OK, so I'm going to be swimming against the tide a bit with this, but I didn't love it. We start where the "Wizard of Oz" story finishes off, only without the catchy "Ding Dong the Witch is...". Instead we get an ensemble dance number that is energetically performed, colourful and expertly choreographed but instantly forgettable. Then we meet "Galinda" (Ariana Grande) who arrives in her pink bubble to confirm the news and enjoy the celebrations. Turns out, though, that she and the erstwhile "Wicked Witch of the West" were once friends and so back in time we go to the birth of a little green baby who may (or may not) have been conceived within the bounds of happily married wedlock. Scoot on many years more and we discover that said green person - "Elphaba" (Cynthia Erivo) is accompanying her wheelchair bound sister "Nessarose" (Marissa Bode) to the "Ozian" equivalent of "Hogwarts" where she encounters the snobbish "Galinda" and a fairly comprehensive degree of hostility. Luckily for her, the legendary sorceress "Madame Morrible" (Michelle Yeoh) spots some hidden talent in this young woman and soon she is sharing rooms with her new nemesis and finding herself the butt of school jokes. Then enter the mischievous prince "Fiyero" (Jonathan Bailey) who tends to treat everyone the same and who's been kicked out of more schools that he can shake a sceptre at. He does, however, manage to create an environment in which everyone can get along and that's when things begin to change for an "Elphaba" who is to be made likeable by her now pally roomie. When a letter arrives from the all-powerful Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) summoning her to the "Emerald City", then they set off hoping to find answers to all of their questions, only to find that nothing there is as it seems... I have to admit that JB has been a friend of mine for many years, so I ain't going to be saying anything bad about the man who might just be the next "007", and both Erivo and Grande do well enough with the set piece musical numbers - especially the lively and cleverly written "Populer/lar", but the rest of this just struck me as "Harry Potter" goes to the musicals where it meets "Mean Girls". Goldblum makes his presence felt, but in the same slightly affected fashion that he aways does, and though the visual effects are all fantastic, somehow they are all just so much more sterile to watch than when you see them within the confines of a theatrical stage - where this works so much better, and without the need for the commercially exploitative part 1 and part 2 released months apart. To be fair, everyone looks like they are enjoying themselves, there's a fun number from Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth and Bailey brings some much needed charm to the proceedings but I'd probably just prefer a director's cut that offered us the whole story in one three hour chunk so we can get that mediocre "Defying Gravity" power ballad out of the way (repeatedly) in one fell swoop. It's a very polished production, and maybe the hype has just got to me, but I can't pretend I wasn't disappointed by this. Wilted more than wicked, sorry.
