Wicked: The Soundtrack [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

by Ariana Grande

Overview

Premiering in 2003 and featuring original songs by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippen), the Broadway smash Wicked was loosely based on the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West rather than being directly adapted from the legendary 1939 film The Wizard of Oz or the Frank L. Baum books. As such, it offered a new spin on the characters for those only familiar with the Judy Garland classic. The 2024 film, in turn, is an adaptation of the 2003 musical. While featuring several songs that are unusually exposition-heavy and melodies that are wide-ranging but not exactly euphonious, the Broadway musical nevertheless has endured, likely due to its strengths as a vehicle for acrobatic belters and as a teen-friendly celebration of outcasts, including but not limited to anyone who's suffered from unrequited love. 2024's Wicked soundtrack delivers in the singing department, with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande cast in the roles originated by Idina Menzel (the green-skinned Elphaba) and Kristin Chenoweth (the pearly white Glinda), respectively. And they don't merely pull it off, but impress. Although Erivo does hold back -- by design -- throughout most of this first installment of the two-film series, Grande gets to show off her nearly operatic skills from the very beginning of show-opener "No One Mourns the Wicked," a true rather than virtual exposition that plays out over seven minutes. The pop star goes on to feature heavily throughout the track list but gets her own song with the comically immodest "Popular." That's followed by Erivo's earnest yet restrained "I'm Not That Girl," and she finally lets loose on "Defying Gravity," the musical's showstopper and a verifiable earworm. (Menzel and Chenowith's original went platinum in the U.K., a Glee cover of "Defying Gravity" hit the U.S. Top 40, and Erivo's version charted in the Top 40 in places like the U.K., Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, as well as reaching the Top 50 stateside.) Some of the other members of the stellar big-screen cast include Olivier Award-winning actor Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero ("Dancing Through Life") and newcomer Marissa Bode as Nessarose, Elphaba's younger sister, who is a wheelchair user. Also in key roles -- but those demanding distinctive presences more than singing technique -- are beloved actors Peter Dinklage as Dr. Dillamond ("Something Bad"), Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible ("The Wizard and I"), and Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard ("A Sentimental Man"). With "Defying Gravity" closing Act I, the nearly hour-long soundtrack, and the over-two-and-a-half-hour movie, there's plenty more to come, and the performances by the leads almost guarantee a return audience. (While there are tweaks to some of the Broadway songs, there are no new numbers featured in the film.) ~ Marcy Donelson

Product Details

Release Date:	11/22/2024
Label:	Republic Records
UPC:	0602475112372

Tracks

Disc 1

1. No One Mourns the Wicked
2. Dear Old Shiz
3. The Wizard And I
4. What Is This Feeling?
5. Something Bad
6. Dancing Through Life

