Transcript
Announcer (0:00)
Support for npr and the following message come from 20th century studios with ella mckay, a new comedy from academy award winning writer director james l. Brooks starring emma mackey, jamie lee curtis with albert brooks and woody harrelson. See ella mckay. Only in theaters december 12th.
Linda Holmes (0:23)
Last year's film adaptation of the musical Wicked, a smash hit that earned 10 Oscar nominations, was only the first half of the story. Now it's time for the second half with more songs, more magic, more extravagant production design and more belting.
Aisha Harris (0:40)
Wicked for Good is every bit as splashy as the first installment, but can it match the impact of its predecessor and live up to the hype? I'm Aisha Harris.
Linda Holmes (0:50)
And I'm Linda Holmes. And today we are talking about Wicked for Good on Pop Culture happy hour from npr. Joining us today is Waylon Wong. She's the co host of NPR's Daily Economics podcast, the Indicator from Plant Planet Money. Hello, Waylon.
Waylon Wong (1:05)
Hi, everyone.
Linda Holmes (1:06)
Also with us is journalist and host of the podcast Seated Trevel Anderson. Welcome back, Trevel.
Trevel Anderson (1:13)
Hello, hello, hello, hello.
Linda Holmes (1:17)
So Wicked for Good picks up the story, which is, as you probably know, a Wizard of Oz prequel, with Elphaba, played by Cynthia Erivo, having fled Oz to prepare to fight the wizard and Madame Morrible and who have cemented their power over Oz. Galinda, on the other hand, played by Ariana Grande, is living it up, now known as Glinda the Good, floating through life on the arm of Fierro, played by newly minted sexiest man alive, Jonathan Bailey. Elphaba, now branded the Wicked Witch by those who want everyone to distrust her, is also edging closer and closer to confrontation with a certain young girl from Kansas who is blown into Oz by a cyclone. Ra references to the wizard of Oz become more prominent and sometimes more provocative as the story continues to look at who is bad and who is good with a critical eye. Wicked for Good is in theaters now. I'm gonna start with you, Waylon. You were with us to talk about the first Wicked, which I know you really liked. How did you like this one?
Waylon Wong (2:18)
I also really enjoyed this one. I think it justifies its existence and then some, which sounds like very faint praise, I realize, but I was a little bit apprehensive going into this one about could they justify the length that it is and is there enough here? Because for me, the second half of the musical is weaker than the first half. So I had my misgivings heading into this and honestly, I was again blown away by the performances. There are some real showstoppers in here that I just loved, and I think this movie hits so many emotional high points for me. So when I gave myself over to the emotions of it, I really, really had a nice time. And we can talk about this later. I do think that this movie has a little bit of a Glinda character development problem that it couldn't get to the bottom of. But that is, I think, a minor note in the grand scheme of things.
