Ariana Grande – Nothing else to say

Wicked: For Good (2025)

At the end of my review of the first Wicked film, I mentioned how I worried about the fact that, as someone who grew up a fan of the musical, the best songs were always in the first half. That is not to say that the second half hasn’t got its share of good tunes, but it is hard to compete against the likes of “Defying Gravity”, “Dancing through Life”, and “Popular” (which I did a spot on lip sync version to as a camp counselor this past summer. Just saying.)

Now, after a yearlong intermission, we are back in Oz with Wicked: For Good, and I regret to say that my fears were realized: It was not just the songs that did not live up to the first half, but the second half as a whole.

Wicked: Part 1 (2024)

“DISCOVER WHAT HAPPENED IN OZ BEFORE DOROTHY DROPPED IN!”

So said the radio ad as I sat in my room as a High Schooler, when I first heard of the musical “Wicked.” My first reaction as a theater kid was genuine: “This sounds like one of the stupidest thing I have ever heard of.” Not long after, in the band room at school, our teacher mentioned we would be performing the music of Wicked, and everyone burst into applause…including me (peer pressure is a powerful thing). A little over a year or so later, I finally saw the show on stage, and was a life long fan of what would be come possibly the biggest musical to hit the 21st century (at least until Lin Manuel Miranda came around).

I had finally trusted my instincts, closed my eyes, and took the leap.