“Wicked” fans rejoicify! We’re just weeks away from the premiere of “Wicked: For Good,” which follows up on the story of Elphaba Thropp and Glinda Upland. The sequel continues their journeys as the two characters find their way into their new identities as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good, respectively.
“Wicked” stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are promoting the movie with a two-hour musical special on NBC, “Wicked: One Wonderful Night,” which premiered on November 6 and is now streaming on Peacock.
“Grande and Erivo will sing songs from the films that are near and dear to their hearts, and those of their characters,” NBC shared. “They’ll also welcome some fellow cast members, including Michelle Yeoh (Madame Morrible), Jeff Goldblum (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz), Ethan Slater (Boq), Marissa Bode (Nessarose), and current Saturday Night Live star Bowen Yang (Pfannee).”
The special was filmed in October at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles in front of a live audience. A 37-piece live orchestra led by award-winning musical director Stephen Oremus accompanies the singers as they perform works from the films, including “Defying Gravity,” “The Wizard and I,” “Popular,” and more.
Get a taste of the show with this duet on “What is This Feeling?“
“Wicked: For Good” will be in theaters on November 21st, arriving a year after the first film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical. Director Jon M. Chu decided to split the original production into two films to delve deeper into the story.
“As we prepared the production over the last year, it became impossible to wrestle the story of ‘Wicked’ into a single film without doing some real damage to it …,” he wrote on X. “As we tried to cut songs or trim characters, those decisions began to feel like fatal compromises to the source material that has entertained us all for so many years. We decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one ‘Wicked’ movie but two! With more space, we can tell the story of ‘Wicked’ as it was meant to be told while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys for these beloved characters.”
“Wicked: For Good” expands on the musical palette of the Broadway version with two new songs. “No Place Like Home” will be performed by Erivo as Elphaba, while “The Girl in the Bubble” is sung by Grande as Glinda. “Wicked” composer Stephen Schwartz says fans can also expect more musical exploration.
“I’m especially happy that the soundtrack album for ‘Wicked: For Good’ has so much new music on it,” Schwartz said in a statement. “In addition to two brand new songs, there is a lot that’s new in several other existing songs. So not only listeners coming to the score for the first time, but long-time fans of the original Broadway cast album, will have a great deal to discover.”
Celebrate the new film by exploring the sheet music for “Wicked.”
