Oscar Seasoning: A Very Wicked Awards Season

Holding space for Elphaba and Glinda’s Oscar speeches

This past couple of weeks have seen awards season enter the nomination process. The Golden Globes, the Critics’ Choice Awards, the Independent Spirit Awards, and many critics circle awards are sharing their nominees. The stage has been set for us to establish the frontrunners. There’s no runaway hit so far, but it’s still early in the game for us to make that kind of call. But there is one thing I feel comfortable confirming: Wicked is going to get a TON of nominations.

The long-awaited (first half of the) big-screen adaptation of one of the longest-running Broadway musicals ever was always going to be a decent-sized hit. The Wizard of Oz connection was too strong to ignore. Even people who don’t watch musicals can sing a couple lines of “Defying Gravity.” Its critical success was less guaranteed but certainly welcome. Wicked is now a major Best Picture contender. Cynthia Erivo is one of many candidates fighting for Best Actress in a crowded year. Ariana Grande has become a rising star of cinema in 2024 after two decades in the music and TV business.

(Remember when this was the first glimpse we got of the film and how you literally can’t see anything? Image via Universal.)

Jon M. Chu’s film is probably the best possible version we could have gotten of this extremely odd musical, based on an even weirder novel. Wicked is a fascinating specimen, a proudly mainstream four-quadrant show whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I’m not a huge fan of it but I respect its efficiency and solid number of bops. They made a high-concept and splashy show into an expensive-looking comedic musical with heart and a cast that can, shock horror, actually sing (look, after Emilia Perez, I was truly relieved to hear some actual performers hitting the high notes.)