186 Fun Facts About Wicked

Which opening-weekend record did Wicked (2024) set?

It was the largest opening for a film based on a Broadway musical, more than tripling the mark Into the Woods had held for a decade and outrunning early tracking that had pointed to $85 million at most.

At which London theatre did Wicked open in the West End in 2006?

The Apollo Victoria Theatre has housed Wicked since September 2006, and the small changes to dialogue, choreography and effects made for London were later adopted by the Broadway production and the US tours.

What is the title of the 2005 second book in The Wicked Years novel series?

Son of a Witch follows Elphaba's son as he grows up, and Maguire dedicated it to the cast of the Broadway musical that his first Oz novel had inspired.

In which city did Wicked have its pre-Broadway tryout in 2003?

San Francisco hosted the tryout in mid-2003; Stephen Schwartz then insisted on three months of rewrites before New York, time that book writer Winnie Holzman said made the show work.

Which song from the 1972 musical Pippin was written by the composer who later wrote Wicked?

'Corner of the Sky' is Pippin's song about searching for his purpose, and it escaped the theatre at once: the Jackson 5 released their own version as a single in October 1972.

Which New Kids on the Block singer played Fiyero in Wicked on Broadway in 2004?

Joey McIntyre, the youngest New Kid, made his Broadway debut as Fiyero, stepping in when the role's originator left to try out a new musical, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

What is the Grimmerie in Wicked?

The Grimmerie is a spell book that only a gifted sorcerer can read: the Wizard cannot make sense of it himself, which is why he needs Elphaba, who reads it at first sight.

Which Harry Potter actress was London's first Madame Morrible in Wicked in 2006?

Miriam Margolyes, Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films, opened the West End production as Madame Morrible and then crossed the Atlantic to play the part on Broadway in 2008.

Which solo does Elphaba sing after Madame Morrible singles her out for special treatment at Shiz?

In 'The Wizard and I' Elphaba pictures all of Oz one day holding a celebration that is all to do with her; the audience already knows what that celebration will really be for.

Who plays Madame Morrible in the 2024 Wicked movie?

Michelle Yeoh was announced in 2022 as Shiz's headmistress, Morrible's job on stage, but the films hand that post to a new character and make Morrible a dean instead.

The 2024 Wicked movie covers roughly which portion of the stage musical?

The film covers Act One only: Jon M. Chu split the story in two because squeezing it into one movie meant 'doing some real damage to it', so the first part stops where theatre audiences take their interval.

Why does Elphaba return to the Emerald City in Act Two of Wicked?

To free the Wizard's monkey servants: he catches her at it, lets them go of his own accord, and very nearly talks her into joining him.

Who directed the original Broadway production of Wicked?

Joe Mantello did win a directing Tony on the night Wicked lost Best Musical, but for another show entirely: a Sondheim revival that was the ceremony's biggest winner.

Which number opens Wicked, sung by Glinda and the citizens of Oz?

'No One Mourns the Wicked' opens the show with Ozians celebrating the Witch's death; Glinda arrives mid-celebration and launches the flashback that makes up the rest of the show.

In Gregory Maguire's novel, what becomes of Dr. Dillamond, who is dismissed in the musical?

He is murdered: the 1995 novel is far darker than the show, and the killing of her favourite professor is what first gives its Elphaba a cause to fight for.

What does Elphaba realise about the Wizard that turns her against him in Act One?

He is silencing Oz's Animals: Elphaba had promised a persecuted professor that this very man would put things right, and she flees rather than serve him.

What accident cut short Idina Menzel's Broadway run as Elphaba in January 2005?

She fell through a trap door during the melting scene the day before her farewell and cracked a rib, so her standby played Elphaba at what should have been Menzel's last show.

Who plays the Wizard in the 2024 Wicked movie?

Jeff Goldblum sings the Wizard's song himself, which is less of a stretch than it sounds: away from acting he has long led his own jazz band, the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, from the piano.

In the Wicked musical, which character does Boq eventually become?

Boq, a Munchkin student hopelessly in love with Glinda, ends up as the Tin Man: after Nessarose's botched spell, Elphaba has no way to save his life except by turning him to tin.

In which Act Two solo does Elphaba, believing Fiyero dead, finally accept the name Wicked Witch?

'No Good Deed' follows her desperate spell to save Fiyero: sure that every kindness of hers has ended in disaster, Elphaba swears off doing good, never knowing the spell has in fact worked.

How are Elphaba and Glinda first thrown together at Shiz University?

They are made roommates when Madame Morrible puts the popular newcomer in with Elphaba, and the pair take an instant dislike to each other that slowly turns into the story's central friendship.

Which ballad does Elphaba sing alone, sure that Fiyero has chosen Glinda instead of her?

'I'm Not That Girl' is Elphaba's quiet lament in Act One; in Act Two the tables turn, and it is Glinda who sings the reprise when Fiyero leaves her for Elphaba.

What happens to Fiyero at the end of Wicked?

He becomes the Scarecrow: Elphaba's spell to save him from the Wizard's guards transforms him, and the pair slip out of Oz together after she fakes her own melting.

Wicked lost Best Musical at the 2004 Tony Awards, but which of these prizes did it win?

