I went and saw the Wicked movie last night, and yeah, it’s as well done as everyone is proclaiming it to be. I was especially impressed with how surprisingly great Ariana Grande was in her role.

(Cynthia Erivo also killed it, to be sure, but I’ve seen her go to town on “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”, and Elphaba’s vocals are more accessible than Glinda’s anyway, so I had no doubt she’d be able to handle Wicked with ease.)

I was never a mega-fan of the musical or anything, but I do think “No One Mourns the Wicked” is a Broadway all-timer – in fact, probably the biggest qualm I have with the show is that its opening number is by far its best one, and is so good in both concept and execution that it writes a check that the rest of the show simply cannot cash (sorry, “Defying Gravity” fans – that one’s never done much for me). By peaking right out of the gate, it just kind of wrecks the musical progression and leaves it nowhere to build up to.

All of that to say, the main thing I was looking forward to was seeing how that opening sequence would be handled in the film. I ungraciously assumed that it would just be toned down (or awkwardly auto-tuned) for the sake of Ariana Grande – not that I have anything against her, but most human beings are not physically capable of hitting those notes, and those who can, especially when they make a career out of singing, tend to show off that capability.

But, no, they didn’t change anything, and it turns out that Ariana Grande was, in fact, up for the task. Does she have the effortless, immaculate operatic coloratura soprano of her stage show counterpart? No. But is it fair to compare a mortal singer to Kristen Chenoweth? Also no. So even though she’s clearly pushing herself harder to get into that register, she successfully lands it, and her tone gives it an airy Disney princess vibe that isn’t unfit for the character.

Outside of her performance, I also enjoyed the more fittingly elaborate staging the number was afforded by the flexibility of the film medium. I came in a little skeptical, but it ended up being a really solid production all around.

Thus, having my expectations already satisfactorily met ~10 minutes into the movie, the rest of it could have fallen off a broomstick, but as it happens it was also very well put together, with great set and costume design, fun choreography, and enjoyable performances.

All in all, a good watch!

Bene scribete.