If you’re one of the many who caught “Wicked” in a theater, you’ve probably attended a sing-along screening – albeit unintentionally. As a theater kid, I understand both sides; it’s hard not to croon the lyrics to a beloved show but given a choice between hearing you and a Tony winner belt the big number, you can understand why this is annoying to some.
Which is why Universal smartly set up official sing-along showings of “Wicked” starting Christmas Day. I had many questions. Would people sing along if given permission, or is it only the thrill of breaking the rules that appeals to them? What would the lyrics look like onscreen? How would the audience sound? Does it matter that I can’t hit a note to save my life and thus was always cast in the one non-singing role in musicals throughout high school? (My fellow Mrs. Mullines from “Carousel” and princesses who only know one word of English in “Once Upon a Mattress,” I see you!)
Well, I attended the first showing (4 p.m.) of a “Wicked” sing-along in Los Angeles to answer the questions, and to provide some helpful tips! And this is a guide for everyone – one of my friends who we’ll call Mike (since that’s his name) doesn’t sing; he was in the tech booth in high school. So I asked him for his feedback post-screening.
Bear in mind I do not pretend to be a “Wicked” expert – I’ve seen the stage show three times and the film twice so I might make some obvious statements that are well known to the fandom (especially when it comes to lyrics). In my defense, it’s counterintuitive to make fun of someone for admitting they just learned something new. Anyway, if you want to see an expert at work, I highly recommend checking out this video.
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Prior to the film starting (and following 25 minutes of trailers and commercials) there is a quick introduction by Ariana Grande (Glinda) and Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba.) They welcome the audience, encourage everyone to sing along, and then lead the crowd in some vocal warm-ups. It’s only about one minute, but it’s a nice surprise and the pair seem to be having a great time with it.
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The lyrics do appear on screen.
Maybe an obvious note, but for anyone wondering, the musical numbers are subtitled. They are highlighted, karaoke style as you sing along, by gold lettering. At times, when Glinda, Elphaba and the guards are all singing at once, there is pink and green highlighting to further differentiate who’s singing what.
Like many olds, I am a fan of closed captioning in general, and this screening reminded me why. There was something powerful about seeing the lyrics written out in moments where people are singing over each other (my music friends tell me this is called a countermelody.) And certain lines became much clearer to me. I know several people who only recently learned that in “Popular,” Glinda sings “I’ll teach you the proper ploys when you talk to boys,” not “proper poise,” as they had always thought. And it wasn’t until I saw the lyrics spelled out that I realized in the same number Glinda sings “Now that I’ve chosen to become a pal, a sister, and advisor” she was saying “a sister” not “assister.” Yes, these are all things I could have learned from going to Genius lyrics or reading them online, but I have been happy with my version for 20 years now.
I was also late to the party on this one: during “One Short Day” when they show the Wizard reading from the Grimmerie, he recites the spell book language as “Oh-ma-ha.” I didn’t realize until then he was saying Omaha, a tribute to his origins in “The Wizard of Oz.”
Yes, people sang – and you should, too.
I’ve seen some internet reports where people attended sing-alongs and only a couple of people actually joined in. Maybe it’s because I live in L.A. where you can throw a smoothie and hit a ridiculously talented artist, but there was no lack of people raising their voices. And, I have to say – they sounded fantastic. My advice: sit in the middle so you are surrounded by the sound.
And if you can’t sing? It doesn’t matter. The vocals will more or less blend together in a lovely way. I do recommend a theater with a great sound system so you can sing as loud as you want. And don’t be worried if the singing starts out low – my audience used the opening number “No One Mourns the Wicked” to warm up – the real belting didn’t start until “The Wizard and I.”
Also, it quickly became apparent that many of us in attendance have been raised on the original Broadway recording. This became most evident during “Defying Gravity” when Elphaba sings the first line: “Something has changed within me.” On the stage soundtrack, there’s no pause before “changed” as there is in Erivo’s version and there were a lot of laughs as manysang loudly during the silence. It ended up sounding more like “Something has changed.. changed … changed!”
Okay, you don’t have to sing. Or have even seen the movie.
I’m not entirely sure how this happened, but Non-Singing Mike turned out to be even more of a unicorn than I expected: he hadn’t even seen the film yet. (You think you know someone…) But he claims to have been perfectly content to watch the film and told me later that the audience singing wasn’t distracting at all. That said…
Be prepared for some rowdiness.
Most “Wicked” audiences have been pretty hyped up in general, but give them permission to sing and it’s going to dial things up to 11. There was applause after every number (I’m not sure if the clapping was for the actors on screen or for us) and quite a few cheers as they ramped up to the big numbers. A young child was seated not far from me, and I had no idea if they were familiar with the movie until after the Ozdust Ball when she began screaming “Popular!” at the top of their lungs. (It actually sounded more like “Polar!” but I speak fluent toddler.)
And of course leading up to “Defying Gravity” there were plenty of cheers and a number of people shouting variations on: “Oh yeah, here we go!” for the act one finale. And people really came prepared with their Elphaba battle cry at the end (this is what my “Wicked” friends tell me to call it rather than the “AH-AH-AHH!” number.)
So is it worth it? Most definitely. The movie is great as is, but if you want an elevated experience, there’s nothing like getting your geek on with a theater of like-minded fans. The sing-alongs are currently scheduled to run through at least Jan. 2. But do everyone a favor and make sure you specifically book the sing-along screenings – a simple check of the theater website is all that stands between you and being politely asked to leave.