Goodness knows, it feels as if Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande have been attached at the hip for the better part of this century, crying and bantering together while adorned in fabulous ensembles of green, black, and pink, the (un?)official colors of Wicked. The press tour and behind-the-scenes gossip accompanying Jon M. Chu’s long-awaited spectacular have been exhaustingly dramatique – probably to be expected for the film adaptation of a Broadway musical juggernaut beloved by theater kids all over (I was one of them), and starring one of the era’s biggest pop stars.

Ultimately, it’s what lands on the screen that matters. And with regards to Wicked: Part 1 many things are true at once: the excellent Erivo and Grande couldn’t have been better suited to play Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Galinda, who goes on to become Glinda the Good Witch; the movie’s themes are evergreen and relevant; and whoever made the decision to divide the stage show into two separate movies deserves to be cursed by a spell from the book of the Grimmerie.

Wicked, very loosely based on Gregory Maguire’s Wizard of Oz revisionist novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, tells the origin story of Elphaba and how she became L. Frank Baum’s emblematic villain. She’s shunned by her father and ostracized by her peers for the mere fact of being born with abnormally green skin, and at a young age discovers that in response to their callousness, her rage manifests uncontrollably as a magic force from within. Years later, that ability comes to the attention of Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), the no-nonsense headmistress of Shiz University, who eagerly takes Elphaba under her wing for private tutelage in sorcery.

Two good friends, two best friends

Elphaba is assigned to room with Galinda, the bubbly, supremely vain beauty queen who’s none too happy she now has to share her private suite with the school’s oddball. The two clash for all the expected reasons: if Elphaba’s whole vibe is “emo-goth girl who shops at Hot Topic circa 2003,” Galinda’s is “Barbie.” Galinda’s initially jealous that she herself doesn’t get to study with Madame Morrible. But soon enough, they become friends (best friends, even), just as Oz enters a period of social unrest.

Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, the headmistress at Shiz University.

Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures

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Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures

There’s a lot to recommend here, particularly for fans of the show – the humor is punchy, Christopher Scott’s expressive choreography enhances the characterizations, and Paul Tazewell’s costume design details are perfection. But by far the standout of Wicked is that central relationship between these two enemies-turned-friends. Erivo and Grande have the goods: both come from theater backgrounds (the former has won a Tony) but are also naturals on camera, and so they’re able to bring subtlety and grandiosity as needed. Even under the green makeup and against the backdrop of some hideously overwhelming CGI aesthetics, their chemistry is undeniable, whether they’re bickering during one of the show’s highlights, “What Is This Feeling?” or finding common ground during the show-stopping Act I finale “Denying Gravity.”

This is most palpable during the big Ozdust Ballroom sequence, in which Elphaba, once again ostracized by her classmates, defiantly reacts to their laughter with dance, and Galinda, feeling empathy for possibly the first time ever, joins her. It’s both the most musical theater-y thing that could happen in this most musical theater-y of shows, and gets at the essence of the show’s enduring appeal.

A timely allegory — to a tune

Meanwhile, the show’s other central concern is striking to take in at this moment. Gregory Maguire’s 1995 book is a sprawling, bleak meditation on the nature of good vs. evil, and what it means to resist or give over into fascist movements. Oz is a world where animals have evolved to be just as intelligent as humans, with the ability to talk and live just as humans do, though they’ve long faced discrimination for doing so. (In the movie Elphaba’s beloved professor Dr. Dillamond is a goat voiced by Peter Dinklage.) The paternalistic, self-anointed Wizard (Jeff Goldblum, at his Goldblum-iest) is intent on stripping Oz’s animals of their autonomy and rights, and using Elphaba’s powers to do so.

The musical, both on stage and screen, is a significantly diluted and altogether different take on Maguire’s novel. But its parallels to our real world – currently marked by calls for mass deportations, the erosion of abortion rights; etc. – are still unmistakably apparent to anyone reading today’s news.

The allegories of minority persecution are rendered even more palpable by the fact of casting Erivo, a Black woman, in the role as Wicked Witch of the West. (To date, only one Black actress has played her in an onstage production full-time: Alexia Khadime, in London’s West End over a decade ago and again in the current production.) By coding the outcast-turned-political agitator as Black – her hair is in microbraids, and save for the green makeup, Erivo’s facial features are fully visible – the realities of the world we live in are inescapable. “Her green skin is an outward manifestation of her twisted nature!” a character proclaims to the people of Oz at one point, riling them up to position Elphaba as the common enemy. Arguing that her skin – who she is – is reason enough to demonize her: It isn’t altogether different from, say, recent rhetoric used to target Haitian immigrants in Ohio.

Jonathan Bailey dances through life as Prince Fiyero as Boq (Ethan Slater) watches on.

Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures

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For all its virtues and relevance, however, it’s curious that in this two-hour-41-minute adaptation of the first act of the show – longer, it should be noted, than the entire stage production without intermission – little of substance was added to justify making this affair a two-parter. Chu and screenwriters Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox stay quite faithful to the source material (which Holzman also wrote) and there are no new songs to go alongside all of composer Stephen Schwartz’s original ones. (Reportedly Part 2 will have some new songs, which may be for the best considering Act 2’s numbers suffer in comparison to the stacked first half.) There are few attempts to incorporate more of Maguire’s excessive lore from the book, and other secondary characters, like Elphaba’s younger sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) and romantic interest Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) aren’t fleshed out any more than they are in show.

