Wicked has taken the world by storm, surpassing every musical film adaptation in box office sales and bringing out the consumer in every moviegoer to obtain that green or pink branded item. This phenomenon of a movie significantly increased musical exposure and even changed many people’s minds about the concept of singing through story.
Even our very own Senior Class President, Jonathan Ivey, says he “enjoyed the movie a lot!” For the average Broadway nerd—not saying I am one—it is known that the songs have hidden meanings through the lyrics and motives written by the genius songwriter, Stephen Schwartz.
Senior Annelyn Trail is no stranger to musical theater and even was able to get her own signed copy of the book by the cast members who were performing the show at the time. Being familiar with both adaptations of Wicked, she believed the movie was a good introduction to “the world of Oz.” Despite the musical numbers staying relatively the same, she deems that the “new choreography is amazing.” Our peers are already quite familiar with this show, but in lieu of a second part and the anticipation building up to that, it is good to know some musical “tricks” that songwriters utilize to hide messages or pay homage to others works.
“No One Mourns the Wicked”
There is so much that could be said about this opening song. While it seems malicious towards Elphaba, there is a deeper meaning behind Glinda’s lyrics. Without spoiling Act II of Wicked, it is clearly obvious that she does not believe the things everyone says about her friend. When she says, “Yes, goodness knows the wicked’s lives are lonely / Goodness knows the wicked cry alone,” there is seemingly a resentment towards her own actions rather than Elphaba’s. Towards the end of part I, it can be seen that Madame Morrible is trying to recruit Glinda, promising to fulfil her dreams of studying sorcery. A good thing to note is that Stephen Schwartz has admitted that the higher Glinda’s part, the more untruthful she is being. This song is known for the high E6 she hits, indicating she is lying about the words she recites. This fact is especially good to listen to in part II to know how Glinda stands.
“The Wizard and I”
This song has many double meanings, which may not seem relevant without the retrospective of already seeing the movie. Lyrics such as “But I swear, someday there’ll be / A celebration throughout OZ / That’s all to do with me!” Now this lyric is a bit cruel, but indeed there is a celebration for Elphaba, the one celebrating her untimely death at the beginning of the movie. The same goes for the lyric, “When people see me, they will scream,” because her premonitions were true for the wrong reasons.
“Defying Gravity”
I saved the nerdiest for last. Instead of referencing through lyrics, Schwartz uses the music itself. When looking at the notes for the word “Unlimited,” specifically, it changes based on the transposition, but the interval patterns—distance between two notes—remain consistent: octave, 2nd, and 3rd. Well, when observing the chorus for the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” the exact same note pattern is indicated—this song is from the Wizard of Oz, which inspired Wicked. While tedious, this is indeed another spark of genius from the songwriter.
This just merely scratches the surface on references, implications, and musicality in the score, and there is a myriad more in the next part coming out this November. Whether you listen to the Broadway soundtracks to find more intricacies or do nothing with this knowledge, it certainly goes to show that there is more to this movie than meets the eye.
