The Untold Secrets Behind Elphaba’s Most Challenging Moment in Wicked

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A lot needed to happen during “Wicked’s” “The Wizard and I.”

In the spirit of Elphaba’s heartfelt ballad, I yearn to encounter the wizard who I firmly believe can guide me, and I long for a sense of belonging, seeking acceptance not only from those around me, but also from you, my audience.

Director Jon M. Chu aimed to make the audience feel deeply affectionate towards her character. As he puts it, “We required any means possible to encourage viewers to cheer her on and identify her as an underdog.

In a visual sense, Chu imagined an ascent. The story opens with Elphaba and Madame Morrible descending the steps in a classroom, culminating later when Elphaba is standing solitarily on a cliff edge. There, she voices her heartfelt wish – to join a potent team, including the Wizard.

Chu pictured an ascent in his mind. Initially, Elphaba and Madame Morrible are seen walking down stairs in a classroom. Eventually, Elphaba stands alone on a cliff, revealing her deepest longing – to be part of a strong team, with the Wizard by her side.

As a movie critic, I found myself captivated by Chu’s masterful approach in crafting Elphaba’s narrative. To make her climactic scene impactful, he meticulously collaborated with his team to strike the right storytelling notes.

In an innovative twist, Chu delved into Elphaba’s past, presenting her as a young girl before her days at Shiz University. This addition served to humanize Elphaba and deepen our connection with her character.

Interestingly, in the pivotal scene “The Wizard and I,” Elphaba is given a voice for the first time, allowing audiences to hear her sing for the very first time. Chu emphasizes that this moment is significant because Elphaba’s form of self-expression is more potent than any other character in the story. He describes it as a powerful means through which she communicates her emotions and experiences.

As Elphaba mounts the staircase, onlookers either gawk or scamper off, except for the creatures who remain steadfast by her side. Each creature mirrors a stage of her journey upward: the frog, the crickets, the butterflies, and ultimately, the birds.

Additionally, Chu desired the presence of water elements nearby. He pointed out that she couldn’t physically interact with the water, hinting at her future predicament when Dorothy uses a bucket of water to dissolve her. Chu requested Nathan Crowley, the production designer, to incorporate small stepping stones into the set. This, as the director explained, would serve as a subtle reminder for the audience of her inner child as she jumps over them.

Initially, I envisioned a unique garden, one that would be reminiscent of a whirlwind, or as I fondly referred to it, a “tornado garden.” This concept was a part of my initial plans, where the character would rise up on a path that stretched high into the sky. However, this idea morphed and eventually transformed into what is now the veranda.

Elphaba’s transformation without green was captured on set within the veranda. Chu and his crew had specifically chosen colorful glass ornaments for this purpose. Chu explained, “Upon entering there, the school aspect is removed from her. You delve into her inner thoughts, which are filled with colors. She perceives herself in a mirror that removes her green identity. All you see is a girl reflecting back at you and understanding the feeling of normalization for her.”

The scene where Elphaba lost her green was filmed on set in the veranda. Chu and his team had carefully selected multi-colored glass ornaments to achieve this effect. Chu noted, “When she stepped inside, the school aspect is no longer present. You get a glimpse into her inner mind, which is teeming with colors. She looks at herself in a mirror that removes her green self. All you see is a regular girl looking back at you and experiencing what it feels like for her to be accepted as normal.

Editor Myron Kerstein understood the importance of savoring Elphaba’s smile, allowing her happiness to fill him up. “It feels as if I’m inhaling her joy,” Kerstein explains.

Eventually, Elphaba strides into a broad expanse of barley fields, her triumphant moment escalating towards the intense finale of “The Wizard and I.” Similar to the tulip field encompassing Munchkinland, Crowley arranged for a barley field to be harvested specifically for Elphaba’s passage, explaining that it embodies the concept of an American fairy tale set in the Great Plains. The choice of barley is due to its low stature, golden hue, and the way it rustles in the wind. Crowley, who managed 500 acres of corn for Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar,” made this selection.

Costume designer Paul Tazewell drew inspiration for his designs from Elphaba’s affinity towards nature. He found his muse in the undersides of mushrooms, which he transformed into fabrics. The color scheme for her wardrobe was primarily black and distinctly different from the world of Shiz. As Tazewell explains, “She’s simply an outsider.

