Movie

[Glebb]

Posted: 6/9/04 at 7:40pm

Will WICKED make a good movie?
I'm worried I will not see it live with the Chenoweth and Menzel and from listening to the CD all day (and night) it seems like perfection in casting.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 6/9/04 at 7:44pm

well, there have been so many bad adaptations of musicals into movies (a chorus line to name a few.) If done correctly then yes it could. It would have great special effects and truly be a sight to see on the screen, much like the stage show. But if they do anything wrong it could be a disaster. It's truly a show that has to be handled delicately, because you have material that will suck tremendously if it is altered.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 6/9/04 at 7:53pm

There had been many rumours of a movie, not based on the musical, but the book.

Lots of "jokes" in the show that work on stage won't work on the big screen.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 6/9/04 at 7:58pm

what i meant by 'altered' wasn't like, if it was changed. I mean if they just destroy it and make it anew like they did with CABARET, movie and revival. Making the book into a movie wouldn't be so great. I didn't enjoy the book that much. the first half was great. but it died as soon as the sex came in.

[junglegirljlt]

Posted: 6/9/04 at 8:50pm

And for those of us that haven't had the opportunity to see it on Broadway, we have no clue if it's good or not.....

[Glebb]

Posted: 6/9/04 at 8:56pm

It seems as if Chenoweth and Menzel are perfectly cast. Was the show specifically written for them? What is the word on replacements?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/9/04 at 9:08pm

Perfect thread title, because what else could it possibly be about other than the Wicked movie?

I think we should start a petition now warning Universal Pictures that we will absolutely boycott the movie of Wicked if Kristin and Idina and Norbert do not recreat their roles from the stage.

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 6/9/04 at 9:09pm

Fourteen Against The World-----New Slogan for the T-Shirts

[Plum]

Posted: 6/9/04 at 9:09pm

I don't know about Chenoweth, but I do know that for a long while in the beginning (workshops, etc.) Menzel's part was played by Stephanie J. Block, who now plays Liza Minelli in The Boy From Oz.

[Jon]

Posted: 6/9/04 at 9:14pm

Galinda was originally written as a supporting role, but when Ms. Chenoweth was signed, the part was built up to a co-starring one.

[Glebb]

Posted: 6/9/04 at 9:17pm

Thanks for the info. I've been so silly on the board in the past couple of minutes I don't deserve such kindness.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/9/04 at 9:36pm

I would much rather see a film version of the novel than the musical, but there is so much more to it, it should be a trilogy. The book has much more depth and resonates with multiple current social and political metaphors that don't appear in the musical. The novel lost nothing when the sex occurred (which actually is at the beginning), but actually added more realism to the fantastical story and characters that were originally only one-dimensional. And sex is actually one of the major catalysts that drives the multi-layered plot. It is quite essential to the novel. The musical removed nearly all the adult elements of the story in order to make it a family show. Maguire matured Baum's work from children to adults and the musical reversed it back towards children again. I would love a visual depiction of the work Maguire originally created.

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 6/10/04 at 1:34am

WHOA WHOA WHOA!!!!!
Hold the spumoni!

There is SEX in WICKED?!?!?!?!
WHEN!?!?!?!
WHY?!?!?!
WHO?!?!?!

Sorry, I've never seen it. Only own the soundtrack. But I had NO IDEA!!!!
I just told a woman it was okay to take her CHILDREN to see it.

Posted: 6/10/04 at 1:38am

Flowery - question for you - and I SERIOUSLY am not implying judgement here, I'm just curious - why would you have any recommendation, one way or another, for something you haven't seen?

[Plum]

Posted: 6/10/04 at 1:53am

If you've heard the cast recording and people or critics you trust say it's good, why wouldn't you recommend it?

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 6/10/04 at 1:56am

1. I didn't say I recommended it. A woman who is going to New York with her children said she was planning to purchase tickets to Wicked and asked me if I thought it would be okay for them. I said yes.

2. I would, if the situation were to arise, recommend Wicked (among other things) based on soundtrack alone.

Posted: 6/10/04 at 2:03am

Flowery - Ok, understood. My own experience is that you can seldom get the true overall experience of a piece by the cast recording alone. There's so much that you don't have access to.

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 6/10/04 at 2:07am

You're right.

But also consider that, on soundtracks alone, I probably have more knowledge of what's on Broadway at any given time than my Mid-Western tourist friends. Therefore, I don't think it's by any means inappropriate for me to give my recommendations when they are requested, despite the fact that I have rarely seen the shows in question. :)

Posted: 6/10/04 at 2:09am

Flowery - by listening to Broadway cast recordings, you probably know more about life in general than many people - no matter where they live

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 6/10/04 at 2:12am

Thanks, DGrant.
I thoroughly and whole-heartedly enjoy that compliment.

[mallardo]

Posted: 6/10/04 at 6:59am

One thing Wicked has going for it is that it is a great story! If you haven't read the book, and don't know the plot, the 2nd Act especially is full of shocks and surprises. I think it would make a terrific movie - as a musical. Ultimately it would be paired and marketed with The Wizard of Oz and that wouldn't hurt!

[ozboy]

Posted: 6/10/04 at 8:06am

And if you have read the book it just serves to highlight how bad Wicked's [the musical] story really is. They just took the most "shocking" and "surprising" elements from the book, blew them out of proportion whilst ignoring the more important elements of the plot in a bid to shock the audience out of a hundred bucks. And it worked!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/10/04 at 10:46am

FloweryFriend - Calm down. Like I said, the sexual stuff is in the novel, not the musical. The musical was highly sanitized for family fare.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/10/04 at 11:10am

FF, it's a cast recording. Soundtracks are from movies because there's a track along the side of the celluloid that provides the sound.

Mallardo, most of the shocks and surprises in Act Two aren't in the novel at all. They were created for the stage and often make little sense.