This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Jeff Malone: Welcome to Half Hour with Jeff & Richie, the podcast where we explore the latest shows we see, sharing our insights and opinions on the performances, storylines, and everything in between. In today's episode, we're discussing Part 1 of the film adaptation of WICKED. Whether you haven't seen the film in person or you want to expand your thoughts after seeing it, this episode is for you. And as always, we want to inform you that this episode will contain spoilers. So if you're ready to dive into this film, stick around with us. I'm Jeff.

[0:26] Richie Grasso: And I'm Richie, and we're thrilled to be your host for this episode. But before we start the conversation about WICKED, here are a few words from our advertisers.

[0:38] Jeff Malone: Welcome everyone to a new episode of Half Hour with Jeff & Richie. Today, we're discussing Part 1 of the film adaptation of WICKED. After two decades as one of the most beloved and enduring musicals on the stage, WICKED makes its long-awaited journey to the big screen as a spectacular, generation-defining cinematic event this holiday season. WICKED, the untold story of the Witches of Oz, stars Emmy, Grammy, and Tony-award-winning powerhouse Cynthia Erivo of Harriet and Broadway's The Color Purple, as Elphaba, a young woman misunderstood because of her unusual green skin who has yet to discover her true power, and Grammy-winning, multi-platinum recording artist and global superstar Ariana Grande as Glinda, a popular young woman, gilded by privilege and ambition who has yet to discover her true heart. Glinda or Gulland.

[1:30] Jeff Malone: Well, in today's episode, we're discussing Part 1 of the film adaptation of WICKED, and as always, we're going to hit you with our hot take.

[1:37] Richie Grasso: Alright, Jeff, here's my hot take on WICKED Part 1. I'm going to say that this is nearly a perfect film, and not only does it do justice to its Broadway roots, but it really elevates the story that I was not fully invested in when it was on Broadway to new heights. I'm eagerly anticipating Part 2.

[2:02] Jeff Malone: Totally. This was one of the best films I've ever seen. I mean, truly, certainly for a musical movie adaptation. I mean, it's up there as one of the best. I mean, oh my gosh. I was blown away by this in so many ways. I was crying at times, I was laughing at times. I don't think I breathed in the last five minutes of this. My heart was in my throat, and I just can't wait to dive into this. I loved every second of it.

[2:29] Richie Grasso: Let's do it. Let's go.

[2:32] Jeff Malone: So yes, you had said earlier, this show has been on Broadway for many years, it's been touring for many years, it's a book. It's Stephen Schwartz music. We've been waiting for a film forever. At first, when I heard this was going to be broken into two parts, I was skeptical. I was like, what? What are you talking about? But when Jon M. Chu said, it's very difficult to move past, to find gravity in the same sitting, I totally get it. On Broadway, you need to stand up, you need to be like, whoa, oh my gosh, what an Act 1 finale. So it made sense here to do that. Do I not like that we have to wait a whole other year for Part 2?

[3:06] Richie Grasso: Yeah, I mean, I would say that's probably the one thing that's a little annoying, is waiting for Part 2. But it makes sense, because if they want to be considered for any Academy Awards, you're not opening your Part 2 in the spring, you're not opening your Part 2 in the summer. Although, I do think they're going to be more recognized for Part 1 anyway, since that's, in my opinion, the better part.

[3:26] Jeff Malone: We're not even going to go into Part 2 yet. But yes, we know that Part 1 is basically the history of Glinda and Elphaba, leading up to Dorothy's adventure in Oz. And I think what this film does so well, is it takes a book and a score that's already working extremely well on the stage, and it just fine-tunes it. It finesses it, it adds, it sprinkles cherries and sprinkles on top. Doesn't remove songs, it doesn't rework orchestrations of a song to make it sound different. It doesn't do so many things like that. Instead, it just finesses and finesses and finesses, and just delicately adds layers and elements that we want and that we need, right?

[4:12] Richie Grasso: Yeah, I do want to talk a little tiny bit before we get into the overall, let's call it the film of this, not the production, because it's not. The film of this. But when we talk about plot and concept here, and why I kind of want to bring this into the episode, is because I don't think that the stage musical has enough time to deliver the plot that we actually need and that we're actually getting from this film. And a lot of people would tell me, oh, well, just do your research after you see the musical. But if I think back to when I first saw the musical on stage, I thought that there were many pieces missing from the stage production that you kind of really got out of this film. Which is why if you read the book, you know, but also, yes, the film takes a lot from the book.

