[THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS]
Recently, a couple of teachers took their classes to see the musical “Wicked” at the Pantages Theatre. Of course, with any film adaptation of media, there are sure to be some changes to the plot, characters, and setting. As someone who saw the movie before the play, here are some of my thoughts concerning the differences between these stories. As a disclaimer, these are my opinions, as well as opinions of those who shared my experience of seeing the play after the movie.
Character Differences
When I watched the play, I was surprised to see how different the movie made the characters. While their names and appearance remain the same, their personalities differ quite a bit; take Elphaba, for example. In the movie, we are introduced to a misunderstood, good person. Elphaba works for what she has, cares for her sister, treats staff with kindness, and puts up with Glinda’s loathing towards her. In the play, she gets to school and immediately starts making enemies. Her tone is harsh towards those who dislike her, and she often loses her temper. We have more of a reason to hate her in the play, so it feels more sincere when we learn to love her.
These differences make it feel more abrupt when she becomes friends with Glinda, and especially every time they fight and makeup. Their constant change of relationship can feel confusing, which is why I think the movie portrayed their relationship better. Instead of feeling lost during times when they’re upset with each other and suddenly best friends again, the film shows the gradual development of their close bond.
Another choice in the movie that differs from the play is the relationship between Madame Morrible and Elphaba. This bond is, of course, broken at the end of Act 1, but for most of the movie, Madame Morrible acts as a mentor to Elphaba, which makes it more tragic when she betrays her. In the film, she’s nice to Elphaba for the most part, favoring her from the start. In the play, though, the two share a rough patch, and Morrible warns her a few times about getting too close to animal teachers, which acts as foreshadowing.
Plot Differences
The plot is where the film really differs from the theatre performance. I’m sure you’ve seen clips or cut scenes from the movie, but there are lots of other plot changes that I caught. The play features a scene halfway through the first act where Elphaba shares her lunch with Doctor Dillamond— the goat. Rather than creating foreshadowing with poppies, she simply uses an act of kindness to further their bond. On the topic of foreshadowing, there are lots of moments in the film that feel forced, like when the Wizard is choosing colors for the brick road. Moments like this could either be taken as funny or annoying. The words to the songs also feature easter eggs, but both pieces of media have these similarities.
The emotion and feel of some scenes is different in the play as well. The dance scene is a heartfelt moment in the film that establishes the unbreakable bond between the two main characters, but in the play, it’s meant to be a funny scene that accomplishes the same thing. When adapting any form of media to film, it’s important to change some moments to give the viewer the same opportunity to catch everything that they would in a play. On screen, we can see the actor's up-close feelings, which is most-likely why they chose to adapt this scene.
Lastly, there’s the obvious exclusion of the second act. In a stage show, there are usually two acts, and sometimes three. When adapting this to film, it’s difficult to draw the line of where one story ends and another begins, and I think Wicked did this perfectly. It gives us more time to see the characters evolve.
Design Differences
Obviously, a movie theatre and an actual theatre are going to feel very different to the viewer. It’s a completely opposite experience to be seated 60 feet in the air in a huge building with murals painted on the walls and live performers as compared to your living room. Cinemas help provide the live theatre feeling by allowing the viewer to sit in a comfy chair eating popcorn, but nothing can compare to seeing the actors right in front of you. I’ll admit that when I went to see the play, it was difficult to make out the character’s faces from the back of the audience, and the chairs weren’t nearly as comfortable as I hoped they would be. That being said, the audience cheering whenever a character does something crazy or a major plot twist happens is an unbeatable feeling.
The costumes and set designs are also very different from the play to the motion picture. Elphaba’s outfit doesn’t change much— still dawning the iconic black hat and robes. Glinda, however, wears exclusively pink in the film to drill home her character. I think this was a bit overdone, but the dresses she wears in both adaptations are gorgeous. Some people also noticed color grading in the movie, making everything appear more saturated to add to the magical-feel and paying homage to the original production.
In theatre, everything is accentuated. The actors have to overplay everything so that everyone in the audience understands what’s happening. In the play, the monkeys are people dressed up, climbing on the set, and jumping around, almost like they’re flying. It’s a no-brainer that some characters would be less enhanced in the movie, but this is something that the Wicked movie understands. Unlike other musical theatre-turned-movies in recent years, this movie understands that people who enjoy theater are watching it, so they exaggerate the characters just a little bit. The first number features munchkins dancing in a beautiful village, singing their hearts out. For the average viewer, this may seem like a lot, but considering that this is based on a Broadway musical, it makes sense to have a little bit of spark in their characters. Knowing what to keep and what to edit is a difficult task, but I think that the movie was created understanding all of this, which is what makes it so beloved.
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