Best Scenic Design went to Eugene Lee's clockwork Oz, one of only three wins from ten nominations; the score, the book and the top prize all went to the same small rival show.

Which musical famously beat Wicked for Best Musical at the 2004 Tony Awards?

Avenue Q, a small puppet comedy, ran a cheeky election-style campaign urging Tony voters to 'vote your heart', and went home with Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score.

The films' Fiyero, Jonathan Bailey, is best known on television for which period drama?

Bridgerton made him a star as Anthony, the eldest sibling, but Bailey was a musical-theatre hand long before the films: he won an Olivier Award in 2019 for the West End revival of Company.

What is Fiyero when he first arrives at Shiz University?

A prince: the rebellious transfer student sweeps Glinda off her feet the day he arrives, yet by Act Two he is the one who gives up everything to run away with Elphaba.

Which other stage-to-screen musical did Wicked director Jon M. Chu make in 2021?

In the Heights was Chu's first Broadway adaptation; he had come to screen musicals through dance, having started out directing two of the Step Up sequels.

What is the duet that Elphaba and Glinda sing about their mutual dislike when they first meet?

'What Is This Feeling?' has the pair name their instant, mutual loathing while the whole student body joins in; one party later, the sworn enemies are firm friends.

Which love duet do Elphaba and Fiyero sing in their forest hideout in Act Two?

'As Long as You're Mine' is built on the same brooding chords that open the whole show as a menacing overture, recast here on piano as a love song.

What position does Fiyero hold at the start of Act Two of the musical?

Fiyero uses his post as Captain of the Wizard's Guard to search for Elphaba, and is engaged to Glinda without quite meaning to be. He later helps Elphaba escape and leaves with her.

At which Broadway theatre did the original production of Wicked open?

The Gershwin Theatre is Broadway's largest house, and producer David Stone hesitated to book it because shows there tended to close quickly; Wicked moved in in October 2003 and has never left.

What becomes of Madame Morrible at the end of the musical Wicked?

She is sent to prison on Glinda's orders for her part in Nessarose's death, a gentler end than the novel's, where the old woman dies minutes before Elphaba arrives to kill her.

What is Elphaba's relationship to Nessarose in Wicked?

Sister: Nessarose is the younger of the two and their father's favourite, and it is her death beneath Dorothy's falling house that brings Elphaba and Glinda to blows.

What kind of Animal is Dr. Dillamond, Elphaba's favourite professor at Shiz?

A Goat, and one of the last Animal professors at Shiz: his dismissal, and the sight of him later caged and speechless, are what set Elphaba against the Wizard.

Which position does Nessarose inherit after her father's death in Wicked?

Governor of Munchkinland: once in power, Nessarose strips the Munchkins of what few rights they have, simply to stop Boq from leaving her.

How were Cynthia Erivo's and Ariana Grande's vocals captured for the Wicked films?

Mostly sung live on set, at the two stars' own insistence: even when Erivo flies a full loop on wires, the voice in the film is the one she produced in mid-air.

Which surname did Ariana Grande add to her screen credit for the Wicked films?

Butera: she asked to be billed as Ariana Grande-Butera because that was her name when she first saw the stage show, aged ten.

In the song 'Popular', what does Glinda decide to give Elphaba?

A makeover: Glinda adopts her former enemy as a project the very night they make peace, though it is Elphaba, not the well-groomed Glinda, whom Fiyero ends up loving.

Who played the Wizard in the original Broadway cast of Wicked?

Joel Grey, an Oscar winner for Cabaret, came aboard only for Broadway: another actor had played the Wizard in the tryout and left the show before it reached New York.

Where is Glinda when Dorothy throws the bucket of water over Elphaba?

Hiding nearby, watching: Glinda sees her friend apparently melt away, and it is she who then tells all of Oz that the Witch is dead.

In which hit musical did Idina Menzel make her Broadway debut, seven years before Wicked?

Rent brought her a Tony nomination as the performance artist Maureen in 1996, after which, by her own account, she faded into obscurity until Elphaba came along.

In Gregory Maguire's novel, unlike the musical, what is Fiyero's situation when he becomes Elphaba's lover?

He is married with children in the novel, where the two become lovers years after Shiz; the stage writers dropped his family and gave him an engagement to Glinda instead.

In Wicked, what is Glinda's original name before she changes it?

Dr. Dillamond could never pronounce Galinda properly, so on the way to the Emerald City she drops an 'a' and becomes Glinda in solidarity with her dismissed professor.

What is the full subtitle of the stage musical Wicked?

'The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz' is plural where the novel's subtitle names one witch, and that fits the adapters' aim: Schwartz said they cared most about the friendship of the two women.

Who originated the role of Fiyero in the original Broadway cast of Wicked?

Norbert Leo Butz created Fiyero, left the show in 2004, and went straight on to win the first of his two Tonys for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Which Act Two number do the citizens of Oz sing as they declare war on Elphaba?

'March of the Witch Hunters' is led by Boq, of all people: the lovesick Munchkin of Act One now blames Elphaba for everything that has happened to him.

As of 2025, which Disney musical is the only show to have out-grossed Wicked on Broadway?

The Lion King had a six-year head start, opening in 1997, and has taken more than $2 billion; Wicked crossed its first billion in 2016.

