Once again, hats off to Universal. The beauty of Holzman and Schwartz’s musical, aside from the catchy songs and painstaking plot, is that it completely reimagines the classic events of 1939 and explores the possibilities of the green-skinned witch, Elphaba (Erivo). It’s about creating a new world. and her on-off friend Glinda, the quintessential It girl. If you’ve seen the film for the first time, you’re probably thinking about the kind of inspirational, Dumbledore-esque mentorship in which college president Mrs. Morrible, played by Michelle Yeoh, wants young women to reach their potential. You would think it would be someone. Yoh’s dialogue in the trailer feels a little robotic. “Once you learn to tap into your emotions, the sky is the limit.” But if you know what Morrible is trying to do, it works.
Similarly, those who don’t know Jonathan Bailey, who plays Fiyero, Elphaba’s lover, may think he’s not a good fit for the powerful Erivo. But Bailey (who was insanely captivating as the Viscount in Bridgerton and distractingly good as the hacker in Doctor Who) is an inspired choice. He and Erivo are the kind of crafty actors who know exactly how to subvert expectations, make us whimper, and/or generate sexual heat. If anyone can make Elphaba and Fiyero sing, it’s these two.
Come to think of it, the trailer makes it seem embarrassing that the movie you’ll see in November is a musical. Similar to the trailers for Wonka and the recent Mean Girls movie musical, the trills are kept to a minimum. But that little riff at the end (which gives us a slice of Defying Gravity that we’ve never heard before) allows Erivo to rip. Her voice is frighteningly good, and this movie still has the potential to be sinister.
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