A powder keg of movie-musical performances, Wicked balloons the Broadway sensation in unnecessary ways—this is only Part I, despite the fact that it runs nearly three hours—but I hardly minded thanks to the dynamic force of its two leads: Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba (later to be known as the Wicked Witch of the West) and Ariana Grande as Glinda (soon to be Glinda the Good). While Erivo grounds the fantasy by giving Elphaba a resolute sense of self—and absolutely nails her climactic transformation when belting out “Defying Gravity”—Grande lends the proceedings a precisely light touch. Whether comically tossing her hair, ending sentences on a singsong note, or turning a toe, ready to pirouette, in a moment of comic tension, Grande gives a performance in which every gesture is a performance in itself. And it’s perfect. What’s more, once Elphaba and Glinda become friends, the two performers lock in on each other in a way that’s wonderfully supportive. Director John M. Chu and choreographer Christopher Scott, who worked together on the movie adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights, nicely balance the soaringly cinematic with the intimate (there are more than a few close-ups of dancers’ feet). My favorite number might be “Dancing Through Life,” featuring an absolutely delightful Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, the love interest. (Bailey is so good that if given more screen time we might have had a Barbie/Ken situation on our hands.) Leading his fellow students through a routine in the school library, which features a gravity-defying, 2001-style cylinder of bookshelves, Fiyero combines elaborate acrobatics with a playful kiss on the librarian’s forehead. I don’t know that Part 2 will be able to sustain this type of energy—from my memory, things get pretty dark from here on out—but at least for now, Wicked creates a bubble that no amount of bloat can burst.
(11/19/2024)