Which show did Wicked overtake in 2017 to become Broadway's second-highest-grossing musical?

The Phantom of the Opera opened fifteen years before Wicked and was still running when the younger show's takings overtook it in 2017.

In the last week of 2024, Wicked became the first Broadway show to gross more than how much in one week?

$5 million: Christmas week brought in $5,037,392, the biggest weekly total Broadway had ever recorded, and it came just a month after the film reached cinemas.

Which then-husband of Idina Menzel briefly stepped in as Fiyero opposite her on Broadway?

Taye Diggs filled in temporarily while the actor who created Fiyero was away, so for a short spell a real married couple played the show's lovers.

Stephanie J. Block, Elphaba in Wicked's first workshops, won her 2019 Tony for playing which pop icon?

Cher, in The Cher Show: Block read Elphaba in the earliest workshops and was devastated to lose the part to Idina Menzel, so the Tony was a long time coming.

Whose original Oz book illustrations inspired Eugene Lee's set design for Wicked?

W. W. Denslow drew the pictures for Baum's original 1900 book; Lee married that look to the novel's idea of the whole story unfolding inside a giant clock.

How did costume designer Susan Hilferty describe the style of Wicked's 200-plus costumes?

'Twisted Edwardian' was Hilferty's own phrase for the look of her 200-plus costumes, and it won her the Tony for costume design on the night the show lost the top prize.

Which song replaced 'Which Way is the Party?' as Fiyero's introduction number before Wicked reached Broadway?

'Dancing Through Life' was written midway through the tryout run because Schwartz felt the earlier song did not say what he wanted to say about Fiyero.

What kind of magic is Madame Morrible's particular talent in Wicked?

Weather: when a mere rumour will not bring Elphaba out of hiding, Morrible proposes 'a change in the weather' and whips up the tornado that carries a certain farmhouse to Oz.

What does Nessarose accidentally do to Boq while trying to cast a love spell in Wicked?

Shrinks his heart: desperate to stop Boq leaving her for Glinda, Nessarose mispronounces a love spell, and only Elphaba's quick magic keeps him alive.

At which castle does Elphaba hide and cast the spell to save Fiyero in Wicked?

Kiamo Ko is where the story ends: Elphaba casts her spell there, meets Dorothy's bucket of water there, and is found there alive once the witch hunters have gone.

What object left after Elphaba 'melts' lets Glinda deduce the Wizard is Elphaba's father?

A bottle of green elixir, her mother's keepsake: the Wizard recognises it as his own, and the shock of learning who the Witch was is what lets Glinda order him out of Oz.

Which Golden Girls star was a Broadway replacement Morrible in Wicked?

Rue McClanahan joined Wicked as Madame Morrible in 2005; her Golden Girls fame had come against type, since the show's makers first wanted her for naive Rose and Betty White for man-hungry Blanche.

Wicked's 'Unlimited' theme quotes the first seven notes of which song from the 1939 Oz film?

'Over the Rainbow': Schwartz stopped at seven notes as a private joke, because by his account a copyright claim only starts with the eighth, and he changed the rhythm and harmony to disguise it.

Stephen Schwartz, Wicked's composer, won an Oscar for the lyrics of which Disney song?

'Colors of the Wind' has music by Alan Menken: on Pocahontas the man who wrote every note of Wicked supplied only the words, and won two Oscars for the job.

Wicked led the 2004 Tony nominations, but which Sondheim revival won the most awards that night?

Assassins took five Tonys to Wicked's three, even though Wicked had gone into the night with more nominations than any other show.

Which a cappella group performed on the 2018 TV special A Very Wicked Halloween?

Pentatonix shared the bill with Ariana Grande, who sang one of Elphaba's solos that night, three years before she was cast in the films as Glinda instead.

Which stage number was left off the original 2003 Broadway cast recording?

'The Wicked Witch of the East', Nessarose and Elphaba's dialogue-heavy Act Two number, was left off the 2003 album and was finally recorded for the Wicked: For Good soundtrack.

Why does Boq invite Nessarose to the party in Act One of Wicked?

Glinda asks him to, purely to get the besotted Boq out of her way so she can go with Fiyero; Nessarose takes the invitation as true love, with ruinous results in Act Two.

Which member of Queen played on a Wicked song for the show's fifth-anniversary album?

Brian May played guitar on Kerry Ellis's track: he had picked the first British Elphaba for his own musical We Will Rock You in 2002, and went on to produce her solo records.

Who played the Wizard in Wicked's San Francisco tryout before Joel Grey took over on Broadway?

Morse, of How to Succeed fame, was replaced by Grey when the show moved east.

Which star of TV's Smash played Glinda in Wicked on Broadway and in Los Angeles?

Megan Hilty joined Wicked straight out of college as the Glinda standby in 2004, took over the part the next year, and went on to open the Los Angeles production.

In which city did Wicked's first North American tour open in 2005?

Toronto launched the tour in March 2005, and it stayed on the road for ten years, getting through fourteen Elphabas and ten Glindas before its final bow in Los Angeles.

Wicked's first North American tour was the Emerald City Tour; what was the second, launched in 2009, called?

The Munchkinland Tour opened in Fort Myers, Florida, in March 2009 and ran alongside the first for six years, so two full companies were crossing the continent at once.

