♪ Something has changed within me ♪
♪ Something is not the same ♪
Are you ready?
Let’s do it.
Mm-hmm.
[enchanting music]
[glass shatters]
Welcome to the spectacular Emerald City set from our brand-new movie, “Wicked.”
This magical place has been our home for more than a year, and tonight, finally, we’re excited to share all of our “Wicked” secrets with you.
Let’s tell each other something we’ve never told anyone before.
You might be a long-time “Wicked” fan, like us, or taking your very first outing to Oz.
Either way, the entire cast is joining us tonight to reveal the incredible process that got us here.
It is our wonderful Wizard of Oz, Jeff Goldblum.
I didn’t know they were going to be best friends.
[laughter]
I happen to be genuinely self-absorbed and deeply shallow.
Jonathan Bailey.
Hello!
Johnny Bailey.
Could I ask you…
Anything you want.
Just to move out the way?
Absolut… yeah.
Bowen Yang.
Choreographer said, “You’re a dancer, Bowen.”
And I believed him.
Marissa Bode.
I’m like, “Yes, pick up the speed please.”
Right.
“This is so fun.”
Action!
I’m Boq.
I’m from Munchkinland.
Ethan Slater.
So hard not to smile.
And the iconic Michelle Yeoh.
Yes, that was me.
In this night of exclusives, we even filmed footage ourselves…
[together] The wizard will see you now.
To share our most personal “Wicked” memories with you.
Another day with Glinda.
The dream of my entire life.
And we even brought an exclusive first look from the film.
“Wicked” is all about expecting the unexpected, and tonight is no different.
Should we have a little look?
Oh, please.
What the heck?
[voices belting and harmonizing]
♪ ♪
I am having a hard time wrapping my head
around the fact that the time has finally come.
I know.
I mean, between the audition process
and the prep and the rehearsal
and everything and actually filming,
it was, like, 2 and 1/2 years.
It’s been…
That’s a long time.
Well, yeah.
OK, so we can’t assume
that everybody knows what “Wicked” is
or what the story of “Wicked” is,
so we’ve done you a favor and put something together
for you to understand just what we’ve been doing.
Yes, we edited this last night.
[whimsical piano music]
The story of “Wicked” is the story
that you don’t know from “The Wizard of Oz.”
How did the Wicked Witch become the Wicked Witch?
The story of two girls who are very, very different.
One of whom is beloved and popular,
and she is who we come to know as…
Glinda, Galinda the Good
of the Upper Uplands.
The other character is the green girl,
not beloved, not loved even by her own family,
who possesses, however, a kind of magic power
that nobody else in Oz seems to possess.
Who is what we end up knowing
as the Wicked Witch, Elphaba.
25 years ago, I first came across
Gregory Maguire’s novel, “Wicked.”
At the time, I was developing it as a film.
Each screenplay felt, to me, that it was missing something.
And then, one day, I got a phone call
from Stephen Schwartz.
Listen, I know you’re trying to do this as a movie.
I think it should start as a stage musical.
I really feel I know how to do this.
And the moment he said “music,”
a light bulb went off in my head.
We put the show on Broadway.
The songs, the sisterhood between Elphaba and Glinda,
Glinda’s comedy, seeing Kristin Chenoweth
originate this role, seeing her on Broadway…
I’d never heard anything or seen anything like it.
I think the idea of turning the concept
of what “The Wizard of Oz” was on its head
and seeing it from someone else’s point of view
really shook me.
When I first joined “Wicked,”
the number one thing was let’s get the script in shape.
How close was it going to be for the show?
How cinematic could it be?
But the real heavy lifting,
the big thing that loomed all over us
was you don’t have a story
if you don’t have Glinda and Elphaba.
So we went on the biggest casting search
that I’ve ever been a part of across all continents,
and it took us a long time to find the right people.
[dramatic music]
Did you know deep, deep, deep in your heart and your gut
that this was your role?
I hoped, but I don’t want to put that…
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
I’m like, “Wake me up when it’s over,
“and if it happened, if it’s real,
let me know when it’s real.”
But I…
Right, yes.
What was your process like, your audition process?
The audition for me was, like, three hours
of me singing and acting with two other actresses.
It was a pretty emotional day.
So I guess I threw everything into that audition.
[singing intensely]
♪ ♪
[piano chord clangs]
Whoo!
[applause]
Well, I had the opposite experience.