Disc 2

7. Popular
8. I'm Not That Girl
9. One Short Day
10. A Sentimental Man
11. Defying Gravity

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Cynthia Erivo   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Ariana Grande   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Jonathan Bailey   Primary Artist
Kristin Chenoweth   Primary Artist
Jeff Goldblum   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Peter Dinklage   Primary Artist
Ethan Slater   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Andy Nyman   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Courtney Mae-Briggs   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Michael McCorry Rose   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Marissa Bode   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Michelle Yeoh   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Shiz University Choir   Primary Artist
The Wicked Orchestra   Primary Artist
Sharon D. Clarke   Primary Artist,Featured Artist,Featured Artist
Idina Menzel   Primary Artist
Jenna Boyd   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Peter Lale   Viola
Helen Kamminga   Viola
Paul Kegg   Cello
Helen Keen   Flute
Fiona Leggat   Viola
Philip Cobb   Trumpet
Dominick Amendum   Keyboards
Tim Gill   Cello
Colin Skinner   Saxophone
Bryn Lewis   Harp
Clare Thompson   Violin
Paul Kimber   Double Bass
Marianne Haynes   Violin
Beth Symmons   Double Bass
Jon Stokes   Trombone
Dominic Worsley   Double Bass
Kotono Sato   Violin
David Cuthbert   Flute
Dorina Markoff   Violin
Everton Nelson   Violin
Patrick Kiernan   Violin
Nick Barr   Viola
Richard George   Violin
Frank Schaefer   Cello
Hugh Webb   Harp
Lucy Shaw   Double Bass
Andy Wood   Trombone
Kate Musker   Viola
Gary Kettel   Percussion
Ian Humphries   Violin
Frank Ricotti   Percussion
Sophie Harris   Cello
Jamie Talbot   Saxophone
Nick Cooper   Cello
Fenella Barton   Violin
Mary Scully   Double Bass
Richard Watkins   French Horn
Paul Booth   Saxophone
Julian Poole   Percussion
Gavin McNaughton   Bassoon
Bozidar Vukotic   Cello
Roger Linley   Double Bass
Ben Russell   Double Bass
Dai Emanuel   Violin
Tony Woollard   Cello
Reiad Chibah   Viola
Duncan Ashby   Clarinet
Lydia Lowndes-Northcott   Viola
Gareth Small   Trumpet
John Anderson   Oboe
Beatrix Lovejoy   Violin
Emil Chakalov   Violin
Philippe Honore   Violin
Karen Jones   Flute
Ralph de Souza   Violin
Tom Pigott-Smith   Violin
Sarah Sexton   Violin
Janey Miller   Oboe
Matthew Ward   Violin
Stephen Mair   Double Bass
Steve Rossell   Double Bass
Chris Baron   Timpani
Nicholas Rodwell   Clarinet
Sue Bohling   Oboe
Eliza Marshall   Flute
Ed Tarrant   Trombone
John Mills   Violin
Jeremy Isaac   Orchestra Leader
Simon Chamberlain   Piano
Susan Dench   Viola
Natalia Bonner   Violin
Nigel Black   French Horn
Adrian Bradbury   Cello
Thomas Bowes   Violin
Greg Wells   Bass,Guitar,Keyboards
Cathy Thompson   Violin
Warren Zielinski   Violin
Laura Melhuish   Violin
Anthony Pike   Clarinet
Mark Berrow   Violin
Andrew Parker   Viola
Patrick White   Trumpet
Owen Slade   Tuba
Bruce White   Viola
Deborah Widdup   Violin
Rupert Ring   Double Bass
Sam Mayne   Saxophone
Rachael Lander   Cello
Odile Ollagnon   Violin
Corinne Bailey   French Horn
Anna Szabo   Violin
Ben Buckton   Violin
Phil White   Trombone
Daniel Bhattacharya   Violin
Michael Trainor   Violin
Christina Emanuel   Violin
Rachel Simms   Bassoon
Steve Morris   Violin
Christian Barraclough   Trumpet
Tim Rundle   Oboe
Barry Clements   Trombone
Martyn Jackson   Violin
Oscar Perks   Violin
Emma Harding   Bassoon
Laurie Anderson   Viola
Laurence Ungless   Double Bass
Raja Halder   Violin
Alexei Watkins   French Horn
Chris Augustine   Trombone
Diego Incertis   French Horn
Phillippa Koush-Jalali   French Horn
Simon Chiswell   Bassoon
Jon Carnac   Clarinet
Daniel Newell   Trumpet
David Lale   Cello
Kate Moore   Trumpet
Catherine Bradshaw   Viola
Katherine Gowers   Violin
Martin Humbey   Viola
Vicky Matthews   Cello
Henry Ward   French Horn
Charlie Brown   Violin
Nina Foster   Violin
Nick Moss   Saxophone
Jonathan Evans-Jones   Violin
Clive Howard   Viola

Technical Credits

Serban Ghenea   Mixing
Dominick Amendum   Composer,Supervisor,Recording Supervision
Jon Chu   Producer,Executive Producer
Marc Platt   Producer,Executive Producer
Stephen Schwartz   Composer,Producer
Stephen Oremus   Composer,Producer
Randy Merrill   Mastering Engineer
Jack Dolman   Composer
Ariana Grande   Vocal Producer
Greg Wells   Mixing,Composer,Producer
Maggie Rodford   Producer,Sound Supervision
John Powell   Composer
Laurence Anslow   Mixing
Cynthia Erivo   Vocal Producer
Robin Baynton   Vocal Editing