And when I said two and a half hours, but the first act is only an hour and 20 minutes. But it makes sense because they're just developing more plot. They're developing this whole backstory further with the animals losing their rights. But I think that's needed. You know, one of the reviewers, actually, a couple of the reviewers think that that whole plot point is pointless, and they don't actually think it's needed. And I say, did you literally watch the film? Because it is the most important part to this whole thing.

[5:31] Jeff Malone: And it's her reasoning for wanting to evoke this change in her society as much as one of the reasons anyway, right? I mean, she's so motivated to help the helpless. And so, also, we have to remember just with this concept, America has a borderline infatuation with the Wizard of Oz. It is one of the most iconic films of American film history ever. You're dealing with major, major groundbreaking to me is that 1939 film was groundbreaking for its time. And here we are in 2024 with another groundbreaking film, another film that's using a hybrid of a little bit of CGI, not too much, because we're building actual scenery. We're putting people on actual boats and water, and we're actually using the aesthetics of the locale to the advantage of this land.

It makes you feel like this land is living and breathing and materialistic, and it's not just all computers, computers, computers. And I think that when we realize when you have America infatuated with the Wizard of Oz, the prequel becomes important, and they glue this to that original movie. And so, you've been hearing about it the last two days. You just keep hearing me say, but this glues to the movie this way, but this glues to the movie this way, because there's so much glue to the actual hell-frank-bomb book of the Wizard of Oz. And that's what Gregory McGuire, I think, did so well, and Winnie Holtzman and Stephen Schwartz did so well, is they took source material and they didn't just say, let's just do this and that and call it a day. They rooted their meaning into every little detail of that original story. It's fascinating.

[7:07] Richie Grasso: I do find this actually to be—a lot of people know me, so I'm going to just say it on here. I've never been the biggest fan of Wicked. I like Wicked. It's great. I find the hype and the fans of Wicked to be a little over the top, but guess what? We're all over the top about things that we love, so it's fine. But I find that why I go back to this sometimes where the musical didn't really hit the mark for me is probably what I understand what their original reviewers were saying about the show. The show was clunky in the beginning, and this one is really elevating this piece and pulling in the aspects of it. I'm finally watching this more as an adult now, saying, oh, to have the source material of the Wizard of Oz and to bring in the untold story of the witches and create that narrative for them is so genius in a way.

[8:04] Jeff Malone: Because you watch this iconic film and someone like Gregory Maguire had to sit and say, why do witches hate each other so much? Why is Dorothy forced to kill one of them? Why is this happening? And then you realize—and I will say, going to this specific film—I still keep going back to the opening. That opening to me is brilliant, because there's the hat, there's the bucket of water, and there's Dorothy and them walking with the broomstick and the hat, the broomstick. And I'm like, oh my god. Oh my god. I don't know. I got chills at that moment. I was like—and you hear, I think it's Madame Horrible, someone saying, fellow Ozians, the Witchkin witch is dead. And it is rejoicing. The whole Munchkinland is so happy. And in my head, I'm like, no, no.

[9:55] Richie Grasso: —The stiff hand.

[9:56] Jeff Malone: —What's a windstiff?

[9:58] Richie Grasso: —Well, you know that, like, you're going to hear her whole story right now, but she's dead. But I just loved that you saw them walking down that yellow brick road, and there's the hat. And if you looked at the hat in the reflection, the hat upside down is the tornado. There's so much happening here.

[10:17] Richie Grasso: —I mean, that's where the Easter eggs start throughout this film, and I really think that was the big one, because we were all like, how are they incorporating Dorothy into this piece? If you really start thinking back to some of the original trailers, we see a different image of Dorothy. We see the image of Dorothy and the Tin Man and the Scarecrow and the Lion, I think, getting to Oz in one of the trailers.

[10:26] Jeff Malone: I felt everything in the first 10 minutes of this film.

