🎶Something has changed within me🎶
Yeah, me too, Elphaba. Me too. 

Never read the book. Never seen the musical. Never been to a Broadway show at all. I know virtually nothing of this lore, but when I tell you this hit so many positive notes, I mean much more than just in the incredible (INCREDIBLE!!!!) singing. 

The acting performances by our two leading ladies were simply spectacular. Both Cynthia and Ariana play their parts effortlessly, practically perfectly. It’s like watching two people who were made for greatness find where they’re meant to be. I’ve seen so many interviews of these two talking about the movie. Most interviews are an emotional affair with one or both tearing up. They love every facet of this work and are so proud of it. It’s a small thing, but frankly, I think it’s really beautiful. To have people that care this much and be this ionate about what they are a part of. To have individuals who shape the film but also have the film shape them as well. It’s special to see. The ion and dedication bleeds effortlessly into their two performances. 

Ariana, my girl, I hope you’re ready for an Oscar. Her performance is damn near one of the most perfectly comedic performances I’ve seen in a long time. The tone of the delivery, the comedic timing, the subtle facial expressions and gestures. She somehow managed to be both the comedic heart and part of the driving wedge that created our insane climax. I read where she’s been wanting to play Galinda/Glinda (hehe) since she was 10. My heart bursts at the thought that she got her wish. It smiles even brighter with the realization that she was made for the role. There’s no doubt in my mind after seeing her that this is exactly where she needed to be. A ing character to our “wicked witch” that is such a driving force. I’m so impressed and so proud. 

Cynthia Erivo, my GOD. Maybe one of the most talented singers I’ve ever seen. Once again, I am speechless at the raw talent I’ve seen here and in other videos of her. Her (and Ari’s) singing in this movie was done LIVE while she was jumping and flying and propelling through space and damn near time she was moving so fast. A rockstar performance if I’ve ever seen one. A defining moment in what is sure to be a long and happy career at bringing me to tears with such raw power. Her singing gave me chills. Literal chills. Not to mention the way she harmonizes so effortless with Ariana is nothing short of remarkable. The talent. Her acting performance has so many layers of complexity!!!! Exploring insecurities, familial trauma, trust issues, feeling guilty for simply existing outside of societal norms, defying expectations, lack of reciprocity from people she cares about, questioning self, questioning her purpose, questioning, well, everything. We get these little pieces of her soul in these individual scenes, but her final performance in Defying Gravity slides the last sliver in to bring us full circle. The close ups of Cynthia in particular are simply astounding. She shows so much, feels so much. Elphaba creates the emotional heart to the story. You can see it practically radiating from her spirit, making her face a beacon of powerful emotion. 

There’s one scene in particular that made me cry in the theater (wow! Me?! Never!) The Ozdust ballroom scene had me clutching at my chest for real. As Elphaba faces a crowd hellbent on ostracizing her for being different than them, we see her slowly realize that her power lies not in not caring at all but in caring and still choosing to live authentically anyway. She does this funky little dance moment as everyone stares. A bit odd really. But then Glinda jumps in. It took a lot for Glinda to finally realize Elphaba only wanted a friend and someone who genuinely cared. We saw Glinda break through some pretty substantial barriers in this scene too. As they do their little dancey dance together, I couldn’t help but tear up. When Cynthia begins to cry and Glinda touches her cheek to wipe her tears, I was reaching for my Kleenex. It’s just a powerful, transcendental moment for them both. To have someone see you as your truest self and accept that version of you regardless of what anyone else has to say. Fuck. We all deserve to have someone care that much. I was so happy to see Elphaba finally get that moment of genuine connection. I was also happy to see Glinda slowly start to think of others besides herself. That, it turns out, will be a constant, never-ending battle that she may very well never win (gotta see part 2!), but any movement in the right direction, no matter how small, means something. The range of emotion in that one scene is so profound and transformative. (I’m crying as I type this. Time for a water break. Haha) 

I might as well discuss the other part that made me cry seeing as how I’ve blabbered on already. At the end, as Glinda and Elphaba get into Defying Gravity, we hear them talk (er, sing?) about how they hope the other person is happy despite their disagreements and separation. Instant waterworks. One, Defying Gravity is gorgeous and makes my whole body erupt in chills already, but add to that the underlying theme that sometimes two people need to find their own happiness and understand what that looks like independently of the others’ influence, and I’m a puddle. They want each other to be happy even if they can’t stay together to achieve that. Friendships fizzle, sure, but it’s hard when they don’t end all at once in an explosion but instead slowly start to sputter. I don’t really know what will happen since I haven’t seen the production, but watching Elphaba fly away with Glinda watching from the balcony made my heart pang. On top of the already emotional climax, these few little lines are just the cherry on top. 

Now that I’ve sang this movie’s praises, let me be so clear…this is not a perfect movie by any stretch of the imagination. Frankly, some of the choices were just poor. 

The lighting, for one, really frustrated me in parts. There’s this one specific scene where our characters are actually backlit to the point where I felt blinded in the Dolby theater. Like, had to close my eyes at the glare from the light coming through. Just not great. Not to mention, a lot of the sets were practically made but you couldn’t tell because they were kinda washed out. Almost looked pastel in places. It was still beautiful in its own way, but I was a bit disappointed we didn’t get the vibrancy of the Technicolor Oz I was expecting. The set up was right there!! It could have been one of the most beautiful films of the entire year, but the color grading just fell a bit short in places. Others were beautiful though!! I can never forgive the backlit bullshit though. Gotta deduct points. Hehe (I keep thinking pastel, but I don’t even know if that makes sense. Washed out. Pastel. Lack vibrancy, etc etc) There were also quite a few subplots that didn’t feel fully fleshed out completely. The start was there, but I’m expecting some work on those in Part 2. I do think there could have been a better effort to discuss these in Part 1, but I’m feeling generous at the moment. 

I think, overall, this film landed so incredibly well. I couldn’t help but be swept (🧹) away as the story unfolded, particularly as we learned more about our characters. In retrospect, I think we definitely should have gotten more about the ostracizing of the animal population since that was the driving force for Elphaba’s trajectory, but I can only assume that happens in part 2 (one of those plots from the aforementioned paragraph that need some work.) While possibly a hot take, I think, for once, dividing this story in two parts makes a huge amount of sense. Everything felt more impactful because we learned more about the characters and watched them evolve more slowly. Having time to breathe between such impactful messages and moments meant the nuanced nature of the film shined through more. (Backlit shine gives the ick though!) This movie just absolutely captured me. Gorgeous costumes, fantastic lead performances (ing were fine, but our girlies stole the show), tremendous vocal ability, and some tear-inducing talent. All that, and ending on Defying Gravity was one of the most genius, perfect calls for the movies this year! 

Catch me outside the theater for Part 2 next year, tissues in hand.

Now…to find me a cute little witchy hat…. 🧙🏻‍♀️

P. S. The amount of people I saw that were ecstatic when this movie ended in theaters today was so special!!! The theater was PACKED to the brim. Practically every seat except the very front row was full. A girl next to me gasped so loud at some of the scenes, it made me smile. Saw/heard several people crying (they just like me for real!) The whole room clapped at the end. (SO CUTE!!!!) A group of 5 a few rows ahead stood and clapped as they left the theater. A theater kid (gotta be a 30 year old
man haha) left the theater singing Popular. Multiple people decked out in all green and all pink. Today felt truly magical seeing that many people so happy. It may not be a perfect movie, but I know it left a lasting impact for a whole lot of theater kids and tender-hearted folks alike. Really happy I got to experience this one and see the joy it brought firsthand. 💚💗