I stalked Marc Platt for ten years…
[chuckles]
Wondering, when would an audition be possible?
As I kind of got wind that it was coming closer and closer,
I went to voice lessons and acting lessons and, every day,
was trying to get ready because it’s so different vocally
from what I usually sing.
♪ Less fortunate than I ♪
♪ And let’s face it ♪
And I remember, by the end of my final test,
my eyelashes were…
[laughs]
Nowhere near where they should be.
They were here.
So I was like, “Thank you so much.
Well… “and I stuck them on the mirror.
I was like, “Well, bye. That’s all, folks.”
I went to the car and collapsed.
And then, from then, it was 3 and 1/2 weeks, I think.
Yeah, actually hearing the words
that the part was mine was beyond a dream come true.
I finally get the call.
And, Cynthia, I don’t know what […] planet
you came from, but we are so blessed
to have you in the room every time
we meet you, every time I get to talk to you.
And there’s utter disbelief.
And we would love for you to be our Elphaba in “Wicked.”
I cover my eyes, and I cry my eyes out,
because you just don’t expect it to happen
when it happens even if you know it might happen.
You know?
Mm-hmm, it’s a wild feeling.
Yeah.
To wait so long, and finally the call came.
We made you wait a long time
for all your auditions and things,
and you came in, you told us how much
“Wicked” means to you. [dog barking]
You’ve written letters…
Toulouse!
Toulouse, stop! Toulouse!
[dog barking]
Toulouse!
My kid’s running around, too, so it’s all good.
I’m sorry.
Just like you, it’s, like, that feeling
when all of a sudden…
All this to say…
And you’re like, “Hm, if I didn’t get it,
this is the meanest way…”
It’s the worst way to find out.
“Someone could ever tell me ever.”
‘Cause we want you to be our Glinda the Good
in the “Wicked” freaking movie.
[laughing, gasping]
I don’t know what to say!
Oh, my God, thank you so much!
I love her so much!
I’m going to take such good care of her!
Thank you so much!
I don’t believe it still. Today, I don’t believe it.
It’s so crazy.
We actually did that.
[chuckles] That’s crazy.
Thank God. Thank Oz.
Thank goodness.
Pink goes good with green.
Goes well with green.
It so does.
[soft piano music]
♪ ♪
My Miss Elphaba.
Look at you.
Hm, you’re beautiful.
I think the thing people are so attracted to…
Yeah.
Is the story of sisterhood
and best friendship and the laughter
and the love and the connection there,
but also what lies beneath it
and the story that it tells on a bigger scale
is so relevant and necessary today,
and it’s just so beautiful.
Both of these characters have such differences in them,
and they’re both quirky in their own ways,
but I think that that makes them really beautiful.
Mm-hmm.
I think there’s a wonderful essence
of trying to share with everyone
that one’s difference doesn’t make them wrong or bad.
It just makes them special.
And I think that that’s a bigger, wider idea
that we can all share with the world, yeah.
♪ Something has changed within me ♪
[soaring orchestral music]
She doesn’t give a twig what anyone thinks.
♪ Something is not the same ♪
Of course, she does.
She just pretends not to.
♪ ♪
Hi, I’m Michelle Yeoh, the influential headmistress,
Madame Morrible.
[claps] Listen!
Still to come on “Defying Gravity,”
costumes,
choreography,
music,
the Wonderful Wizard of Oz himself, Jeff Goldblum,
and the dashing Jonathan Bailey.
Johnny Bailey.
Can I talk about “Wicked” too?
So don’t go anywhere as we raise the curtain
on more secrets and surprises.
[soaring orchestral music]
Like, they don’t even know that…
they talk amongst themselves and don’t hear the world.
Like, we can talk about them out loud,
and they don’t even know what’s happening in the outside world.
Like, they have no idea that we’re talking about them…
Wait, what?
Because they’re just in their own world.
What are you talking about?
When you guys talk to each other, nobody exists.
[laughter]
Hello.
Johnny Bailey.
Good to see you.
Hello, ladies.
Jonathan.
Hi.
Come and hang out with me over here.
Shut up.
By the Winkie machine.
County, yes, yes.
Yeah.
I am the captain of the Winkie county.
[laughs]
I’m Fiyero Tigelaar.
Winkie Country.
Oh, Oz.
[crowd murmuring]
What is your relationship to “Wicked,”
what you felt when you saw it, all those things?