Which Saturday Night Live alum played Elphaba in Wicked's Chicago sit-down production in 2005?

Ana Gasteyer opened the Chicago company in the summer of 2005, earned a Jefferson Award nomination for it, and then took her Elphaba to Broadway.

Which member of Broadway's original Beetlejuice cast made his Broadway debut as Boq in Wicked?

Alex Brightman's first Broadway job, Glory Days, closed after one performance without his ever going on, so Boq became his real debut, years before the leads in School of Rock and Beetlejuice.

Which Mexican pop star played Elphaba at just 18 in the 2013 Spanish-language Wicked in Mexico City?

Danna Paola was hailed as the youngest Elphaba yet when the Mexico City production opened in October 2013, and she returned to the part to dub Elphaba's voice for the 2024 film in Spanish.

After playing Elphaba in German, Willemijn Verkaik became the first to play her in which second language?

Dutch, her own language: after the German production she opened the 2011 staging in The Hague, and later added English on Broadway and in the West End.

Which rumour does a jealous Glinda suggest spreading to lure Elphaba out of hiding?

Her sister is in danger: Glinda means only a rumour, but Madame Morrible decides that a rumour will not be enough and sets about making the danger real.

Which theme park hosted a condensed 30-minute Wicked from 2006 to 2011?

Universal Studios Japan in Osaka staged a half-hour Wicked from 2006 to 2011, boiling Act One down so far that Fiyero, Boq, Nessarose and Madame Morrible never appeared.

Where did the world's first performance of Wicked after the COVID-19 shutdown take place in 2021?

The Korean-language production opened at Seoul's Blue Square in February 2021, seven months before Broadway and the West End returned in September.

When Elphaba begs Glinda to fly away with her at the end of Act One, what does Glinda do?

She stays behind: Glinda wants the future that the Wizard's Oz can give her, and the choice puts the two friends on opposite sides for the whole of Act Two.

Which American Idol runner-up played Fiyero in Wicked on Broadway in 2014?

Justin Guarini, runner-up to Kelly Clarkson in the very first season, rebuilt his career on the stage and spent most of 2014 as Fiyero.

Two of Wicked's ten Tony nominations in 2004 came in the same category; which one?

Best Actress in a Musical: Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth were nominated against each other, and Menzel's Elphaba beat the Glinda whom the composer had written with Chenoweth in mind.

Which magazine named Wicked the Best Musical of the Decade?

Entertainment Weekly's 2009 best-of-the-decade issue had room for a single Broadway musical, and it picked the show that had lost the Best Musical Tony five years earlier.

Which Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star spent years as Madame Morrible on tour and on Broadway?

Carol Kane, a two-time Emmy winner for Taxi, first played Morrible on the 2005 national tour and kept coming back to the part, on the road and on Broadway, until 2014.

Which musical's record did Wicked break in January 2006 for Broadway's highest weekly gross?

The Producers had set its record when original stars Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick came back to it in early 2004; Wicked's New Year week beat that by less than $11,000.

Which long-running show did Wicked pass in April 2023 to become Broadway's fourth-longest run?

Cats kept one performer, Marlene Danielle, in its cast for the whole of its 18-year Broadway run; Wicked overtook its total in April 2023, its twentieth-anniversary year.

What is the name of the backstage tour created by original cast member Sean McCourt?

Behind the Emerald Curtain, devised by original cast members Sean McCourt and Anthony Galde, is a 90-minute backstage tour of props, masks and costumes that ends with a cast Q&A.

Which song does the Wizard sing to win Elphaba over in Act Two of Wicked?

'Wonderful' is his sales pitch: he never meant to rule anyone, he says, but the people of Oz wanted someone to believe in, so he let them call him wonderful.

Which network aired the 15th-anniversary special A Very Wicked Halloween in 2018?

NBC was a natural home for the special: the network and Universal, the film studio that co-produced the stage show from the start, belong to the same company.

Which broadcaster carried the 2021 special Wicked in Concert featuring Cynthia Erivo?

PBS aired Wicked in Concert in August 2021 with the show's two original witches as hosts; Cynthia Erivo sang there as a guest, three years before the first film made her Elphaba.

Which Disney villain gets the Wicked treatment in the StarKid parody musical Twisted?

Jafar gets the sympathetic retelling: StarKid's Twisted replays Disney's Aladdin from the villain's side, as Wicked did for the Witch, and the troupe then put the whole show on YouTube for anyone to watch.

Which Billy Elliot director was attached to the Wicked film for four years before leaving in 2020?

Stephen Daldry was hired for a planned 2019 release, but Universal kept pushing the date and he left in October 2020; his replacement was announced the following February.

Wicked was the first musical since which early-2000s film to win the National Board of Review's Best Film?

Moulin Rouge! took the board's top prize in 2001 but lost the Best Picture Oscar to A Beautiful Mind; no musical won the board's award again for 23 years.

Which two Academy Awards did Wicked (2024) win?

Production Design and Costume Design were Wicked's two wins from ten nominations; production designer Nathan Crowley finally won at his seventh nomination, after six losses.

In Glee, who challenges Rachel for the 'Defying Gravity' solo?

