What is This Feeling? Intimacy in "Wicked"

Upon the release of Wicked in November 2024, countless clips of interviews from the film’s press tour were scattered across the internet as the cast spoke with publications and radio stations. Vowing to abstain from watching the film until I could enjoy it with my family, I satiated my Wicked craving by listening to the soundtrack and watching videos about specific cinematic scenes, including, but not limited to, Stephen Schwartz outlining the composition of ‘Defying Gravity’ and Architectural Digest explaining the set construction. In the final months of 2024, my obsession with Wicked was all-consuming, to the point where I woke one morning to find the operatic lyrics of ‘No One Mourns the Wicked’ playing in my head. The month of January provided a break from this fixation, thanks to a lull in the circulation of clips that had previously saturated most of the media I was consuming. However, a few days ago, an overdue interview with Cynthia Erivo about the intimacy of singing in a film wandered across my feed, altering my perspective on the comparison between the musical’s film and stage performances.

The film adaptation of Wicked continues the musical’s legacy by providing a refreshed interpretation 21 years after its Broadway debut. The elaborate set of the film allows viewers to experience the Land of Oz beyond the stage of the Gershwin Theatre and its description in the book and film versions of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Additionally, the film offers slight changes to the notes and lyrics of its many beloved songs, tailoring the music to the capabilities and ranges of the individual actors. 

In the aforementioned interview, Cynthia Erivo discusses the power of having a camera inches away from her face in the filming of ‘I’m Not That Girl’, allowing her to change the delivery of certain lines by virtue of the intimacy that the camera’s proximity provides. Through this closeness, emotional subtleties conveyed through her facial expressions and vocal inflexions are noticeable — a feature that would be indecipherable for any audience member watching a live performance. 

I have learned through my limited stage acting experience that projection is imperative, and this standard eliminates the possibility for actors or singers to whisper in a live performance. However, in the Wicked film, the camera grants Erivo the ability to whisper certain lines of this heart-wrenching and often relatable song, offering the viewer the chance to better understand and empathise with Elphaba’s complicated existence. Out of all the Wicked-related information I have gathered in the past few months, I am most struck by this artistic choice, and now have yet another reason to appreciate the film.

Prior to watching this interview, I operated under the assumption that live performances are undeniably more intimate than movies because the audience is in the same room as the performers, and everyone is experiencing life together at the same time. Yet when I’m watching a musical, I am always aware of the fact that the actors are acting and the stage is a fabrication, regardless of the talented cast and impressive set. Although I may not have been transported to Oz when I saw the live performance of Wicked, I didn’t approach the musical hoping to feel like an ‘Ozian’ by the end. Rather, I appreciated the musical because every live performance is different, and the unavoidable inconsistencies create an intimacy between the actors and the changing audience. Although the stage performance and the film approach this idea of intimacy differently, they both capitalise on the unique resources at their disposal to provide audiences with the opportunity to emotionally connect with the characters, thus emphasising the importance of considering the stage version of Wicked and its film counterpart as separate — but equally masterful — works of art.

Illustration by Maya Mason