First “Wicked” memory?
Well, you know, the first time I saw it,
I saw a preview when it first came over to London…
Oh, wow.
With Idina Menzel and Adam Garcia playing Fiyero.
And, obviously, it was mind-blowing,
but I remember specifically that Idina Menzel corpse
and was giggling in a brilliant way,
and I really enjoyed that.
So that was my first introduction to it,
and I feel like we’ve kept that going, that legacy,
of giggling all the way through.
My first experience was with the music
first before seeing the show.
Yeah.
And I learned it all before I actually saw the show.
And then, finally, for my 25th birthday,
I took myself to see it by myself.
That’s so cute.
I went on a solo date.
So you would have been a bit younger.
I was ten years old.
I had the incredible privilege
of seeing the original Broadway cast.
I ended up being able to go backstage,
and then I went to Kristen’s dressing room,
and she didn’t do, like, a pause at the door
and, like, a hello. She literally was like…
[as Kristin Chenoweth] “Oh, come in! Come in!”
[laughter]
And she gave, like, me a wand.
She gave me a little pink body wash.
She said it was magical, and it may have been, actually.
Her dog peed on the couch. I helped her clean it up.
It was like a dream.
I’m so sorry, Miss.
We didn’t see you there.
You must have… blended with the foliage.
Is this how you go through life,
just running amok and trampling anyone in your path?
No.
[horse snorts]
No, sometimes I’m asleep.
One thing from the original theater production
that everyone loved is the sets.
We’re going to now have a look at how Nathan Crowley,
our incredible production designer,
created these extraordinary worlds
that we existed in.
[enchanting music]
Cinema to me has to be epic.
If we’re going to make “Wicked,”
it has to be cinematic.
We have to do something the stage show can’t do.
We have to show this incredible world.
We have to go behind the scenes
and show everything.
♪ ♪
How do you make this fantastical place
that we’ve never seen before?
How do you find a way in visually?
You have to make up your own version of it.
Our version is, we build that [ding].
We build it.
We knew that we wanted Oz to be immersive.
Let’s touch it. Let’s feel it.
We can actually go into the forest and climb a tree.
We got to grow 9 million tulips.
We got to build Munchkinland.
We got to build the yellow brick road.
Ah, this is the first time
I’ve seen this train come into this city.
Brilliant, that’s the image I’ve been waiting for.
Let’s go back here and look at it.
You want to touch the walls of the Emerald City,
see your reflection in it.
This is the throne room theater,
and what you’re standing under is the animatronic
physical head that is going up here on these hydraulic rigs
and is going to be puppeteered…
I am Oz.
[whispers] Say something.
Say something.
What am I supposed to say?
Anything.
We have a lot of nature embedded in
the production design.
We really wanted Oz to be a place of deeper power,
that there is synergy of nature that comes through,
and part of that is this animal community.
They work side-by-side with other human Ozians.
They’ve been professors. They’ve been doctors.
They’ve been students.
We have this animal band that’s playing in the Ozdust.
There’s also the beloved Doctor Dillamond.
He has these gadgets that allow him to use
a magnifying glass or sweep the floor.
The tables are different shapes and sizes
and different heights, and bowls are different ways
for different animals to eat.
They are a culture that is deeply embedded
in the land of Oz,
and all of this didn’t just take production design.
It took special effects. It took visual effects.
That sense of detail makes you believe
that Oz actually exists.
[enchanting music]
♪ ♪
Look what I found.
Yeah, my pile of things that I’m stealing.
Let’s see.
I’m excited to attempt to get through
airport security with this. I will take… you can’t…
I don’t think I’ll be stopped.
No, you should…
You know?
We have to take…
Yes, for sure.
These home.
But it’s, like, kind of emotional.
Yeah, you become really attached to them.
I don’t want to let go of it.
Yeah.
Yeah, and we have Elphie’s things here,
these beautiful, beautiful hat and iconic broom.
I wouldn’t be surprised if you grew the tree
and you etched it yourself.
I knew that I wanted it to feel really organic.
How does that feel for you?
I love it.
So John and I set about looking for, like,
the roots of different trees.
Mangroves, isn’t it?
Mangroves, that’s right, yeah.
Made it really easy for you to catch.
Yes, well, the thing is,
I got really used to, like, how to hold it
and how to catch it if I needed to.
But she can catch a broom.
It can be anywhere.
But I think I just got really attached to it.