[10:29] Richie Grasso: —But you really get that from Glinda, because you're like, okay, so she's conformed to the societal norm that they wanted her to conform by. That's why she lights the witch on fire. Should we just get into the production, the overall film?

[10:45] Jeff Malone: So I think it was the Super Bowl one.

[10:45] Jeff Malone: —Let's go into the film, and we'll go into some performances. And of course, let's go take a quick break, though, for some messages from those that make the show possible.

[10:48] Richie Grasso: —I think it's why we're going to get some more Dorothy in part two, because we know Dorothy is prevalent in part two. So there was just that light moment. And then when we go to Munchkinland, and the Munchkins are rejoicing, and they're rejoicing, and there's Ariana. And if you know this, you're saying, oh my gosh, this has got to be so difficult for her, because she's trying to put this face on like, yeah, she's dead. And then it's that question, weren't you her friend? And she said, yes, many years ago. But she took that torch and lit that statue on fire. I'm like, oh my god, this is really getting me. I'm like, oh my god, this is really...

[10:54] Richie Grasso: Okay, so we're continuing on with this brilliant film. Where did you want to go next with it?

[10:59] Jeff Malone: —Let's just start with the direction first, because I'm gonna do something that I haven't really done yet on the podcast, which is I'm gonna praise Jon M. Chu on this, because by far, this is what I needed to see from him. I was very, very skeptical when I knew that he was attached to this project, because I know his use of CGI in films. I know his use of bringing more pop-sounding things to his films. And I don't always love that, because I love when things say true brotherhood.

[11:32] Richie Grasso: To the actual musical, which she kept all of that in this. And I think that was super important because this is the musical we needed to see from him do that. For example, the animals being CGI makes complete sense here. Oh, the flying monkeys, Dr. Dillamant and other animals that are left. It didn't bother me. It makes complete sense. That's not the CGI that bothers me. It bothers me when I see unrealistic things happening with humans that it takes me out of the perspective. I think my only critique, this is why I say it's nearly a perfect film, is there was a few moments at the end where the CGI was getting a little too much when she's on her broom and she's going around. And I'm just saying, okay, the perspective seems off again.

And that's my own line. Pretty fast. And she's falling pretty fast. Sometimes she or she looks too small or she looks too big. And I'm like, no, that's where we have to get a little bit, just a tiny bit better with just matching that perspective to the human eye. But then to me, that was so minor compared to everything else. I understand what you're saying. But, you know, when you look at and we talk about Easter eggs, for those of you who may not even know what that term means, I feel like that's such a Taylor Swift term. What are the hints? What are the clues? What are we getting? And it's very clear that there is such homage to the original film when she's got the lion cub in the basket of the bike and she's riding.

It's literally Elmira Gulch with Toto in the basket right there. We have these moments of, well, we had a few moments with Easter eggs with, you know, the lion where we're meeting the lion cub and that becomes the cowardly lion and the wizard of Oz. You know, you see box gestures throughout the films. They're very Tin Man-esque. So they brought that in there. And spoilers for those of you who haven't seen this play or don't know part two yet, the spoilers are coming. So we warned you, if you know the play, we're going to go into some part two. Just so y'all know. Should we not do it then? We already did. So we're going to keep going with it. But yes, we understand that there's references of fear, but if you listen to Fiyero's lyrics all the time, thoughtless.

Okay, I'll go with a few more basic Easter eggs then. You know, you hear the melody of follow the yellow brick road in one short day, which I thought was a great Easter egg. The multiple rainbows foreshadowing the wizard of Oz that we keep seeing throughout, you know, one of the greatest scenes I think that we saw in this film was the Wizard of Oz sequence with Elphaba here, because just watching her from child to adult-ish things happening in that scene, it was filmed so well. Well, The Wizard of Oz is probably my favorite song in the whole show, if not top three, right? I mean, the song has all the Easter eggs in it to begin with, with so many things. It's the Somewhere Over the Rainbow Judy Garland moment of the I Want song mixed with the Elphaba I Want song, and when she runs up that hill and she gets to the very end for half of Oz's favorite team and she stops and then she's staring at a rainbow, I started tearing up.

