Oddly enough, I've never seen the show. I've played songs from it in other performance settings, but never got around to seeing it.

The film was beautifully made and I think it checked all the boxes for musical theatre fans. In some ways I think if you translated the grandiosity and style of what the Wizard of Oz was in 1939 to modern film making, this is what you would get. There were a bunch of subtle things that could be easily missed that were foreshadowing, callbacks to the 1939 film, and references to the stage musical. Without having seen the show or knowing any of the plot, it was easy to take some of these little things and figure out what's going to happen next. (i.e. I bet Fiyero is going to become the Scarecrow because of all the talk of him being "thoughtless" and Boq is a woodsman, so he'll be the Tin Man)

I will say, though, there is just something about Ariana Grande I don't like. I can't put my finger on it, but she's off-putting in some way. I do think a lot of the press tour has been very cringey, and maybe that's it. She seems super fake and manipulative, but not in an actor playing a role kind of way.

I've seen the Broadway many times and I thought the movie, after seeing it over Christmas, was fantastic.

Grande was superb.

Dancing Through Life was the best song. At the end of the song, when Galinda warms up to Elphaba as a friend was phenomenal.

Bought wicked to stream at home.

Great movie out of the theater too