The season of Defying Gravity is coming

We still have six months to go until Christmas. This early though I can already predict that this year’s Yuletide gift-giving will be filled with lots of things “Wicked.” Not wicked as in bad or evil but “Wicked” as in the famous Broadway show.

The movie version of the musical is coming to theaters on Nov. 27. Anticipation of the film’s success is so strong that over a hundred products and related items have signed on as merchandisers.

This means that within these coming months there will be lots of “Wicked” items available. So, you can expect the kiddies to want to have a Wicked Barbie, Elphaba or Glinda? Wicked Legos. A Wicked Teddy Bear, costumes, green make-up, cookies, etc. and they would want to try on the Wicked ride that will soon open in Universal Studios theme Parks. Of course, something “Wicked” will also be what doting parents, grannies, ninongs etc. will want to give as Christmas gifts.

Why all this to-do about “Wicked,” which by the way will be shown in several formats including IMAX! I wonder how much ticket prices will cost.

“Wicked” is based on a novel The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, written by Gregory Maguire. The story is told from the point of view of the witches, the Good Witch Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West.

“Wicked” is intended to be a prequel to the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. As most of you probably know, this was turned into a classic movie starring Judy Garland in 1939. As “The Wizard of Oz,” it is one of the best films of all time. Watch and I am sure you, too, will say that it has not aged one bit in 85 years.

Now, composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz turned “Wicked” into a musical in 2003. Schwartz is a big name in theater with hit shows like “Godspell” and “Pippin.” I like his way of making show tunes sound pop and accessible even with a serious score like Day by Day from “Godspell” and Corner of the Sky from “Pippin.” He became an even bigger success with a bigger hit song from “Wicked.”

Schwartz had, not only Broadway but also the radio, karaoke bars, talent shows or wherever music is played singing Defying Gravity, as the most popular song from “Wicked.”

Starring Idina Menzel as Elphaba and Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda, “Wicked” became Broadway’s second billion-dollar grossing musical, second only to “The Lion King.”

“Wicked” the movie is directed by Jon Chu, who also did “Crazy Rich Asians” and “In the Heights.” The movie version is so epic that it is in two parts with Part 2 scheduled to play on November, 2025.

The cast is most impressive with Cynthia Erivo, Tony winning star of “The Color Purple” as Elphaba; pop star Ariana Grande as Glinda; Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible; Jeff Goldblum of “Jurassic Park” as the Wizard of Oz; Jonathan Bailey, the Viscount Bridgerton as Fiyero the Winkie Prince; Tony winning Spongebob Ethan Swift as the Munchkin Boq; and Peter Dinklage of “Game of Thrones” as the voice of Professor Dillamond.

Part 1’s trailer dropped recently and it is visually spectacular. The girls generate sparks together. Grande makes a perfect Glinda, beautiful, shallow, a mean girl thru and thru, while Erivo is all simmering strength on the verge of wicked. They do make the viewer wonder about the famous question that “Wicked” asks, “Are people wicked or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?

However, the trailer also got me wondering. When I watch “Wicked,” will I still get the same sense of wonder I experienced watching “The Wizard of Oz” on Betamax on the TV screen? That was awesome. Will hearing Defying Gravity make the hype worth it? And remember, Judy Garland did not need birit to make Somewhere Over the Rainbow so beautiful.

This “Wicked” had better be good.

By the way, do you think they will sell broomsticks that work?