Kurt Hummel's storyline came from actor Chris Colfer, whose school talent show turned him down every year because 'Defying Gravity' was 'a girl's song'.

Which Disney song, sung by Idina Menzel, has often been compared to 'Defying Gravity'?

Let It Go drew the comparison because both songs hand a feared outcast a belted declaration of freedom; Disney's hit went on to win the 2014 Oscar for Best Original Song.

The Wicked films' lead producer is the father of which Dear Evan Hansen star?

Ben Platt is the son of Marc Platt, who produced Wicked on Broadway and on screen; Ben later married Noah Galvin, who had replaced him as Evan Hansen.

Who voiced Dr. Dillamond in the 2024 Wicked film?

Peter Dinklage voices Dr. Dillamond in both films; Universal did not reveal his casting until a CinemaCon presentation in April 2024, seven months before release.

Who plays Boq in the 2024 Wicked film?

Ethan Slater plays Boq in both films; he has since co-written and starred in Marcel on the Train, an off-Broadway play about the mime Marcel Marceau helping Jewish children to safety in wartime France.

Which character does SNL's Bowen Yang play in the Wicked films?

Pfannee and ShenShen are Glinda's fawning sidekicks, bit parts on stage that the films expanded into running comic roles for Bowen Yang and Bronwyn James.

Who plays Nessarose in the Wicked films?

Marissa Bode, a wheelchair user since a car crash at 11, is the first Nessarose to share the character's disability, more than twenty years after the show opened.

Which star of The Dropout auditioned for Glinda in the Wicked films?

Amanda Seyfried auditioned in person on weekends while she was playing Elizabeth Holmes, and called it the wildest thing she had done to win a part; she was passed over after a long run of tryouts.

Which Act Two opener has the Ozians celebrating Glinda's engagement to Fiyero?

Thank Goodness begins on stage with the crowd's fearful 'Every Day More Wicked' chant, which the film sequel split off into a separate opening number.

Which singer's 2012 track 'Popular Song', built on a Wicked melody, was reissued as a single featuring Ariana Grande?

Mika reworked the show's tune into 'Popular Song' and recut it with a 19-year-old Ariana Grande, nine years before she was cast in the Wicked films.

Cynthia Erivo sang 'Home' from which 1970s musical when she and Ariana Grande opened the 2025 Oscars?

The Wiz retold the Oz story on Broadway in 1975; Erivo's 'Home' followed Grande's 'Over the Rainbow', and the pair then joined for 'Defying Gravity'.

In which country were the Wicked films shot back to back, on vast sets at Sky Studios Elstree?

England's Sky Studios Elstree, in Borehamwood, housed both films from December 2022; the 2023 actors' strike halted the shoot in July, so it wrapped only in January 2024.

Which flowers did the Wicked production plant by the million around its Munchkinland set?

Tulips, nine million of them, were planted because the director wanted Oz to be a physical place rather than a green-screen backdrop.

Which two 1998 films did the Wicked films' director cite as influences on how Oz is portrayed?

Pleasantville and The Truman Show both follow people waking up inside a manufactured world; the director said Oz's young generation likewise starts 'to see the truth about things'.

Ariana Grande, later a star of the Wicked films, first found fame as Cat Valentine on which Nickelodeon sitcom?

Victorious cast her as the oblivious sidekick to Victoria Justice's lead, yet Cat proved popular enough to earn a spin-off, Sam & Cat, before Grande's pop career took over.

Which How to Train Your Dragon composer co-wrote the Wicked (2024) film score with the show's original songwriter?

John Powell shared the film's Oscar nomination for Best Original Score, his first since How to Train Your Dragon fourteen years earlier, and lost again, this time to The Brutalist.

Nathan Crowley, who designed the Wicked films' sets, built Gotham City for which director's Batman films?

Christopher Nolan and Crowley first modelled Gotham in Nolan's garage for Batman Begins; on Wicked Crowley again built real sets rather than relying on green screen.

Wicked (2024) ends on a fanfare echoing which Kubrick film's opening music?

2001: A Space Odyssey made Richard Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra famous; Wicked's editor asked for its timpani hits to put a 'climax on top of the climax' after Elphaba's final cry.

Wicked's Keala Settle sang 'This Is Me' in which movie musical?

The Greatest Showman made Settle's bearded-lady anthem a Golden Globe winner; her Miss Coddle is new for the films, a headmistress taking over a job the stage show gives to another character.

What is the name of Elphaba's childhood nanny introduced in the Wicked films?

Dulcibear, a Bear voiced by Sharon D. Clarke, is the one who truly raises Elphaba, which makes her later fight for Oz's talking Animals personal.

In Wicked (2024), which flowers does Elphaba use to put her class to sleep and free the caged cub?

Poppies are the film's callback to The Wizard of Oz, where a deadly poppy field sends Dorothy to sleep; the flowers are a change from the stage version of the scene.

In Wicked (2024), how does Elphaba first try to flee the Emerald City before taking the broom?

In the Wizard's hot air balloon, Elphaba and Glinda find the way up barred and the balloon burns, so Elphaba climbs to an attic and enchants a broom instead.

What line does Stephen Schwartz shout in his Wicked (2024) cameo as a palace guard?

'The Wizard will see you now' is shouted from a watchtower at the end of 'One Short Day', a number Schwartz helped expand for the film.

