Broadway is More than Just Singing

There are few things in this world better than Broadway. I can’t say I’m a superfan or anything, but it really is the peak of performing arts, combining the very best of singing, dancing, and acting all into one amazing live piece. Needless to say, I’ve been hoping for a Wicked movie for a while now. But no matter how excited I've been, I still can't help but feel anxious about the film. Because Broadway is more than just singing… but the casting choices don’t seem to understand that.

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As I’m writing this, I’m fully aware that I might be very, very wrong - Wicked is already getting great reviews on Rotten Tomatoes (though let’s be honest, that doesn’t seem to mean much these days). Even ordinary people on Reddit are raving about it, though it’s hard to say how ordinary they really are when they’re going to premieres and early screenings. I don’t want to say that they’re biased, but let’s be honest, they’re more likely to be superfans or just want to brag about seeing the film first. Then again, I haven't actually watched the film so I obviously don't have better insight than them.

So yeah, maybe I’m wrong… but Ariana Grande doesn’t feel like Glinda to me, and Cynthia Erivo (to a lesser degree) doesn’t feel like Elphaba.

Let’s start with Erivo, if only because she’s more of a wildcard for me. She’s at least been on Broadway before, which is a point in her favour, and I understand why casting a relatively unknown Broadway actress wouldn’t have worked. After all, onstage and onscreen acting skills are very different. She obviously has a great voice, which is pretty important for a film. But being technically skilled isn’t everything, and from what I’ve seen of her as a person, I don’t know if she can tone down her obvious self-confidence to play a role like Elphaba.

At this point, everyone knows about her disastrous Wicked PR, especially her poorly worded response to someone who edited the film’s poster to look more like the Broadway playbook. It’s definitely a choice - I doubt most people would recommend alienating the IP’s most loyal fans. But it's a sign of where I think her casting might have gone wrong. A Reddit comment described it perfectly : “she’s too mature”. Not too old, but too mature. Erivo is comfortable in herself in a way that Elphaba isn’t, she can and will stand up for herself whenever she needs to, and I can hear it in her version of “Defying Gravity”. It’s well sung, but it isn’t hitting the same emotional notes as the musical so many know and love.

What it comes down to is that Elphaba might end up losing some of her initial timidity to Erivo’s strong personality, which could seriously weaken her character arc. Nonetheless, despite my doubts, Erivo could still hit it out of the park. Ariana, though? That’s a different story.

Ariana Grande. Where to begin? I could criticise her for being a homewrecker, but that’s not relevant to her role in the film. I could compliment her undeniably amazing singing skills. But no, the best place to start is not with Ariana, but with Glinda.

Glinda is, in many ways, a classic Southern American gal - that’s why Kristin Chenoweth, from Oklahoma, was able to pull her off so well. Every word is sugar-coated, so sickly sweet that you barely register the insults she’s lobbing your way. She gets a bit better by the end, realising that being good is more important that seeming good, but she's still far from a paragon of kindness. It’s a pretty complex act to pull off and, no offense to Ariana, but I don’t think she has the intelligence or the personality to pull it off.

Judging her based on her past acting might be a bit cruel, especially since she’s (hopefully) matured since then, but every single character I’ve seen her play is a ditz. From Cat on Nickelodeon to Chanel #2 on Scream Queens and Penny in Hairspray. There’s nothing wrong with being an airhead, of course, but that’s not who Glinda is. Even in her previous most Wicked-related work, her collaboration of MIKA’s “Popular Song”, she has absolutely no personality or affect. She might be able to hit the high notes, but that's it. So unless she's somehow become a master actor in the time since, we might be seeing a Glinda who’s vapid and brain-dead rather than narcissistic and conniving.

Which again, kind of ruins it.

Maybe Wicked is as good as people say it is. Maybe it’s terrible like I’m expecting. Heck, maybe it’s a good movie and just not a good adaptation. I still haven't seen it, so I don't know. What I do know, though, is that Hollywood is making casting choices that seem to actively clash with the story they're trying to tell. If they want to stop the string of disappointments, they're going to have to stop making flashy choices like "Ariana Grande as Glinda" and start making solidly artistic ones. In fact, it's the opposite of Glinda says - it's not about how you're viewed, it's about aptitude.

If only Hollywood execs were smart enough to understand that.