I sort of, like, understood it.
I almost broke my nose on a broom.
This is true.
This is true.
I was supposed to catch one. My face caught it.
That was a day.
Yeah, it was wild.
You two on set, it’s like a live wire
and an earth wire together, and it’s interesting.
You see these two props here,
and they’re so reflective of this sort of
special nature of both of you.
We’re so lucky to have these physically grounding pieces…
Jess, is this your favorite one to put on me?
When you put the costume on, when you put her shoes on,
when you hold our things and wear our crowns,
when we’re supported by such brilliant artists
who designed these pieces
that just take it to the next level.
[dramatic music]
So let’s talk about the fact that obviously
it’s pink and green…
Yes.
But you were actually, literally,
green every day.
Very true.
So I knew that if I looked at myself
and didn’t see the green, I don’t think I could have
made the connection to Elphaba as much as I did.
And something happens when all of that green is on,
the freckles go on, and the hair goes on,
the makeup goes on, the eyes go on,
and it’s not me I’m looking at. It’s her.
But also, something happens when you walk into a room,
especially when you have lots of
background artists in the room,
and the first time they meet you,
you’re green.
Yeah.
Something happens to the DNA in the space.
I agree.
The energy shifts.
Yeah.
♪ ♪
Oh!
You’re green.
♪ ♪
I am.
Coming up, our fellow Ozians
will be reflecting on their time in Oz.
Bowen Yang…
Hey.
Hi
Marissa Bode…
This is my younger sister, Nessarose.
And…
Boq Woodsman…
Ethan Slater.
Of Munchkinland.
So don’t go flying off.
We’ll be right back.
[soaring orchestral music]
Everyone say hi.
Hi, honey.
Sweetheart, you can take the girl out of Shiz,
but you can’t take the Shiz out of the girl.
Oy vey, is that the truth.
Welcome back.
Now, as you know, a lot of our movie
is set in the Emerald City,
but our characters meet at dear old Shiz University.
And that’s where we’re heading now.
[cheers and applause]
Welcome new students.
And “congratulotions” for having been accepted to Shiz.
We have nothing but the highest hopes
for some of you.
[crowd chuckles]
[applause]
We’re at Shiz!
We’re at our school.
I don’t know how familiar people are with the story,
but Boq arrives at Shiz on the same day as everyone.
You know, Boq sees Glinda and is so overwhelmed
with this, like, love that he’s feeling for her
right away.
I’m Boq.
This huge crush.
I’m from Munchkinland.
Yes.
And she redirects his energy towards Nessa,
which is…
Yes, terrible.
Go ask her right now?
Why not?
She’s right there.
Which is…
Not great.
Just hard, but also is the beginning
of this relationship between the two of them.
Yeah.
Well, it unfolds in a really fun way.
I think you guys had the very challenging thing
of selling, through the choreography,
like, the courtship between Nessa and Boq.
I actually have, like, some amazing videos
on my phone of the two of us, but, like, early on.
Like, I’ve done no choreography
in my life, really.
I’m so grateful that they hired a wheelchair dancer
to help choreograph it because I feel like
nobody knows better, like, how to move throughout the space.
She’s amazing.
So amazing.
I also dance in this film.
♪ Dear Galinda, you are just too good ♪
I had to sell the idea
that we were, like, extensions of Glinda,
right, that we were flanking her at all times.
So we had to, like, be like Ari,
in the choreography, at least.
I passed you. Damn it!
[laughter]
Christopher Scott, our choreographer,
pulled one on me and said, “You’re a dancer, Bowen.”
And I believed him.
♪ Nothing matters ♪
And then I realized that he did that to everybody.
No, everybody was a dancer,
and he really did make you believe.
He gave you the confidence…
Yeah.
And the tools.
Every part of the choreography told a story.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
Movement is such a huge part of the language in Oz.
Movement is an expression of your feelings.
When words aren’t enough, what makes it feel like
the best night of your life.
To create a world through song, through dance,
is really challenging.
The story has influenced every piece of choreography.
It becomes a language,
and it becomes dialogue that they’re having.
How do we create this so it feels
like it’s of you, from you?
How do we make it feel connected?
But also finding beats to build in comedy?
Respectfully, this might be the Glinda-fied version,
and that was a fun balance to find.
There was so much space given to come in
and create something of your own.
I’ve been seeing people come up with new ideas
of how to play off of the architecture,
and it just changes the way that you move your body.