What pet names does Glinda use for her parents in the 2024 Wicked film?

Popsicle and Momsie come from the stage show, where her letter home opens with the same pet names; the film is the first version to show the doting parents themselves.

At which venue does Elphaba dance alone in her pointed hat until Glinda joins her?

The Ozdust Ballroom scene turns on a prank: the hat was a joke gift from Glinda, and her remorse at Elphaba's lonely dance is where their friendship begins.

In Wicked (2024), what is the pageant staged by Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth's characters called?

Wiz-O-Mania shows the Wizard reading the Grimmerie as Oz's prophesied saviour, a boast the film soon exposes: he cannot read a word of it.

Which made-up 'Ozian' word appears in the Wicked script alongside 'braverism' and 'hideoteous'?

Confusifying follows the pattern of Wicked's 'Ozian' slang, which bolts extra syllables onto ordinary words so that Oz sounds like a place with its own language.

Which airborne method did paparazzi use to photograph the Wicked films' Munchkinland set at Ivinghoe?

Hang gliders with GoPros buzzed the set early in filming; Ariana Grande said the shoot felt small and private until 'the Daily Mail was hang-gliding over our set'.

Which website was mistakenly printed on Mattel's Wicked doll packaging in 2024?

An adult film studio's site was printed on the boxes in place of the film's own address; Mattel apologised, told buyers to discard the packaging, and a South Carolina mother sued.

Which film beat Wicked (2024) to the Best Picture Oscar?

Anora, made for about $6 million, won five Oscars including Best Picture; Wicked had cost roughly 25 times as much.

Which film's Guinness World Record did Wicked (2024) break as the highest-grossing film based on a stage show?

Mamma Mia! had held the title since 2008 on the strength of overseas audiences; Wicked passed it within two months, with most of its money coming from North America.

In which Oscar category was Ariana Grande nominated for Wicked (2024)?

Best Supporting Actress put Grande in a separate race from co-star Cynthia Erivo, a Best Actress nominee; both lost, Grande to Zoe Saldaña of Emilia Pérez.

Which Disney movie did Wicked lose its second weekend to at the domestic box office?

Moana 2 opened to about $139 million over Thanksgiving weekend 2024, pushing Wicked to second place even though its 29% drop was tiny for a blockbuster.

Copying 2023's Barbenheimer, what portmanteau was coined for Wicked and Gladiator II opening the same November 2024 weekend?

Glicked never matched its model: the two films opened to about $168 million combined in North America, well short of Barbenheimer's $244 million.

Which Australian city hosted the world premiere of Wicked (2024), the first stop of its global press tour?

Sydney's State Theatre hosted the premiere on November 3, 2024, dressed as Munchkinland; each later stop of the 'Journey Through Oz' tour became a different corner of Oz.

Which streaming service began carrying Wicked (2024) on March 21, 2025?

Peacock belongs to the same parent company as Universal Pictures, which made Wicked, so the film streamed there first and set the service's record for a movie debut.

Which Grammy did Erivo and Grande win for their 'Defying Gravity'?

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance went to a two-decade-old show tune: the film duet beat chart giants 'Golden' from KPop Demon Hunters and Rosé and Bruno Mars's 'APT.'

Which phrase from a viral 2024 Wicked press interview became a meme?

Holding space was journalist Tracy E. Gilchrist's phrase for what fans were doing with the lyrics of 'Defying Gravity'; a tearful Erivo, and Grande clutching her co-star's fingernail, made the clip a meme.

Which song is Elphaba's duet with Dr. Dillamond?

Something Bad is a two-hander on stage; the 2024 film turned it into a secret off-campus meeting of frightened Animals, which Elphaba follows him to.

Paul Tazewell, costume designer of the Wicked films, won his first Tony Award for which musical?

Hamilton brought Tazewell the Tony in 2016, twenty years after his first nomination for Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk.

Which Brazilian city hosted the world premiere of Wicked: For Good in November 2025?

São Paulo got the premiere but not Ariana Grande: a safety fault grounded her plane, no replacement could get her to Brazil in time, and she told fans she was devastated.

Kristin Chenoweth left Wicked in July 2004 to join the cast of which NBC drama?

The West Wing cast her as deputy press secretary Annabeth Schott; she had played her Wicked role for only nine months when she left Broadway for Los Angeles.

Which song did Stephen Schwartz write new for the film Wicked: For Good?

No Place Like Home turns Dorothy's famous line into Elphaba's plea to Animals fleeing Oz to stay; it is one of two songs Schwartz added for the film.

What name do the Wicked films give the Wizard's uniformed guards?

The Gale Force comes from Maguire's novel, where it is the Wizard's secret police and uses violence to enforce his rule; the films borrow the name for his guards.

On stage Nessarose's enchanted shoes let her walk, but what do they give her in Wicked: For Good?

Flight replaced walking so that magic would not 'cure' a disability; the song was also rewritten so her grief is about Boq rather than her wheelchair.

What is the name of the flying monkey who reveals the imprisoned Animals in Wicked: For Good?

Chistery leads Elphaba to the caged Animals and later brings her word of Fiyero's fate; by the end of the film he has regained the power of speech.

