Misunderstood because of her green skin, a young woman named Elphaba forges an unlikely but profound friendship with Glinda, a student with an unflinching desire for popularity. Following an encounter with the Wizard of Oz, their relationship soon reaches a crossroad as their lives begin to take very different paths.

Yes, we’ve been clicking the heels of our red ruby shoes for what has seemed like an age and finally Wicked is ready to be unleashed at Showcase Cinemas, and our big screens are more than ready to play host to John Chu’s film adaptation of Stephen Schwartz’s hit Broadway musical.  

Like you, we are huge fans of the musical and the trailers have only reinforced how great the casting of Ariana Grande as Glinda, Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and the too cool for school, Jeff Goldblum as the Wonderful Wizard of Oz is.  

Director John Chu has a wonderfully broad stroke as a director having helmed G. I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), Now You See Me 2 (2016), Crazy Rich Asians (2018) and In the Heights (2021), which shows that he is equally comfortable across all genres and ideally suited to take us back into Oz. 

He spoke recently about his desire to incorporate the Yellow Brick Road and the Emerald City into the story and how the original novels of L. Frank Baum inspired him, which means that we will see many of the animals Baum featured in his stories in Wicked. 

And no spoilers but Chu also revealed that the hit song Defying Gravity could not just be a closing number, the film had to be rooted in it!

For Ariana Grande, starring in Wicked had been a dream since 2013, she has been quoted as saying that she never wanted something so badly, and such was her desire to play the role of Glinda she auditioned, many, many times for the roles until Chu could not see anybody else in the role. 

Cynthia Erivo was in complete disbelief that she would even be seen for an audition, let alone be cast. But cast she was, with Chu saying that she embodied the role of Elphaba.

It all feeds into the new buzz word 'manifestation', showing that dreams do indeed come true! 

The pair enjoyed working together so much that they’re already talking about working together across another musical. So that is something we will keep a watchful eye on for sure!

Book your tickets for Wicked now at Showcase Cinemas, from November 22.