We find the spaces.
We find the nooks and crannies
that we work into our choreography,
our blocking, our camera work.
We had this massively huge set for Glinda’s suite.
It became this huge playground for Jon, me, and Chris
to start to experiment with how to tell a story through dance.
♪ La, la, la, la ♪
So you’ve got these two women
and then all these contraptions that open up.
We did, a couple of times, remove things,
like the roof of the set, so we could do bed shots,
and we poked our crane through a couple of times
through the front door and the balcony door.
You know, telling this story through a beautiful shot
that takes you from here to there,
the nuances of the actors’ performances,
I’ve seen that grow so much.
The camerawork, the lighting,
and the choreography, it’s unlimited creativity
as long as it serves the story.
Why not make it that when you’re making
the movie version of “Wicked”?
Paint with all the colors of the rainbow.
[screams]
We got that.
That was great.
This is kind of an action movie.
There’s, like, a lot of action.
Totally.
So there’s, like, stunt work happening.
Yeah.
And Marissa did more stunts than either of us.
Ooh, yeah.
I did do a lot of stunts.
Very fun for me, to be honest.
It was sick.
Like, they were scared that I would be scared on the wires.
They started off very slow.
I’m like, “Yes, pick up the speed please.”
Right.
“This is so fun.”
Lock me in, let’s go.
Yes.
And by the end of it, I was zooming through the air.
Action!
[screams]
I’m glad they didn’t have a stunt double for me, like,
or, like, had someone else do the stunts
because I was like, “No, I want to.”
I’m doing them.
Yeah.
Ugh.
Oh!
[laughs]
Oh!
[dramatic music]
The preparation for this was so much fun.
Cynthia and I would do stunt training,
different kinds of training because this film,
it gets physical.
Three, two, one, action.
The action that we design is…
you know, it primarily has to be emotionally based.
Is it aggressive or is it vulnerable?
You know, we have to do all of that within our body language.
There are times when we have to do,
working with the dancers and the parkour people
and the stunt people, seeing what they could
physically do and making it exciting.
Some of the guys are going from one ladder to the next,
you know, the wheels doing, like, a revolution
and changing your weight and making it look effortless.
Coming up with the most creative fight sequences
that we could, like with the guards
after the girls in the attic
on their way up to the balloon.
They’re in it, and so the soldiers are climbing,
and they’re throwing sandbags at them to try to get them out,
and eventually, it burns to the ground.
[basket thuds]
And, of course, “Defying Gravity.”
Heave!
I knew when I was going into this
that stunts would be needed,
and I knew that I wanted to do my own stunts.
♪ ♪
And that takes balls.
Thank you.
It takes balls.
[chuckles]
Thanks, Mama Jo.
Honestly, well done.
Thank you.
We had a moment where I had to fly around on wires,
and I could hear this little girl,
and she’s stood by the monitor,
go… [gasps]
“Whoa!”
♪ ♪
It’s one of the moments that made me understand
why I do this.
♪ ♪
Some of my other favorite stunt memories
were the moments that were in-between the stunts.
This one jumping off the side.
No, I had to be in a harness one time,
and not to fly, just so that I didn’t fall off the banister,
but I didn’t come close to falling off the banister.
Only when we were not filming…
Did she jump off the side of it.
By accident.
Oh!
Oh, no.
I might have.
Sorry. I’m sorry.
All right, folks.
OK, folks.
Everyone gets so nervous.
Oh, God, I’m so sorry.
So we would go home and text each other
and be like, “Do you also have four missing nails…”
[laughs]
“And bruises?”
We have pictures of just, like, broken nails…
What are these bruises from?
And half-painted hands and bruises.
Not again!
Not again!
But I miss it.
We love it though.
Coming up, the man, the legend,
the wizard himself has just landed in Emerald City.
Nice to see you.
Nice to see you.
Brace yourself for the quite impossible to describe,
Jeff Goldblum, next.
[soaring orchestral music]
[together] ♪ We’re just two friends ♪
♪ Two good friends ♪
♪ Two best friends ♪
[together] ♪ Sharing one wonderful ♪
♪ One short ♪
[together] The wizard will see you now.
[together] ♪ Day ♪
And look at this.
It is our wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Jeff Goldblum.
Yes.
Hello.
Hello to you.
Oh! Thank you.
And hello to you.
Oop!
Oh.
