This May Not Be Popular, But... 'Wicked: For Good' Leaves Me Feeling Less Than Oz-struck

July 2008 - Seeing "Wicked" on Broadway with my sister

I have been a fan of the musical, "Wicked," for over a decade. I had seen the show touring when it came to Gammage in Arizona. I jammed out to the music. I wrote an article on the now-defunct Helium platform with my review. It was the first show I saw on Broadway in New York. It was also the second show I saw on Broadway. I read the book the musical was based on. I've watched documentaries about the story and the making of the musical. 

What appealed to me so much about the musical itself was mostly the soundtrack. Each song stands on its own, and has a deep, meaningful application to life. "Dancing Through Life" is about not taking yourself too seriously. "Not That Girl" could be applied to any woman seeing her crush with another. "For Good" resonates hard with people who come into our lives and don't stay, but we cherish the memories and how we grew from those times. As I listened to the soundtrack on repeat, my favorite song and least favorite song would shift from one to another. I started out hating "Popular" for its shallowness, but grew to love it for the comedy and the fact that even though it is shallow, it's also true in a way. And I still maintain that "Loathing" is one of the musical's greatest satirical achievements, functioning as an anti-love song that hilarious subverts the expectation of a sweeping, dramatic duet.

Jan 2010 - Seeing Wicked" Broadway again

The storyline is amazing, of course. Taking the all-bad villain(s) of the well-known Wizard of Oz story and showing how they were just complex, well-meaning but misunderstood people who wanted to do good, flips the whole narrative on its head. The heroic Wizard is actually just a callow, misleading showman? And Glinda was a sell out? Amazing! And the world we see in the Wizard of Oz with the multi-colored horses isn't as amazing when you realize Oz used to be a world in which animals could talk and weren't just relegated into service for transportation and the like. 

21 Nov 2025 - Seeing "Wicked: For Good"

All this to say, when the first movie came out, I was nervous it would do it wrong, but was thrilled that it really did a good job of adapting to the movie format and fully utilized the power of amazing movie sets. So I had no doubt that part two would be nothing less than "wonderful." I donned my Wicked shirt, put in contacts so I could watch the 3D version with the glasses comfortably, and put a Wicked bow in my hair. I was set for two hours of amazement. Honestly, this isn't it. I've divided my review into two sections, what I liked - "For Good", and what I didn't like, "Feels Wicked." It may be apparent from the lengths of those two sections what my overall sentiment was.

"Wicked: For Good" — Your Pre-Flight Checklist for Oz

I just saw "Wicked: For Good" in 3D last night. Having been a fan of the musical for over a decade, I was delighted to be in the theater entirely alone, which allowed me to sing along when I felt like it. Because it is both a long movie and has a lot of context from previous iterations, I thought I'd share a few things to pay special attention to, in order to more fully appreciate the magic of this magical land of Oz. 

Before You Go

Refresh yourself on the dance scene in the first movie. It has a pretty good callback in the second movie. 

In fact, while re-watching the first movie, notice the cloaked figure on a horse in the beginning scene. 

Should the shoes be red or silver? In the first "Wicked" movie, they're silver, and that's because of the original book. The "Wizard of Oz" movie made them ruby. That's all I'm going to say here. 

While You Watch

There's a scene in which Elphaba confronts the animals leaving Oz, and she has a vision. See if you can pick out who those characters whom are in that vision. 

One of my favorite countries, Australia, is often called "Oz." See if you can find the Easter eggs that seem to nod to this. 

The window pane shattering in the first movie makes a cute callback, or maybe better labeled a callsign. 

Blink and you miss it: The Wizard hits himself with a yellow brick. And he talks about his worst pupil. It's hilarious.

Pay attention to the very last moment in the last scene - it’s a cute little nod to the Broadway show. 

Enjoy the show! I hope your own viewing is as magical as mine was.

And I hope that, like so many characters in Oz, you too feel that you've been "changed for good."