The result is a movie that, while pleasant and occasionally moving, concludes with its apex (“Defying Gravity”) which also happens to be a cliffhanger. It’s an unusually and exceedingly peculiar state – both complete and incomplete at the same time. The feeling isn’t quite loathing, exactly. But it is a bit tiresome, especially since it likely means we have to expect yet another full year of a Wicked press tour. Like its predecessor, it’s an imperfect production that has a lot of heart and brains. If it only had the courage to tell a complete story in a reasonable amount of time.

Actor, musician and entrepreneur Selena Gomez grew up speaking Spanish, but says she gradually lost her fluency when her family moved from Texas to California so she could work in the entertainment industry.

“I got my first job at 7, and most of my jobs from that point on were English,” Gomez says. “And I just lost [my Spanish]. That’s kind of the case for a lot of people, especially Mexican American people.”

Gomez’s latest film, the musical Emilia Pérez, offered a chance to regain some of her fluency. The film tells the story of a Mexican drug lord who undergoes gender-affirming surgery. Gomez plays the cartel leader’s wife, who knows nothing about the transition. Gomez says she spent nearly half a year taking language lessons to prepare for the role:

“I wish I just knew a lot more than I do. But I think that’s why I try to honor my culture as much as possible — from releasing an album in Spanish to wanting to pursue this movie,” she says. “And I don’t think it’ll be the last thing I do in Spanish.”

Gomez is a Grammy Award-nominated musician with a string of top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. She also stars in the mystery comedy series Only Murders in the Building, alongside comedy legends Steve Martin and Martin Short.

“These two actors … have been working longer than I’ve been alive,” Gomez says of Martin and Short. “They’re humorous, smart and wise. And they’ll sit down and talk to our camera guy and ask how his daughter’s doing. And it just, to me, was a very good place for me to start back into acting. It just was safe. And it was so fun. And they made it feel like it was home.”

Interview highlights

On “Mi Camino,” the song she sings in Emilia Pérez

It was one of the most emotional songs that I got to record during the process of shooting this movie. And I remember just singing it and thinking to myself: This could have been my song. And this could have been a song on an album I would put out personally because it’s so well said and it feels very true to who I am, to where I am. I think that when I do make mistakes, I don’t feel like I should or necessarily need to be punished for them. It’s something that I feel like I need to grow and learn from. And I think that sometimes there’s been moments in my career where people weren’t allowing me to grow up, weren’t allowing me to make choices that wasn’t exactly what they thought I should be doing.

On getting cast in the children’s show Barney & Friends

I was 7 when I auditioned for Barney, which is the big purple dinosaur, if people don’t remember. But I was in line. It was 1,400 kids, and it was in Texas, and I waited in line for a while and I just thought, here’s my chance. I could do something really cool. … I didn’t know I could reach further than that. At that point. I just thought, this is something I really want to do and I hope I get it. And I went to three rounds of callbacks — they were very serious about that Barney back in the day — and I got the part and … the first time I stepped foot on the set of Barney, it was magical. Not to mention I’m 7 and … the sets are gorgeous. And I just got the bug immediately. I loved it. It was fun. I had school there as well, a bunch of kids I got to grow up with. And at the same time, maybe Barney taught me how to clean and how to say “I love you.” 

On her complicated relationship with her Disney years

I don’t regret or dislike Disney. I think Disney gave me my platform and I will forever owe them for that because I was able to do incredible things. … My frustration has not necessarily ever been with Disney. It’s just been with the idea that people would not take anything I was saying seriously if it was me talking about philanthropy, if it was me wanting to talk about something important. … Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m 32 and now I’m doing a reunion of Wizards of Waverly Place, and I’m back and I’m proud.

On how her parents protected her when she was a child actor

My mom and my stepdad specifically, made sure that they held up these boundaries that sometimes I’d get mad, but they were necessary. You know, for example, you’re inviting kids to this beautiful premiere, and then they’re walking the carpet and experiencing all this attention, and that can be overwhelming. Then I have the after party, and that’s when kids can come and all the adults start drinking and all the stuff starts going on at a very young age. My mom said, “You’re there to walk the carpet for your job, but then you’re going home.” … My mom never let me go into any room without her. … My mom was very protective of me in the best possible way. And though maybe it didn’t make much sense to me then, I could not be more grateful now.

“It is very difficult to keep a straight face when you’re talking to them about anything because they simply exude and radiate comedy,” Gomez says of her Only Murders in the Building co-stars Steve Martin (left) and Martin Short (right).
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On being treated for lupus and finding relief in her bipolar diagnosis

I was in the ICU for a few weeks and then I had to undergo a slight chemotherapy … and by the grace of whatever you believe, I was able to put it in remission. So I will always have lupus, but it is in remission, thankfully. But it wasn’t necessarily that that fixed everything and definitely fixed my health. … So my body was feeling great. But I was still just so confused as to why I had all these things and I wasn’t happy. I understood that I had circumstances that made me unhappy, but I knew deep down that I was feeling things intensely, way too high and way too low. …

I would say my diagnosis [with bipolar] was actually a huge relief. … So I know people may think, that’s scary, that that means she’s crazy. To me, that gave me answers and my knowledge gave me freedom and now I am being treated for all of it. And I feel completely level headed. … I’m really grateful I found my balance.

Ann Marie Baldonado and Thea Chaloner produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Beth Novey adapted it for the web.