Butterfingers, butterfingers.
Thank you, Wizard.
Thank you very much for our gifts, there.
We love you so much.
We love you.
[enchanting music]
You want to see something amazing?
Yeah.
This is all about our wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Do you know how he got here?
From the sky, in a balloon.
[dramatic music]
Then he built a city made of emeralds.
You want to know a secret?
[whispers] If you get to meet him…
[fireworks whistling and booming]
He grants your heart’s desire.
I am Oz.
[machinery whirs]
Uh, sorry about all that. I didn’t mean to startle you.
[tender music]
I’m a sucker for a lot of stories,
including “Wizard of Oz.”
It never failed to enchant me and grip me.
It’s Jeff Goldblum.
I love this man.
Do you know that?
Yesterday, I did a scene with the both of them,
plus Michelle Yeoh.
If I died right after that day’s work,
I’d be happy.
♪ ♪
We are so happy.
You know, when I first went to the theater,
it was a new show 20 years ago on Broadway.
I was in New York.
And that music, by the end of the show,
suffice it to say, I was in an emotional
emergency-room condition.
Absolutely.
I was kind of wailing, trying not to wail with people
leaving the theater around me.
Absolutely.
Boo.
And I think I wailed out,
“I didn’t know they were going to be best friends!”
Well, cut to, 20 years later, this version.
Those of you out there who, in a few days,
may see this, and enjoy it in a big way.
I knew you’d understand.
That makes me… that makes me so happy.
Well, that’s what I love best,
making people happy.
Hey, can I mention, the whole production design
of this movie…
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
It’s unusual, isn’t it?
It’s a so-called practical set.
And I’ve been here and there,
and I’ve done these green-screen movies.
Nothing like this. This is unusual.
Nothing like it, and I think, on film,
one will feel it.
And certainly doing it, it supports
and helps the actor.
Guards.
Bring her to me.
The things that were made for this film,
you can’t even fathom how much work and how much detail.
Like the costumes.
It’s just so brilliant.
[enchanting music]
♪ ♪
I was always reacting to what Nathan was coming up with
as far as the architecture in the spaces.
I was reflecting that in the silhouettes of the people
and the textures of their clothing,
in jewelry, on buttons.
All of that was very specifically
designed for this world.
So we’re tapping into all of these amazing,
very talented artisans in creating this film
so that we can get the most original look
that we possibly can.
Just a little more roll or something.
It is a world of contrasts.
With Elphaba, I used a lot of pleating and felting.
I wanted to align her with the animal world.
With Glinda, a world without worry.
It was important for me to render her
in that kind of quality as she aligns
with this sensibility of good.
You’re beautiful.
The costume goes from being an idea,
which is the potential essence of a character,
to being a realized garment.
Once you have an actor in the costume,
it attains a soul.
[heels click]
[vocalizing]
♪ ♪
Hey, I’ve taken out my device…
Yes.
Not just because I’m a nincompoop and addicted,
which I am a little bit, but because I wanted
to show you something. Look at this.
Look at this again.
Oh!
Look at the young…
That is crazy.
Ariana Grande.
Why do we both kind of look exactly the same still?
Well…
Just as excited.
I don’t know how much the same I look.
You look, you know…
So happy.
Just as excited to be…
That’s me, myself and I after I’ve come off stage
in Shubert Alley, famous Shubert Alley…
In “The Pillowman.”
After doing “The Pillowman.”
I saw you twice in that.
I stopped at the stage door twice.
And you stopped at the stage door twice.
You always took time. It was…
Ugh, please look at how excited I am.
I’m so sorry.
Well, anyway, I love this picture so much.
We love you.
You made our time so special.
You did.
And I don’t think you understand
what you did to our hearts.
Thank you for being the best wizard.
Coming up, reimagining “Wicked’s” iconic score
for the big screen.
And Jonathan has a surprise for Cynthia and Ariana,
defying expectations with something
they’ve never seen before.
What the heck?
[soaring orchestral music]
Welcome back to our world of “Wicked.”
We are just casually discussing
how much we love the music in this movie
and what an honor it’s been to sing these songs
and sing with each other.
Yes, very much.
I am…
Never singing with anyone else again.
I have been so spoiled by the experience
of hearing Cynthia Erivo sing…
Talk about yourself.
Every day.
What? Are you joking?
No, I’m sorry.
I just have to say.
