I've long enjoyed Wicked ever since I read the Gregory Maguire book back in 1995. It was a twisted retelling of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the "wicked" witch of the west's point of view. Clever and very inventive.
A few years later, Winnie Holzman adapted the Maguire book for a Broadway play with Stephen Schwartz supplying the music and lyrics. Loved the songs, which was all I knew for a few years until the production started going on a national tour (though I would have loved to have seen Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel on Broadway!). I saw it the second time it came to Pittsburgh and loved it.
I liked the first Wicked movie, but honestly, did not love it. The leads, Ariana Grande and Cynthis Erivo were both fantastic, but I felt John Chu and the production designers made every scene twice as big as it needed to be, and that detracted from the performances at times.
And then there was the way "Defying Gravity" was staged at the end. That's such a magnificent song, having the song start and stop multiple times was a big disappointment.
I went to see Wicked For Good today and liked it a little better than the first Wicked movie. John Chu seemed to have better control over the smaller, quieter scenes.
