Take a spellbinding journey into the heart of the music that brings Wicked to life! In this exclusive behind-the-scenes look, discover how the enchanting score for the hit movie musical was crafted. Join the visionary composers, skilled orchestrators, and the incredible cast, including the powerhouse duo Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, as they share their passion and process. From the early stages of composing iconic melodies to the thrilling moments of recording with a full orchestra, this feature delves into the artistry and magic behind every note. Now streaming on digital, experience the untold stories and musical mastery that make Wicked soar beyond imagination!
Wicked Cast:
Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum
Stream Wicket Part 1 now on digital!
Wicked Cast:
Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum
Stream Wicket Part 1 now on digital!
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Short filmTranscript
00:00My first real involvement with Wicked was saying to Stephen Schwartz, I'm really sorry,
00:10I hadn't seen the show.
00:12What?
00:13And I asked, is this a problem?
00:16And we kind of all agreed that maybe it wasn't.
00:19The wizard will see you now.
00:22So as I started to write new things, I absorbed all of Stephen's material into my muscles.
00:29It's very much a cinematic version of his language.
00:39John Powell, he didn't even want to watch the movie with any of our score, he just watched
00:42it with no music at all.
00:45And so that helps him wrap his mind around what the movie can be without music, so he
00:50can build on that and help enhance those things.
00:53And so I think that was kind of my job, to be a bit of an outsider in this world.
01:06How to create the sound of pink.
01:09John kept saying that, so you walk into a room and it's pink, what does it sound like?
01:15I mean, you look at the film, it's like there's candy.
01:19So I'd played around with trying to be fanciful, I even had recorder ensembles.
01:25And it was really just trying to find the right level of what I call, in animation,
01:29I call the stalling number.
01:31So all of that Bugs Bunny stuff that's incredibly tight to picture.
01:39People's eyebrows and their expressions changing and timing.
01:42So getting that right was quite hard and just trying to make John laugh.
01:56And then we get to the train station and they're doing the kind of the movement, the hand movements
02:01from the dance.
02:02That was a bit of a shock to John because I just put the biggest, giantest version of
02:07No one mourns the wicked.
02:12And he did not expect it.
02:21I didn't know she was going to get on the train and I needed to say that.
02:24Because that's, in the storytelling, that's how I felt.
02:27It's like, Linda's going to stay there and Elphaba's going to go off to Oz.
02:32I didn't know she was going to get on the train.
02:34So why were the audience?
02:41And then there were moments when we had to find sort of something that just didn't exist
02:47in that sort of subset of thematic material that was, you know, was in a way new to how
02:54John was making the film.
02:55Well, she doesn't need your help.
02:57Stop.
02:58I just need to find my room.
02:59I'll bring you there myself.
03:00The scene when we first see Elphaba and her powers, that's where I first wrote the kind
03:06of this dark magic theme because I needed something that would follow her all the way
03:10through in these moments.
03:11Let her go.
03:12Let her go.
03:32And then we developed one tune, which we called The Green Toy.
03:36Hey, you know what I had, man?
03:37Look, it's special.
03:39And that was very important for John because he needed something that talked about, you
03:51know, the first time she was able to be authentic.
03:55Later on, the way it shifts as she falls, that's the bit where we really found The Green
04:01Toy tune to be the most effective, was that she's seeing herself as a child and she sees
04:07who she really is.
04:10Sometimes you can alter how people perceive these performances, the subtleties.
04:15That's a language that I see and I read and I just try and react to.
04:19Here.
04:20Put this around you.
04:24In the end, it actually turned out to be much more about just the actual storytelling.
04:29And it wasn't that it was song.
04:31It was just that the story kept going.
04:40And so all of the elements I put in there were really about being so tightly attuned
04:46to those performances.