I said, this is literal exactly what needs to happen here. It needs to be reminded that the land of Oz is over the rainbow. She's on the other end of the rainbow, maybe looking at it at the same time Dorothy Gale is over in Kansas at the same rainbow. That's just, to me, connectivity at its finest for film work. The Wizard of Oz was great, but the choreo in What Is This Feeling was brilliant, and the popular sequence was just the dancing for all of it. One Short Day is spectacle on film like I've never seen. It's such brilliant choreography and costume design and colors and beauty. I found that the film was able to do something a little different, and I think John was really able to bring you in closer to get the actual reactions between Elphaba and Glinda, to actually see how they're building their relationship.

That you can't get from the stage. It's very hard to connect with them on facial expressions and also just how fast-paced the actual stage production moves. This, you were able to just take it down slightly and really connect with them and then watch them and their story arcs with each other, because they don't like each other in the beginning. You see when she enters the Ozdust Ballroom in Dancing Through Life, that moment of them dancing together in the circle, the winks, the head nods, the gestures, you see the relationship forming. It's pretty brilliant.

[16:27] Jeff Malone: Well, Dancing Through Life becomes one of the most important songs and sequences throughout the whole piece because you have all of the characters really in their development phase in that song. If you're not sitting and studying and watching that number, you have to watch each one of them and see what they're doing in that moment. Who likes who? Who doesn't like that one? Who wants to be friends with this one? And what are they trying to achieve with their own careers almost in this space? You get the Madame Morrible wizard connection a lot more when she's writing the letter to him. If you don't know her, and I even feel like when I saw the show long ago, I'm like, oh Madame Morrible, she's just the teacher there, but she's such an integral part of this plot.

I keep saying that to people, no one understands how extremely vital Madame Morrible is to this whole thing is because of her. The wizard is obviously horrible, but he's dumbfounded. Like, oh, I'm kind of in the wrong place here. I really shouldn't be here. Jeff Goldblum has worked for that. I know he's got a big song in act two coming up, or the part two, but he's just enjoyable in that. What I really enjoyed was Michelle Yeoh's stance of, oh, she is going to ruin everything right now. You see it at the end of this film, the scenes where you have Madame Morrible and the wizard and Glinda and Elphaba and the monkey transforming with the wings. That whole scene is so, and I say this in the most respectful way, the most uncomfortable scene because everybody is uncomfortable there.

Cynthia Erivo is like, wait, I can read this grimmery. You can't. I just cast a spell. You made me. This poor monkey is hurt now. How do I save them? I'm getting out of here. And then Madame Morrible's response is, I'm going to tell the whole world you're coming. That's crazy to me from a plot perspective. And even the wizard, did you notice there was a pan across? His office was flying with papers and he was like, you almost look at him like he's looking out like, what did I do? Yeah, you know, I mean, there's so many like this could be like a five episode. I know there's so much going on here.

[18:39] Richie Grasso: You go so deep into like the actual meanings behind things. You know, you have two different witches here. You have Glinda and you have Elphaba. They both, you know, one actually wants to be a witch, but can't. And the other one is a witch and can't figure out how to use that to our advantage without the help of guidance to get these spells cast correctly, and the animals. You have this hierarchy and you have these rulers that need a pawn in their board game here, which is Elphaba. And they nurture her and train her to get there. But she figures them out too quickly. But they use almost like propaganda by the end of this to actually say she's the bad person. Meanwhile, the whole time she just wanted good.

She just wanted the real leaders, which were the animals, which we kind of find out to continue to teach and rule. And instead they're taking that away. And not to mention, but they're using her to take it away with. That's not what she wanted at all. And that's why you see Madame Morrible taking Glinda away at the end. Like, come on, let's go. We're going to because, you know, thank goodness starts part two, which is a whole Glinda and Madame Morrible like we're going to be fine, everyone. But it's just fascinating. Not to mention you have when Glinda is giving her a hat out of a bully tactic and embarrasses her. She then gives her a cape out of love and literally builds the silhouette of a witch from her not having those iconic hat broomstick and cape moments to being built into this powerful person at the end.