[vocalizing together]
[together] ♪ My whole life long ♪
I have loved singing with you
[screams]
So it’s probably one of the greatest pleasures of my life,
to be able to sing with someone who, like, understands music
so implicitly the way you do.
I love you.
You really…
That’s so kind.
Yeah, this one, in “Popular,”
is running around the room, honestly at break speed.
♪ La, la, la, la ♪
Jumping up on things, hanging off a chandelier
at one point.
You in “Defying Gravity,” you’re upside-down
and in the air and harnessed and belting like it’s nothing,
like it’s absolutely nothing. I was standing there.
I can tell you.
She’s swooping… flying in, landing perfectly.
Perfect pitch every single… like, the most insane thing
I’ve ever seen in my life.
I think that both of us were doing ridiculous things
in order to tell these stories through song.
We do speak the same language though.
Yes, yes.
That’s been fun too.
We recorded rehearsal tracks, but then also sang live on set,
which is something… we both were like,
“We’re singing.”
We’re singing live.
We are singing.
That’s it, yeah.
But when we were recording the rehearsal tracks
and the demos, I, like, took a stab at vocal producing.
And I was like, “I think she’s going to like
this choice, this choice, this choice.”
And I called you and invited you over,
and you were like, “Great.”
Yes, thank you.
Yep, there we go.
[squeals]
I hope you enjoy the work that we put into it.
We sang everything.
[laughs]
Absolutely everything.
Take a look.
Yes.
♪ Everyone deserves a chance to fly ♪
I can do it. It’s good.
Well, I think there are a couple of things
that make “Wicked” an ideal subject
for musicalization.
♪ I hope you’re happy, I hope you’re happy now ♪
♪ I hope you’re happy how you hurt your cause forever ♪
♪ I hope you think you’re clever ♪
♪ I hope you’re happy ♪
♪ I hope you’re happy too ♪
The characters have these inner thoughts
that it’s very difficult to dramatize
if they’re not singing them
[together] ♪ I can’t imagine how ♪
♪ I hope you’re happy ♪
♪ Right now ♪
One of the reasons why it was so important to do this live
was not only because we’re all theater people
who wanted to so badly, but also because
of the emotional element.
We would be further connected to the words we were saying,
the music we were hearing, the story we were telling,
and to each other.
[together] ♪ There’s no fight ♪
♪ We cannot win ♪
♪ Just you and I ♪
♪ Defying gravity ♪
♪ With you and I ♪
The people who created the show,
they’re excited about the music
that we’re bringing back,
and it means so much to be able
to experience that with them.
“Wicked” was the first show I conducted on Broadway.
And it’s a 23-piece orchestra,
and now this will be close to a hundred people
playing together.
[bright orchestral music]
It’s about scaling up everything
and making all of the musical moments
really inhabit the world.
This vision is going to be extraordinary on a big screen.
♪ ♪
♪ Defying gravity ♪
♪ I’m flying high ♪
♪ Defying gravity ♪
♪ And soon I’ll match them in renown ♪
♪ ♪
Fantastic, fantastic.
Incredible.
Wow, that was really good.
Very cool.
I’m really excited for everyone to see
how all of these iconic things have been reimagined.
And I think one of the things
that has been reimagined so well
is in the casting choices, honestly.
Michelle Yeoh as Morrible is, like,
such an inspired choice to me.
Unreal, and, like, won the Oscar while we were filming.
Yeah.
Do you remember, like, she entered the space…
Yes, wait, I have video of it.
Yeah.
Do you really?
I do, I do.
Here, here.
Like, this is, like, Jon.
There it is!
That’s a full-on Oscar.
That’s a full Oscar.
Which was a really huge celebratory moment
for everyone.
For everyone.
And she made it that way because she literally
flew to set the next day…
Whoo!
It’s got my name on it.
After winning her Oscar
and then, like, let everybody hold it,
let everybody take pictures with it.
I think it just shows how special all of this
is to Michelle, too, like, going in the next day…
Yes.
To be a part of this.
Just so cool.
We’re here today on the set,
and it will be the last time that we’re
all together at the end of this massive journey.
Do you remember, on day one, Jon Chu asked
you both to look into camera and to give yourself
a message to the future version of yourself.
Oh, my.
Yeah.
I don’t remember what I said.
I remember it happening.
No, I can’t remember what I said either.
Should we have a little look?
Oh, no.
Oh, dear.
Anything to say to your future self?
