Wicked

Gareth Higgins on WICKED

I used to hate The Sound of Music. I had not paid attention to that movie, so ubiquitous from childhood holiday TV schedules that I felt I knew it like the back of my hand, and what I thought I knew, I knew I didn’t like. But I’ll admit it here: I didn’t like The Sound of Music because I hadn’t actually taken the time to watch it from start to finish.

It didn't help that so much conversation about creativity generally and cinema specifically still tends to divide the subjects into “high” and “low” art. Regular readers will know that I consciously abandoned those distinctions a long time ago; I’m not sure I ever really held to them other than as ways of trying to fit into a critical community I’m never sure I want to be part of. I finally watched The Sound of Music with an open mind, on its own terms. I was provoked by my friend Vic, who says that the experience of watching it as a child literally healed him. There are many reasons to respect the tenderness of another person’s sincere experience; a radical personal transformation in the light of seeing a movie, received as nothing less than a miracle may not make the movie a masterpiece, but surely makes it worth talking about.

I offer this preamble for people who think they don’t like movie musicals, because I don’t want you to miss the miracle of Wicked. Based on the play by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, and the novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz focused on how green Elphaba became the Wicked Witch, and porcelain Galinda evolved (devolved?) into the Good One. Directed by Jon M Chu and starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande (and I do mean starring - these are spectacular, knockout performances), Wicked joins West Side Story, Cabaret, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Muppet Christmas Carol as one of the most meaningful movie musicals. It’s also probably the best time I’ve had at the movies this year.