'Wicked' is that good shiz

By Glen Weldon,

Aisha Harris, Mallory Yu, Wailin Wong, Liz Metzger, Jessica Reedy, Mike Katzif

Published November 22, 2024 at 9:09 AM EST

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in Wicked. — Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in *Wicked.*

The musical Wicked is a bold, revisionist take on The Wizard of Oz. It imagines that back in college, the Wicked Witch of the West (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda the Good Witch of the North (Ariana Grande) were best friends. The sprawling film delivers lavish spectacle, costumes, music, and choreography. But does the long-awaited film live up to the hype?

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Glen Weldon

Glen Weldon is a host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast. He reviews books, movies, comics and more for the NPR Arts Desk.

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Aisha Harris

Aisha Harris is a host of Pop Culture Happy Hour.

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Mallory Yu

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Wailin Wong

Wailin Wong is a long-time business and economics journalist who's reported from a Chilean mountaintop, an embalming fluid factory and lots of places in between. She is a host of The Indicator from Planet Money. Previously, she launched and co-hosted two branded podcasts for a software company and covered tech and startups for the Chicago Tribune. Wailin started her career as a correspondent for Dow Jones Newswires in Buenos Aires. In her spare time, she plays violin in one of the oldest community orchestras in the U.S.

Liz Metzger

Jessica Reedy

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Mike Katzif