It's fascinating stuff in this film. We also have Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth cameo, which is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. You know, I knew Kristin Chenoweth was going to be and I didn't know Idina Menzel was going to be it. I really tried to not get any of the spoilers because I just wanted to have that wow factor. And when they showed up on the screen, I said. I know, I know. And then you have other fun cameos here. You have Killa Settle has some great moments here. Bowen Yang has amazingly funny moments in this wonderful character that is Fanny was actually included in the earliest versions of the Wicked musical was cut from the Broadway show. So I love how that's kind of been put back in here as a sense of like, you know, Glinda kind of needs her friends, you know, of sorts to kind of be at her side.

There's so much going on here. And I do want to get to the ending. We have to talk about the ending. We need to talk about just Academy Award thoughts too. We're running out of time. So let's go over there. But first, here's a few messages from our sponsors.

[21:11] Richie Grasso: We get to the end of this film, and I'm like, how are they doing defying gravity? How did you? I'm just I'm just ripping my chair because I'm like, oh, my God, it really started for me when we were getting a little borderline scary with those flying monkeys, really losing it. And I started getting like when she said, I hurt them. Yeah. And she's like, no, no, no. And then and then when Madame Morrible comes out and says she did this to you, she did this to you. I'm like, oh, my God, this is like crazy. And then they go in. And when Glinda's running for her and she's like being bashed through the window, we got a jump. Harry, I was like, oh, my gosh, this is frightening. Like the world is starting to really react now to this.

And when they go up, I love the hot air balloon moment. That was so original in the sense of like the wizard came here on that. We know the wizard leaves here on that. And they couldn't leave here often. Right. They were supposed to and they couldn't get out. And so but it's all about elevation. Get to the highest point. Defy the gravity. Literally, figuratively get up when they couldn't go any further. It took a broomstick to get her further up and then for her fall down to see her reflection and her younger self. That was so, so emotional for me to watch that struggle of her to get that power to defy that and move forward up in the sky. It was brilliantly shot. It was brilliant. I just leading up that last ten minutes.

You're like you're just you're not breathing because you're like, you know what's going to happen, but you don't know how they're going to do it. I thought it was probably the best thing of the whole the film, obviously, because you're just like, this is it. This is it. You know exactly why they had to end part one here and not go straight into part two, because you can't. It's like the epic of epics right there.

[23:05] Richie Grasso: And you know, I found the breaking up of the actual song to have that extended dialogue totally worked. You so needed it; it added the film element to the piece overall, and it also let them—you really got to have a connection between Glinda and Elphaba in that moment because I sit there and I'm like, wait, was Glinda gonna go with her? I know we listen to the lyrics, and in the lyrics, they're talking about going in different directions. Elphaba's going on her own path because she's not gonna conform to what the hierarchy wants of her, but Glinda, you know, that's the life she's choosing. That's what she wants to do; she wants to fall in line and continue on, and she wants to almost be the puppet of what they're told to do.

Elphaba is not; she's going to defy that and move on. But there is that one moment they were sitting there that I don't think you fully get from the stage production. You really, really get this moment of saying she was gonna go with Elphaba. I really think so, but it all changes now because they're gonna have their good moment. We know that they're gonna see each other again; they see each other the second Dorothy leaves Munchkin land, and they say, "What happened here? My sister's dead." And well, this is what you're gonna see—all that, of course, like because now we're gonna see Dorothy, really how all this works together. But I also want to say a huge character in this whole thing that I really hope people realize—I am such an advocate for this—does anybody realize the elevated level of orchestration in this film?

I don't think people understand that on Broadway, it's maybe 20 people playing that score, ish, and this had to have been over a hundred people playing this score. It was gorgeous—elevated horn section, elevated string section, elevated percussion, elevated woodwinds—all the instruments are highly, highly elevated. I believe Stephen Arimas worked on this, who did the original, and with the orchestration, the music direction of this vocal—maybe there were two-part harmonies; now we have three and four and five and six-part harmonies. Like, elevated vocal—elevated! This piece is so elevated because of paying musicians and funding films correctly to put a large number of musicians, and we can't forget that that is what is causing our emotional connection to this is because it elevated orchestration.

