"Do you accept Jonathan Bailey as your Lord and Savior? Go see Wicked: For Good, and you just might. The follow-up to last year's Wicked is an adaptation of the Broadway musical's second act, which ostensibly takes place concurrent to the events of The Wizard of Oz. But there is another famous fable happening right under our noses in Wicked: For Good, and that is a steamy, Technicolor Passion of the Christ."
"Stephen Schwartz's lyrics make hay (Fiyero spoiler alert) out of teasing the characters' infamous destinies using wordplay and euphemisms. Elphaba gets a big Disney-ish "I want" song, where every hopeful lyric is a sad-in-hindsight double entendre ("a celebration throughout Oz that's all to do with me," "so happy I could melt," "when people see me they will scream," you get the idea)."
"If you've never seen the stage show or haven't yet put together the pieces (and spoiler-y marketing materials): By the end of Wicked, hunky romantic lead Fiyero is turned into one of the least sexy magical creatures imaginable, the Scarecrow. The twist is foreshadowed by simply making Fiyero a himbo and introducing the character with a whole song about being "brainless.""
Wicked: For Good adapts the musical's second act and runs concurrent to The Wizard of Oz while framing Fiyero's storyline as a bold Christlike allegory. The follow-up leans into the original's novelty of sympathetic villain origin stories and intensifies romantic and sexual tension between principal characters. Stephen Schwartz's lyrics employ wordplay and euphemism to create ironic double meanings, exemplified in Elphaba's 'I want' song with lines about celebration, melting, and screams. Fiyero's arc culminates in his transformation into the Scarecrow, foreshadowed by portraying him as a himbo and introducing him with a song about being 'brainless.'
Read at Vulture
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