took the POV of the Wicked, telling their background story. So it is essentially what happened before (Part 1) and after (Part 2) Dorothy came to Oz. This book is called the Wicked Years series. After this book, there are two more books: Son of a Witch and A Lion Among Men. (Fingers crossed that this will be a movie too, tho I can't imagine how considering the significant plot changes between the book and the Broadway Musical).

After the book, came the Broadway Musical that we love, which premiered in 2003. The Musical took a different path from the book, as it shifted the story to focus on the friendship between Glinda and Elphaba (the name is a tribute to L. Frank Baum). It tells the journey of their friendship, how they were opposites who became best friends but chose different paths in the end. There are many differences between the book to the Musical... Fiyero who is supposed to be a dad to three kids turns prince and becomes the scarecrow; Nessarose uses the wheelchair, when she was supposed to be born without arms; Boq becomes the Tinman; Dr Dillamond is fired when he's supposed to be murdered... and of course, Elphaba's death by water, turns to be a scam. SO, it is safe to say that the movie is based on the MUSICAL and not the book.

So you see, when you can easily enjoy and watch The Wicked Movie as it is, as it is made beautifully by John M. Chu, it came from a line of history. And I think it became so rich and wonderful when you knew all of this beforehand. Watching this movie 5 times allows me to pay attention to details I missed the first time, and even though this is going to be a long piece of writing, I am going to share ALL of the things I love about the movie.

1. I LOVE THE CAST, especially Ariana as Glinda and Cynthia as Elphaba.

   
   

   When you do something you love it comes through on the big screen, and this love pours throughout the audience, right through their press tours. "Together we'll be the greatest team there's ever been," the lyric from Defying Gravity says it all. Their voice, their emotions, their ownership of the roles, and their love and respect for one another give a breath of fresh air after the This Ends with Us debacle.

   
   

   Not just these two, but how John cast the dreamy Jonathan as Fiyero (the embodiment of Prince Charming), Jeff Goldblum - the legend; Marissa Bode, who is in a wheelchair in real life, as Nessarose, and everyone is just perfect!

   
   

   ANDDD I love when they pull out the original cast of Wicked on Broadway and make them part of the story... Idina Menzel with her famous belt, Kristin Chenoweth and her quirks, Michael Rose as the narrator of Wizomania. They even include Stephen who made all the beautiful songs, and Winnie Holtzman the screenwriter as part of the cameo. This feels like a tribute to Theatre and it brings the whole community together.

   
   

2. LOVEEEEE the quirky words, the diction, the language.

   
   

   When you watch the movie, you will hear unusual words, that tickle my brain. On my fourth visit to the movies, I decided to write them all in my note, and here they are. Let me know if I missed something.

   
   

   Confusifying - Glinda

   Popsicles - how Glinda calls her dad -

   Congratulotions - Madam Morrible's speech, and let's not forget when she says "We have the highest hopes... for some of you".

   Pronouncify - Glinda when she corrects Prof. Dillamond, and when she says "It seems the artichoke is steamed," you know, cos Elphaba is green and angry.

   Horrendible - Elphaba at Madam Morrible class

   Scandaloucious - Glinda at the Library

   Hideodious hat - Glinda on her grandma's hat

   How do I express my Gratitution - Glinda when she got the wand

   The hat is Disgustifying - people mocking Elphaba

   There is no Pretensia - Fiyero at the forest

   He's distanced and Moodifyed - Glinda on Fiyero

3. THE COSTUME AND SETTINGS are to die for

   
   

   First, they plated 9 million tulips for the opening; They built the Munchkinland village; They made a real bullet train and Emerald City... If you see it you'll know how much thought and detail go into the movie. Even Cynthia says in one of her interviews, that during the forest scene, they build a real ecosystem that the birds and animals live there.

   

   
   

   The costumes are also amazing. I want all of Glinda's wardrobe... I want the Shiz Uniform, especially Glinda's bag... I want her nightgown in Popular... I want her fishy dress for Ozdust Ballroom... I want it all. Also, strangely I want Madam Morrible's outfit too.

   
   

4. IT TOUCHES ME how the story is like a mockup of my old workplace

   
   

   I never told anyone, in one of my old workplaces, I used to hate someone so much that I blasted the Wicked Broadway OST and sang What is This Feeling out loud. Of course, them or rather SHE being the idiot that she is doesn't understand. "LOATHING, Unadulterated loathing!"

The best way to bring folks together is to give them a real good enemy - the wizard

This quote describes the office politics perfectly. In Oz, the used to be a great draught, that started the whole thing. As Prof Dillamond explains, "When people are hungry and angry they look for someone to blame." The same thing happened there. A great "economy" draught is happening and they need someone to blame... and that someone is me.

They also try to keep everybody silent, seeing all the bad things happening in the company. Just like The Wizard trying to cage the animals and stop them from speaking. ANIMALS SHOULD BE SEEN AND NOT HEARD... that was their campaign.

If you keep discouraging enough you can keep everybody silent - Prof. dillamond

And they did... well at least the silent ones are now in cages, sitting comfortably in their hush money.

Then when they understood that they could not control me, and they could not force me to be their evil servant, they spread lies and fear amongst the company... that I was the Wicked one. They create narration and stories, how I cannot work well with others, how the company is in amuck because of my provocation, that people in social media are saying bad things because of me, that the company is going down the rabbit hole and it's all because of me!

So with this, I say.... IT'S ME. I am going to defy gravity... and I swear:

"Nobody in All of Oz

No Wizard that There is or Was

Is EVER going to bring me down."

If you think I'm silent now, You def. haven't seen PART TWO! You can all watch me do the imPOSSIBLE!

On that note, go and watch Wicked: Part One! I'll continue my Karaoke session.