And so I'll always sit and say, "Oh, why did they make this a four-piece combo band on this Broadway show?" Because you are stripping away essential emotional connection when you do not elevate an orchestra to the fullest, and I will always be an advocate for that. And also with that, they brought in multiple themes throughout the full film of foreshadowing certain songs like "Popular" and "What Is This Feeling?" and "Defying Gravity" throughout, and you're like, "Oh, that's perfect!" Just to hear it when you've really needed to remember, like, you know, when Glinda's talking to Elphaba early on, and they're playing moments of "Popular" behind it, and you're like, "Oh, she's getting ready; she's gonna do it for her."

It's so smart—it's beyond! It's so smart! There's a lot of emotional attachment. I've always loved the film; it was like one of my first movies as a kid, and I watched it endlessly. I actually—we talked when we left the theater of this about maybe going back to re-watch "The Wizard of Oz" movie again just to kind of connect some dots again and see, like, how smart it was for the team to look at that original film and say, "How can we connect this and that and this and that?" It could be smart to do before that—give us something wicked-esque to watch before the next movie comes out. But this is nearly perfect, as you said, Jeff. I felt every—I have to go back; I just have to go back before it leaves the theaters.

We saw it in IMAX; we highly recommend the surround sound IMAX experience. If you can only see it in a regular theater, that's fine too, but to get the elevated screen—there is a 3D version playing out there; I wonder how that would be in 3D. I'm not sure, maybe, but I heard some people said it wasn't worth it. Yeah, you don't need to; they said see it in IMAX. You want to make sure you're getting the surround sound from that. I don't know if anyone has seen it in the 4DX yet because I could only imagine what that's like—it's probably crazy cool! And just so, listen, if you're going—this is on Broadway still, go check this out on Broadway if you want. The ticket sales are really high for this, or you know, re-watch the first movie, work, or read the book.

You know, there's so much you can be doing. I kind of think I want to read the—I have—we have it. I mean, I read it a long time ago, and the book is dark, you know? But this is dark, and we know part two is going to get dark. It just gets very dark in part two—very unfortunate stuff happens now, and it's just fascinating to see this whole world develop the way it is. I'm just, like I said, costumes, lighting, choreography, music, scoring, and I'll end by saying Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are perfect here. I didn't really know what to expect. I've seen Cynthia live on stage; I knew the vocals were going to be perfection. I've seen Ariana Grande live in a pop concert; I knew that was going to be fun too.

But wow, what an homage to Idina and Kristen! And also, they said in an interview they were also doing an homage to Billy Burke and Margaret Hamilton from that original film too. We can't forget that those two women a long time ago originated these roles on a screen too, and what a perfect way of highlighting the respect for those women, the respect for Idina and Kristen, and now—but also make it their own. Yeah, wrap these characters up in their own way. Yeah, it's really, really brilliant to me.

[28:45] Jeff Malone: Totally! And real quick, Academy Awards—what do we think? Best Picture nomination for sure, visual effects, I'm sure. I think Ariana—I don't know if Ariana is considering supporting here and Cynthia is considered leading. I know on Broadway they were both leading, and it was actually running against each other, and Idina won over Kristen on Broadway. This could be a supporting versus leading. I don't know if both will win; maybe—I don't know what's going on with the Oscar movies right now. There's a lot coming out on Oscar buzz. They should definitely be nominated, and it should definitely win something. There's something—you know, Michelle Yeoh could also—I mean, the way she transforms in that role. And I'm also—I know we're like running out of time, but let's go to Jonathan Bailey because we didn't talk about him.

[29:28] Richie Grasso: Oh yes! He brought a completely different view to Fiyero.

[29:35] Jeff Malone: Yes! Yes! You feel so—he's like, oh, not that Fiyero was never a nice guy, but you always thought he was just like this cool guy in this school, and now you're like, oh, like, no, he has such sympathy for the animals, for the women in this that he's dancing with and falling in love with. And he just—he encompassed the character so well. I mean, do you think he could get nominated?

[29:56] Richie Grasso: Maybe! I mean, I think this could get a lot of nominations, but also I wonder if—like maybe someone like Ariana gets—she could—Ariana could win this Academy Award. I think maybe Cynthia wins too, or maybe Cynthia wins for the next movie. I know Elphaba has a lot to do in part two, so maybe that's—maybe they're gonna look at it like that. I don't know. I did hear the rumor that they were submitting Ariana for supporting, so...