In Wicked: For Good, which character tells the fleeing Animals that Elphaba is behind the flying monkey spies?

The Cowardly Lion, voiced by Colman Domingo, is the cub Elphaba freed at Shiz, yet he turns on her, blaming her for taking him from the only home he had known.

In Wicked (2024), why does Elphaba first arrive at Shiz, before she is enrolled as a student?

To look after Nessarose on her first day is the film's new reason; on stage Elphaba is already enrolled, but here Madame Morrible signs her up only after seeing her powers erupt.

Which new solo did Stephen Schwartz write for Glinda in Wicked: For Good?

The Girl in the Bubble was added because the film-makers felt Glinda has a bigger arc than Elphaba in the second half; it marks the moment she resolves to be good in fact, not just in name.

What disaster destroyed producer Greg Wells's home studio during Wicked: For Good's music production?

The 2025 Palisades Fire took Greg Wells's family home and studio two days after Variety had profiled his work on the films; his demos were safely backed up.

What was Wicked: For Good called before Universal announced its final title?

Wicked: Part Two was the sequel's announced title until December 2024; the first film was sold simply as Wicked, yet its opening title card reads 'Wicked: Part I'.

Fiyero comes from which region of Oz?

Winkie Country is the western land of Baum's Oz; Maguire's novels rename it the Vinkus and treat 'Winkie' as a derogatory word.

Which 2025 film kept Wicked: For Good from the year's biggest domestic opening weekend?

A Minecraft Movie had set the mark at $162.8 million in April; Wicked: For Good fell about $16 million short even though its $147 million beat the first film's debut by more than $30 million.

Which sequel knocked Wicked: For Good to second place in its second weekend?

Zootopia 2 opened over Thanksgiving and took the top spot as Wicked: For Good fell 57%; Universal had already moved its film five days earlier to avoid opening against it.

After the first film's ten nominations, how did Wicked: For Good fare in the 2026 Oscar nominations?

It was shut out completely, falling from ten nominations to none even though both lead actresses had just been nominated at the Golden Globes.

At the 2014 Oscars, John Travolta introduced Idina Menzel by which garbled name?

Adele Dazeem became an instant meme; Menzel took her revenge at the next year's ceremony by introducing Travolta as 'Glom Gazingo'.

Which song does the Wizard sing to Elphaba and Glinda at their first meeting in the Emerald City?

A Sentimental Man is the Wizard's gentle sales pitch, sung just as the pair discover that the fearsome ruler of Oz is only an ordinary man.

Whose answer became the first verse of 'For Good', according to Stephen Schwartz?

His daughter's answer, when he asked what she would say to a best friend she might never see again, supplied much of the first verse of 'For Good'.

Which group woke to 'Defying Gravity' in April 2010?

Space shuttle astronauts aboard Discovery heard it as their wake-up call: mission control played it for Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, a former high-school science teacher on her only mission.

Jon M. Chu built Wicked's huge physical sets after being inspired by which Steven Spielberg film?

Hook was the film Chu dreamed about as a boy: he recalled Spielberg, behind the scenes, on a dock with a giant pirate ship, and wanted the same for Oz, down to real mud on the yellow brick road.

Why did director Jon M. Chu miss Wicked's Los Angeles premiere in November 2024?

His wife was giving birth to their fifth child, the third to arrive while he was making the films; he announced the news from the hospital that day.

Which New York politician did Chenoweth roast with a rewritten 'Popular' on Jay Leno in 2013?

On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in July 2013, Chenoweth rewrote 'Popular' to mock Anthony Weiner's sexting scandal during his New York mayoral run.

How did Gregory Maguire derive the name Elphaba?

From L. Frank Baum's initials, L-F-B, Maguire sounded out 'Elphaba' within days of starting the book; Baum himself never gave his Wicked Witch of the West a name.

In Maguire's novel, what physical trait distinguishes Nessarose from her stage counterpart?

In the novel she was born without arms and needs help to keep her balance; the musical gave Nessarose a wheelchair instead, the version most audiences know.

Which 1993 British crime set Gregory Maguire, then living in London, pondering evil as he planned Wicked?

The murder of James Bulger, a toddler killed by two ten-year-old boys, had Britain asking whether the killers were born evil, the question Maguire then put to the Wicked Witch.

In the novel Wicked, what is the name of Elphaba's son by Fiyero?

Liir first appears seven years after Fiyero's capture, when Elphaba brings the boy to his family's castle; the musical deleted his birth altogether.

Kristin Chenoweth, Broadway's first Glinda, played which Disney villain in the 2015 TV film Descendants?

Maleficent sends her daughter to steal the Fairy Godmother's wand, turns into a dragon when the girl defies her, and is promptly reduced to a tiny lizard.

In which 2008 Broadway musical did Ariana Grande make her professional debut, aged 15?

13 lasted only 105 performances, yet it gave Grande her professional start, as the cheerleader Charlotte in a company made up entirely of teenagers.

What name does Maguire give the Lion in A Lion Among Men?

Brrr is the tiny cub Elphaba defended in the first novel, grown up into the Cowardly Lion; A Lion Among Men retells Oz through his eyes.

In Baum's original novel, the Wizard is a balloonist and ventriloquist from which American city?

