‘Wicked’: Inside the making of the ‘most beautiful love story’ between friends

With the theatrical release of “Wicked” just weeks away, the buzz is already defying gravity, with every frame, clip, and nugget blowing up on social media. While critics were getting a first look, the film’s creative team — including cinematographer Alice Brooks, editor Myron Kerstein, and costume designer Paul Tazewell — gathered at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival for a “First Look” panel, moderated by Variety’s artisans editor Jazz Tangcay, to reveal a few of their magic tricks. 

Given the musical’s already iconic look, they knew they had a huge task ahead of them, and director Jon M. Chu gave them creative license to explore what this new vision of Oz would be.

“John’s original goal was that we were making ‘Lord of the Rings’ meets ‘Wizard of Oz,’ ” said Kerstein. 

But beyond the visual spectacle, their north star was the relationship between Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande).

“My goal was that it would be the most beautiful love story between these two friends,” said Brooks.

The crowd of fans — many in costumes, evenly divided between Team Elphaba and Team Galinda (as determined by a very unscientific applause poll)  — was also treated to two sneak peek clips: “What Is This Feeling” and “Dancing Through Life.”

Each artisan had their own challenges in crafting the film, one they did not take lightly.

Brooks had a vast playground of 17 stages and four backlots, including a 360-degree set, as well as all the latest technology at her disposal. But from the start, she set out to create a visual language that would define the film.

“The sun became our spotlight,” she explained. “The sun would always rise for Glinda and set for Elphaba.” 

For Kerstein, he had to convert 250 hours of footage into a more concise narrative. “You have to fall in love with them as characters and this friendship,” he said. “It’s hard to do that quickly and have the drama pull them apart.”

As compared to the stage production, Tazewell had the opportunity to design a whole wardrobe for each of the characters, being able to telegraph much more about the character’s inner lives.

“We’re used to seeing fairy princesses being the glamorous ones,” he said “For this, there needed to be a balance. It just so happened that one of them gravitated to black.”

That meant he spent a lot of time on reimagining Elphaba’s hat. “It needed to be iconic,” he said. “Within her story, it’s given to her as a joke. But Elphaba takes it and makes it a power source for herself.”

Careful watching — as fans will surely do — will be rewarded. Easter eggs are hidden throughout, they revealed (hint: pay careful attention to Nessa’s shoes).

All three hailed Chu’s creative vision for driving the innovations behind every frame of “Wicked” — and Tazewell singled out the casting in particular.

“What they bring to these characters — Cynthia as a person of color playing a person of color who is marginalized for being green is so brilliant,” he said. 

And while it’s hard to spoil a movie that so many can sing line by line, they each call out the Ozdust Ballroom as the “heart of the movie.”

“This is the first time they see each other,” said Brooks. “This is when they fall in love with each other.”

 “Wicked” is out in theaters on November 22.