[30:17] Jeff Malone: Oh yeah, maybe they have a thought that, you know, Elphaba—and it could be like a Cynthia Erivo could be up for leading and Ariana for supporting. I mean, that would make more sense in my opinion so that they're not competing against each other. But I think John could be nominated for direction of this.

[30:34] Richie Grasso: Oh, it took a lot for him to take the cinematography! I mean, cinematography could win. I mean, design, sound design definitely—you know, this definitely could be—see a lot. So let's hope that costumes—I mean, the wardrobe department must have been very busy back there on that show. Props to the hundreds of—probably hundreds of people working on those costumes. Yeah, impressive!

[31:05] Jeff Malone: Oh my god, I could talk about this and talk about this! Maybe we need to do another, like, six-month mark. Hey, remember "Wicked Part One"? We'll go in June; we'll be like, "Let's get ready for 'Wicked Part Two'!" But, uh, final thoughts on "Wicked Part One" film, Jeff?

[31:19] Richie Grasso: If you're not seeing this in the movie theater, you're not seeing it in the way that it was meant to be seen. So I highly recommend you seeing it when it's still in the theater. It's not going to be the same on your television screen. I mean, it will do some justice, but you need that original intent of seeing it in the theater.

[31:37] Jeff Malone: Totally! So go check it out! And I hold movie musicals to a very high bar because I have such respect for them, and I sometimes see movie musicals that just don't work. I still find some of the golden age ones to be nearly perfect in my mind too—not all, but some. And so when I saw "Chicago" break ground as the big movie musical of the new 21st century, re-kickstarting the movie musical era, and that is a nearly perfect movie musical in my opinion too. "Cabaret," there's so many, right? But then you look at this, and I say, nope, it's right up there! This is nearly perfect for me in every sense of the word. This is the movie musical that needed to relight the fire of putting up good work again on the screen because I think we had a few over the last, you know, five to ten years that really were not doing it. You know, they were just pumping them out.

[32:25] Richie Grasso: But—and the big thing, a real quick question—what would you want John M. Chu to direct next in terms of the movie musical world?

[32:35] Jeff Malone: Oh, that has not been done yet? Because I see this—this is on the theater boards out there talking about this. Give—I'm just waiting for a movie musical adaptation of "Ragtime" at this point, so please give me that! Or please give me "Aida." We're waiting for an "Aida" movie, please! I do it! Yeah, there's just so much we can have. I don't know; I think you're gonna start—I think you're gonna agree with this. I saw someone write this, and they said he should do "A Chorus Line."

[33:01] Richie Grasso: Oh gosh, I'll cry my eyes out in that!

[33:08] Jeff Malone: Yes! We have a very bad movie of "A Chorus Line" from the '80s—like, very, very bad! So yeah, we could totally get that! Yeah, I mean, there's a lot in the wings that are still—I think he actually could do a really great job at "A Chorus Line," but I also think he could do a really great job at "Spring Awakening," totally! I also think we could get a "Sunset Boulevard" movie with the music—the musical movie up there. And we've been wanting a "Gypsy" revival movie for a long time, and I think when the barbershop was supposed to happen, I think John could bring us a really dark "Gypsy" too. I did—there's so much! Like, John should just stay! Let's just keep John around for Broadway's purposes, but also for the movie musical industry to just keep pumping them out. He's so good at what he does!

[33:51] Richie Grasso: There we go! Oh my gosh, we're running so far over! Okay, that wraps up our discussion of the episode. We hope you enjoyed our deep dive into "Wicked Part One." We will share the link with the ticket information in our description. We'll just go to any movie theater right now, and remember, we want to hear from you! Continue the conversation with us on Instagram at @HalfHourPodcast and let us know your thoughts on "Wicked." If you enjoyed our show, please leave us a review; your feedback helps us bring more theater to you. Remember, you can listen to past episodes and stay tuned for upcoming ones as well. Last thing I'll say, Jeff, we don't have an official "Wicked" on Broadway podcast episode yet. Someone was wondering if we did. We only have this movie one. Time will tell; maybe we got to go back to Broadway and do a little proper episode. We'll see! Until next time, I'm Jeff...

[34:32] Richie Grasso: ...and I'm Richie saying tata for now! Bye!