And you can say it to her right there.
Oh, no, to my future self?
[chuckles] Oh, my gosh.
I hope you’re happy. No.
What do you have to say to your future self?
Right there.
All right.
Hi, Cynthia. [chuckles]
Um, I’m not sure if you thought you would be here at any point.
This is a rare thing to be able to be doing.
I’ve never felt this way before,
as excited and positively nervous,
in a good way, as I do ready and sure.
And that’s something I learned from Glinda.
I hope that you’ve come to the end of this
and you still feel really grateful
and cling on tight to those around you
who are in it with you still.
And remember to keep them in your lives.
What the heck?
We’re stuck with you.
Don’t worry. You’ve got us.
Thank you.
Oh, my.
Well…
[laughs]
That was actually really wonderful to see.
Quite emotional for me because I feel like
I am really grateful, and I got some new family members.
Me too.
Yeah.
We will definitely keep each other in our lives.
We’ll do a good job with that.
You’re stuck.
We’ve already done such a good job with it.
Stuck with me.
And we will continue to.
Next, the moment we’ve all been waiting for,
the curtain finally rises on a world exclusive
from our new movie, “Wicked.”
So wait just a clock tick.
We’ll be right back.
[soaring orchestral music]
♪ ♪
Hello, welcome back to Emerald City.
So at the very beginning of this,
we told you that this is a world of unexpected things.
Well, here is an unexpected thing for you from us.
Here is an exclusive look at a scene
from our new film, “Wicked.”
[quirky orchestral music]
♪ ♪
♪ What is this feeling, so sudden and new? ♪
♪ I felt the moment I laid eyes on you ♪
♪ My pulse is rushing ♪
♪ My head is reeling ♪
♪ Well, my face is flushing ♪
[together] ♪ What is this feeling? ♪
♪ Fervid as a flame ♪
♪ Does it have a name? ♪
♪ Yes ♪
♪ Loathing, unadulterated loathing ♪
♪ For your face ♪
♪ Your voice ♪
♪ Your clothing ♪
[together] ♪ Let’s just say ♪
♪ I loathe it all ♪
[gasps]
[together] ♪ Every little trait ♪
♪ However small ♪
♪ Makes my very flesh begin to crawl ♪
♪ With simple utter loathing ♪
♪ There’s a strange exhilaration ♪
♪ In such total detestation ♪
♪ It’s so pure, so strong ♪
♪ Though I do admit it came on fast ♪
♪ Still, I do believe that it can last ♪
♪ And I will be loathing ♪
♪ Loathing you my whole life long ♪
[together] ♪ Dear Galinda ♪
♪ You are just too good ♪
♪ How do you stand it? I don’t think I could ♪
♪ She’s a terror! She’s a tartar! ♪
♪ We don’t mean to show a bias ♪
♪ But, Galinda, you’re a martyr ♪
Well…
♪ These things are sent to try us ♪
[crowd gasping]
♪ ♪
[together] ♪ Poor Galinda ♪
♪ Forced to reside with someone so disgusticified ♪
♪ We just want to tell you, we’re all on your side ♪
♪ We share your loathing ♪
♪ What is this feeling, so sudden and new? ♪
♪ I felt the moment I laid eyes on you ♪
♪ My pulse is rushing, my head is reeling ♪
[together] ♪ We loathe it all! ♪
♪ Oh, what is this feeling? ♪
[together] ♪ Trait, however small ♪
♪ Does it have a name? ♪
♪ Yes ♪
♪ Oh ♪
♪ Loathing, there’s a strange exhilaration ♪
♪ Loathing ♪
♪ In such total detestation ♪
♪ Loathing ♪
♪ It’s so pure ♪
♪ So strong ♪
♪ Though I do admit it came on fast ♪
♪ Still I do believe that it can last ♪
♪ And I will be loathing for forever ♪
♪ Loathing, truly ♪
♪ Deeply loathing you ♪
♪ Loathing you ♪
♪ My whole life long ♪
♪ Unadulterated loathing ♪
Oh!
♪ ♪
[clears throat]
Boo!
[screams]
[laughs]
[laughter]
Thank you so much for visiting Oz with us tonight.
Please go and see our movie “Wicked.”
And from us to you…
Happy holidays.
And goodbye.
[laughter]
Hey, hey, hey.
This is not “Ben-Hur.” Hey!
[triumphant orchestral music]
♪ ♪
