Wicked is officially in theaters, and its box office score and hype are defying gravity!
Wicked is the origin story of Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) before Elphaba becomes who we now know as the Wicked Witch of the West. The story focuses on Elphaba and how she isn’t at all wicked but scapegoated as such because she is different from her classmates. Wicked follows Glinda and Elphaba through the various stages of girl friendships and how Elphaba is a good person trying to do the right thing. If you’ve seen Wicked in theaters and are looking for more feel-good musical fixes, I have just the list for you!
The 1986 musical Into The Woods was adapted into a Disney Studios movie starring Emily Blunt and James Corden. The story weaves together a couple of Brothers Grimm fairytales, including Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Jack and the Beanstalk, and how a childless couple works their hardest to remove a curse a witch placed on them. The Witch is played by Meryl Streep and Into The Woods also stars Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, and Johnny Depp. It’s a true fairytale story that many admirers of the musical enjoyed.
Timothee Chalamet stars as a young Willy Wonka in Wonka, the origin musical story of the famous chocolatier. Wonka arrives in the city and is aiming to find a place to sell his chocolates, but runs into issue after issue. He finds it hard to trust anyone, but he eventually finds a team that helps him make his dreams a reality. Wonka features the song Pure Imagination, which is also sung by Gene Wilder in the 1971 classic, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.
Wicked is magical, and so is Beauty and The Beast from 2017. Emma Watson stars as a perfect Belle who gets trapped inside a castle with a very misunderstood Beast (Dan Stevens). The Beast is destined to stay in the body of a wild animal until he can learn to love. The live-action stays true to the animated classic and provides some beautiful sets and costumes.
Anne Hathaway is a musical queen, and she plays her role as Ella in Ella Enchanted perfectly. Ella is unfortunately cursed to obey every command that has been given to her. She was cursed as a baby and has suffered to obey her whole life. She eventually falls in love with Prince Char (Hugh Dancy), but many people don’t want to see that happen, so they try to use her curse against her. She must rely on human and animal friends to help her follow her true love and not be restricted by her curse.
