Wicked: Part I
First screened in December 2024
Director: Jon M. Chu. Cast: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, Marissa Bode, Ethan Slater, Andy Nyman, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Jeff Goldblum, Peter Dinklage, Keala Settle, Karis Musongole, Courtney Mae-Briggs, Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, Alice Fearn, Adam James. Screenplay: Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox (based on the book of the stage musical by Winnie Holzman, based in turn on the novel by Gregory Maguire, extrapolated in turn from The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum).
In Brief:
Plenty to nitpick, but the visual and emotional grandeur and the genre-specific cohesion are my biggest takeaways.
VOR:③
Most exuberant and lovingly crafted pop musical since Hairspray? Not quite innovative; hews closely to a template that could well have gone wrong.