After Elphaba takes off her coat, the dress she dons showcases a unique style, described by Tazewell as “unquestionably its own sense of aesthetic.” Furthermore, it boasts a sturdy square collar. He elaborates that this outfit establishes the overall silhouette for her character and hints at the Wicked Witch of the West’s wardrobe being consistent with this design.

As a passionate cinema enthusiast, when I see the character running across the meadow during that song, it’s as if she’s bursting with raw emotion, lifting herself high into the air. The costume designer cleverly used chiffon for both her sleeves and hem, making the dress billow out, giving us a feeling of flight.

In Tazewell’s case, the dress was tailored generously to accommodate the harness. He explained, “We needed to create openings in the dress, ensuring that the attachment points for the harness were correctly positioned.

In charge of capturing the conversation between Madame Morrible and Elphaba, along with the shift into song, was the production sound mixer, Simon Hayes. His task was to create a studio-quality recording, yet retain the raw emotional depth found in a live performance, as he explained.

In this setup, Hayes employed two lavalier (lav) microphones attached to Erivo. He stated that using two mics allowed for better dialogue recording as one mic might pick up rustling from clothing, while the other would typically be clearer. This way, the editing team could seamlessly switch between the two lav mics during post-production and achieve the desired sound quality. Additionally, Hayes always kept a boom microphone nearby Erivo, ensuring it was never out of frame. This enabled him to capture richer sounds on close-ups, resulting in a scenario where the close-up boom mic’s audio could be blended with the close lav mic’s audio, giving the editing team more flexibility in deciding which audio to use for final output.

The arrangement accurately reflected the sincerity of her breaths and exertion. Each spoken word corresponds perfectly to a distinct facial expression she exhibits, and Hayes remarks that “one cannot escape the face.

Erivo’s body was tightly laced in a corset and adorned with a petticoat, raising another problem: deciding where to conceal the microphone packs. Tazewell explained, “We typically fastened them to her leg for convenience. We aimed to avoid her waist as it was already quite full, and her safety was paramount, so we opted to hide them in a safer location.

As Hayes observed Cynthia running towards the cliffs, he resorted to using wing gags on the lavalier microphones because there were no suitable areas to conceal them in her sheer black tunic. So, he approached Pablo Helman, their visual effects supervisor for assistance.

Helman would eliminate scenes where microphones were visible. The majority of his work involved unseen visual effects. He says, “We adjusted the water’s color as it was brown. We inserted boats and flowers there. All animals seen were digitally added, and the sky and horizon needed digital adjustments.

Cynthia Erivo’s big note at the end of “The Wizard and I” almost didn’t happen.

In the “Wicked” musical, Elphaba’s powerful ballad serves as her introductory number, often referred to as her “I want” song. When planning the film adaptation, director Chu recognized its significance. From the early stages of production, he had a unique concept: “Instead of belting out those big notes that usually give her power, perhaps she should whisper them?

Stephen Schwartz successfully persuaded Chu to keep Elphaba’s powerful final notes, and Chu later shared that this big note was empowering as it represented Elphaba’s emotions.

Kerstein drew his inspiration not just from a multitude of possibilities, but specifically from the timeless charm of “The Sound of Music” and traditional MGM musicals. His ambition was to create something that would resonate deeply through elements of “expressive performance, emotional depth,” and subtle “restraint.

In their collaborative work, Chu relied on Kerstein as his editor (on projects like “In the Heights,” “Tick, Tick … Boom!”, and “Home Before Dark”). Kerstein focused on the concept of elevation during this process. “This is the initial instance where she experiences joy, and there’s a force that lifts her momentarily,” Kerstein explains. As he reviewed the daily footage, he pondered about what stirred deep emotions in him. “What was causing me to shed tears, laugh – or even give me chills – and I built from that experience.

Kerstein was building to that cliffside moment. “We had to figure out the right rhythm and pace. We had to match to her performance and to the music, and to make sure that we build all the way to that cliffside moment, and it takes experimentation.”

The final “and I” note carried a significant implication, hinting at further developments. Chu elucidates, “The silence following her completion of that note signifies unfulfilled potential, suggesting she’s not quite at her destination yet.” He elaborates, “Her expression is captivating because she understands she’s not ready, but we don’t leave her in despair. Instead, she turns and looks back, offering a smile. To me, that moment represents her saying, ‘Stay tuned,’ serving as the driving force behind our entire film.

What followed later had a striking similarity: Elphaba would flee, but on this occasion, she’d soar aloft in “Defying Gravity,” showcasing her true might and force at last.

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2025-02-11 20:19