It would be difficult for Jon M. Chu to mount a film adaptation of Wicked without paying some tribute to the Broadway sensation’s original stars, Idina Menzel (as Elphaba) and Kristin Chenoweth (as Glinda). Those of you who have seen the new movie – and based on box office numbers, it’s a large number of people – know that Menzel and Chenoweth appear in Wicked in the third act, when Glinda and Elphaba leave Shiz University and arrive in the Emerald City. They are a huge part of the musical number “One Short Day.” But when we spoke with Chu, we learned that they had different plans for Menzel and Chenoweth, and they changed rapidly as the shoot went on.
Jon M. Chu appeared as a guest on CinemaBlend’s official ReelBlend podcast, where he spoke about the film’s reception, and several elements of the filming of the Broadway musical. And when we brought up the cameo appearances of Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, we talked about walking the complicated line of showcasing these talents, but not taking audience members out of the movie that they have shown up to see. As “wickedly” talented as Menzel and Chenoweth are, they have the ability of possibly stealing focus away from Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, whose movie this very much is.
But as Chu told us during this exclusive interview:
We had them as cameo roles at some point. ‘Maybe they’re Glinda’s parents?’ Or, ‘Maybe they’re this or that…’ And those were all fine and good, but every time, we sort of thought about it more, (and) it didn’t feel… Like, they’re at the top of their game right now! They’re not like some people who don’t do it anymore. You want them to do their thing. And I always felt, as a fan myself, if I see them in this movie, I’m going to want them to do their thing! And so we had this section already, with Wizomania. It wasn’t exactly those words. It was actually more of a ride that they go on. Wizomania was going to be almost like It’s a Small World, where you get into a boat and it takes you through the history of Oz. And it was going to be a performance that happens around them, and then (we) send you back out to the Wizard Palace.
I love hearing how major sequences in a big movie like Wicked can change during production. It goes to show that no matter how much you plan in advance, and budget and prepare for a production to go a certain way, you have to be willing to push back when, creatively, something doesn’t feel right. Because, as Joh M. Chu went on to explain to us, things can be fixed rather quickly when you surround yourself with geniuses like composer Stephen Schwartz. Chu explained to ReelBlend:
(Stephen) was like, ‘Give me one night.’ And he rewrote the whole thing as a performance for these girls. And he did it, and made it so fun. And that’s where it felt like, ‘Okay, this is a great moment. A sort of a send off.’ But even in the edit, we debated it back and forth, How much to give, how much to see them. Plenty of shots. Where they bow, when they leave, where they wave goodbye, and like, ‘How much is too much for the audience?’ We wavered back and forth a little bit, and tried to find the right medium of that.
“Give me one night.” Imagine being able to do that? To just scoot off, and write a song that Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel are going to sing in the Wicked movie? Insane. Make sure you listen to our full conversation with Jon M. Chu, on ReelBlend:
It’s great that audiences finally are getting the chance to see a Wicked movie, as the production had been rumored, started, stopped, paused, rushed, held and then some on its way to the screen. It seems to be a powerhouse, and I wonder if that will carry it all the way to the Oscars. Time will tell.