Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

This week at The Tryon Theatre, “Wicked” (Chu 2024) returns for an encore week after the first run had two weeks in a row of sold-out shows. Many customers expressed that they missed out on this fantastic musical, and we want to give them all a chance to share in the songs. Additionally, as those who have already seen the film can attest, its buoyant energy and powerfully performed vocals are easily deserving of a second helping! 

“Wicked,” the film, is an adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz (2003), written by Stephen Schwartz. In terms of chronology, this musical functions as a “prequel,” set well before the events of Fleming’s “The Wizard of Oz” (1939), the original film, which in turn was adapted from Frank L. Baum’s 1900 novella, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Schwartz’s musical was received to broad acclaim, both critical and commercial, winning three Tony awards and the cast album itself winning a Grammy award. 

The film adaptation has premiered to an equally stellar reception, with audiences and critics alike celebrating its powerful performances and earnestly skillful translation to the silver screen. This adaptation functions as a prequel to the original film, taking the viewer back to the land of Oz and its capital, The Emerald City before the witches of that story had earned their titles of “Good” or “Wicked.” 

It focuses on two young soon-to-be-witches pursuing their magical education, as their paths are brought together by fate: Elphaba and Galinda. Elphaba is an immediate oddball, her green skin earning snide remarks and judgment, while Galinda is a picturesque perfectionist, immediately beloved by her peers and teachers, favored to succeed. 

These two disparate students are assigned to a room together, and soon, their burgeoning powers and personalities take shape, both in union with and in contrast to one another. This film explores the early days of their complicated dynamic, flitting between enemies and friends, each new social setting an equal opportunity for union or division, the best of “frenemies.” 

The two dominant performances in “Wicked” that have been so lauded are those of its two leads, Cynthia Erivo, playing Elphaba, and Ariana Grande, playing Galinda. These actresses have been excellently cast in their roles, with the strength and range of their respective voices central to their success. “Wicked” is, first and foremost, a musical, with the talent’s talent for vocal work being the dominant quality sought in casting. Both Erivo and Grande perform their numbers beautifully, with passion and pitch in perfect union, injecting the songs with all the powerful pathos needed to stir the audience’s hearts. 

We hope you will join us, for a first or second time, to enjoy all the bright musical fun!