Omaha is his home town, which is why Dorothy exclaims that it is not far from Kansas; a showman's balloon drifting off course is all the 'magic' that brought him to Oz.

Which actress's Wicked Witch in the 1939 film gave the character the green skin Elphaba inherits?

Margaret Hamilton's film witch introduced the green skin; Baum's book never mentions it, and its illustrations show a one-eyed old woman with pigtails and an eyepatch.

What is the title of Maguire's 2025 prequel about Elphaba's early years?

Elphie: A Wicked Childhood takes her from birth to the gates of Shiz; eight months after it appeared, Maguire announced a companion prequel about the young Glinda.

Which Ghost star's production company first optioned Maguire's novel for a film in the 1990s?

Demi Moore's company set the book up at Universal as a non-musical film, with Whoopi Goldberg also chasing the rights; it stalled until Stephen Schwartz argued that people in Oz have to sing.

Jon M. Chu made two concert documentaries about which pop star?

Justin Bieber's Never Say Never came to Chu at short notice in 2010, when its first director dropped out and the Step Up 3D film-maker was recruited; he returned for Believe.

In Baum's original Oz novel, what colour are the magic shoes that Hollywood later turned ruby?

Silver shoes became ruby slippers to show off Technicolor; Maguire's novel, following Baum, keeps the silver pair for Nessarose.

Which musical was Stephen Schwartz's first major hit, in 1971?

Godspell opened Off-Broadway in May 1971 and made Schwartz's name at 23; its Toronto production gave Paul Shaffer his first musical-director job.

For which DreamWorks film did Schwartz win an Oscar for the song 'When You Believe'?

The Prince of Egypt brought Schwartz his third Oscar, and its ballad became a worldwide hit as a duet for Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.

Which cult teen drama, cancelled after one season, did Wicked's Winnie Holzman create?

My So-Called Life lasted only 19 episodes, yet it made a star of the teenage Claire Danes, who won a Golden Globe for it.

Cynthia Erivo earned her first Oscar nominations for playing which American historical figure?

Harriet Tubman brought Erivo two nominations at once for the 2019 film Harriet: Best Actress, and Best Original Song for 'Stand Up', which she co-wrote and sang.

For which Broadway role did Cynthia Erivo win her Tony Award?

Celie in The Color Purple took Erivo from a 2013 run at London's small Menier Chocolate Factory to Broadway, where the role won her a Tony, a Grammy and a Daytime Emmy.

Which singer did Cynthia Erivo play in the 2021 season of the anthology series Genius?

Aretha Franklin was a late switch: the season had been planned around Mary Shelley, and the role went on to earn Erivo an Emmy nomination.

What title did People magazine give Jonathan Bailey in 2025?

Sexiest Man Alive began as an office exclamation about Mel Gibson that People turned into a cover line; Bailey is the first openly LGBTQ+ man to be given it.

Which West End role did Jonathan Bailey play as a child, aged about eight?

Gavroche in Les Misérables followed child roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company; Bailey had decided to act at five, after his grandmother took him to see Oliver!

For which stage role did the film's Boq actor earn a Tony nomination?

SpongeBob SquarePants was the actor's Broadway debut and won him a Drama Desk Award; he returned to the role for Nickelodeon's 2019 television version of the musical.

What distinction did Idina Menzel reportedly earn by joining the original London cast of Wicked?

Highest-paid actress in West End history was how the press billed her deal, reportedly $30,000 a week, for a run of barely three months.

What is the title of Kristin Chenoweth's 2009 memoir?

A Little Bit Wicked takes its title from the show she had left after only nine months, in July 2004, to move into television.

For which musical did Kristin Chenoweth win her Tony Award, before Wicked?

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown won her the 1999 Tony as Sally Brown, a character who was not in the original show and was added for that revival.

Which Jon M. Chu film was adapted from a Kevin Kwan novel?

Crazy Rich Asians was the first major-studio film since The Joy Luck Club in 1993 with a majority cast of Chinese descent in a modern setting; Chu and Kwan turned down a richer Netflix offer to put it in cinemas.

What restaurant does Jon M. Chu's family own in California?

Chef Chu's, opened by Chu's father Lawrence in Los Altos in 1970, became Silicon Valley's power restaurant, where Steve Jobs ate in Apple's early days.

What role does Baum's Scarecrow take on when the Wizard leaves Oz in a balloon?

Ruler of the Emerald City is the job the Wizard hands over from his balloon, telling the people the Scarecrow will rule them, soon after stuffing his head with 'bran-new brains'.

Idina Menzel, Broadway's first Elphaba, plays Nancy in which Disney musical without singing a note?

Enchanted gave the Broadway belter no song at all, though its lyricist was Wicked's own Stephen Schwartz; she finally got one in the 2022 sequel, Disenchanted.

Kristin Chenoweth reunited with Wicked's composer on Broadway in 2025 for which new musical?

The Queen of Versailles cast her as Jackie Siegel, who set out to build a vast Florida mansion, but the reunion was brief: the show closed six weeks after its opening night.

Which Lloyd Webber musical did Wicked pass as its London theatre's longest-running show?

Starlight Express had roller-skated round the same theatre from 1984 to 2002; Wicked passed its total on the day it also became the West End's ninth longest-running show.