{"id":724962,"date":"2025-11-22T14:52:45","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T11:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=724962"},"modified":"2025-11-22T14:52:45","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T11:52:45","slug":"a-deep-dive-into-the-wicked-for-good-cast-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=724962","title":{"rendered":"A Deep Dive Into the Wicked: For Good Cast Album"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Music<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A Deep Dive Into the Wicked: For Good<\/em> Cast Album<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
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By <\/span>Sammi Tapper<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

November 22, 2025<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
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The decision to split Jon M. Chu\u2019s big-screen adaptation of Wicked<\/em> into two films not only meant double the movies\u2014already a major indulgence for fans of the Broadway musical\u2014but also double the press tour looks, global premieres, merch collaborations, and of course double the cast recordings.<\/p>\n

Have you spent the last year just itching to know what Cynthia Erivo\u2019s riff at the end of \u201cNo Good Deed\u201d would sound like, or dreaming about Jonathan Bailey\u2019s rendition of \u201cAs Long as You\u2019re Mine\u201d? Well, I have too, and I have some thoughts about Wicked: For Good<\/em>\u2019s cast album. Let\u2019s take it from the top.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery Day More Wicked\u201d<\/div>\n

Unlike its musical counterpart, Wicked: For Good<\/em> was tasked with bringing its audience back into the world of Oz after a year-long hiatus, rather than a 15-minute intermission. Instead of jumping right into \u201cThank Goodness\u201d like the musical does, we are welcomed back with a more formal introduction: \u201cEvery Day More Wicked.\u201d The song is a semi-reprise of \u201cNo One Mourns the Wicked\u201d (the Wicked: Part I<\/em> opening track), but with an even greater, more frightening intro\u2014the insinuation being that the Oz we are about to see is in a much darker place than where we left it.<\/p>\n

We also hear some new lyrics that catch us up with the characters. To the tune of \u201cWizard and I\u201d\u2014her \u201cI want\u201d song from the first half of the story\u2014Elphaba (Erivo) sings, \u201cIf I can just make them believe in the truth, that all that he says is a lie, that\u2019s when they\u2019ll finally bid the Wizard goodbye.\u201d And so, the tone of Part II is clearly set.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank Goodness \/ I Couldn\u2019t Be Happier\u201d<\/div>\n

I have always assessed an actor\u2019s Glinda (Ariana Grande) by their approach to this song, specifically the bridge. Kristin Chenoweth, who originated the role of Glinda on Broadway, did it perfectly, and Grande makes for a worthy successor. You can hear exactly what Glinda is going through\u2014her struggle with herself as she questions what is truly good and what is truly wicked; the effort she is exerting by masking her true emotions to please the public\u2014and it\u2019s clear from the start that this is Grande\u2019s movie as much as it is Erivo\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo Place Like Home\u201d<\/div>\n

The decision to add a new song to Wicked\u2019s<\/em> catalogue could not have been made lightly, but \u201cNo Place Like Home,\u201d our first full solo from Elphaba, is necessary. She sings the ballad to a group of animals as they prepare their escape from Oz in order to avoid being thrown into cages by the Wizard, and it works both to explain Elphaba\u2019s motivations and to underscore one of Wicked<\/em>\u2019s central messages. \u201cOz is more than just a place. It\u2019s a promise, an idea, and I want to help make it come true,\u201d Elphaba sings, and indeed, Chu seems to be asking his audience to think about their own society\u2019s promise and possibilities\u2014and not to give up on them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Wicked Witch of the East\u201d<\/div>\n

The next track represents another new addition to the Wicked<\/em> arsenal, if not to the story itself. \u201cThe Wicked Witch of the East,\u201d which marks a pivotal narrative moment for Nessarose (Marissa Bode) and Boq (Ethan Slater), is actually part of Wicked<\/em>\u2019s stage production, but for several reasons it was left off of the Broadway recording. If you haven\u2019t watched the film yet and are not familiar with the plot of the second half of the story, I would hold off on cueing up this one. I am glad that it was included, though. I think Slater\u2019s Boq is spot-on, and Bode captures her character\u2019s full arc in just three minutes and 23 seconds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWonderful\u201d<\/div>\n

One of the most notable revisions to the film album involves the addition of Glinda to \u201cWonderful,\u201d usually a duet between Elphaba and the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum). Schwartz has described this change as a storytelling decision, explaining that he and Wicked<\/em>\u2019s other creatives felt that they had to get Elphaba and Glinda together sooner in the film than when they do in the show. Grande\u2019s vocals also have the nice effect of adding a bit of lightness to material that is otherwise quite dark.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Not That Girl (Reprise)\u201d<\/div>\n

Grande\u2019s performance of \u201cI\u2019m Not That Girl (Reprise)\u201d is very moving. One of my favorite things about the original Broadway cast recording of Wicked<\/em> is the transition from \u201cI\u2019m Not That Girl (Reprise)\u201d into \u201cAs Long As You\u2019re Mine.\u201d When you listen to them in chronological order, it\u2019s seamless, dropping you right from Glinda\u2019s heartbreak into Elphaba and Fiyero\u2019s anticipated reunion. The film versions don\u2019t blend the same way; instead, there\u2019s about a minute\u2019s worth of instrumental music between them.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Long As You\u2019re Mine\u201d<\/div>\n

Any longing I had for the Broadway track was subdued when Bailey, People<\/em>\u2019s 2025 Sexiest Man Alive, belted out, \u201cSomehow I\u2019ve fallen under your spell. And somehow I\u2019m feeling so glad I fell\u201d (move over \u201cDancing Through Life,\u201d we have a new Fiyero song to swoon over). While the intro is a bit slow, the song quickly picks up to become one of my favorites on the album. Erivo brings it home perfectly with her last line: \u201cFor the first time, I feel wicked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo Good Deed\u201d<\/div>\n

As anxious as we may have been for Erivo and Bailey\u2019s rendition of \u201cAs Long As You\u2019re Mine,\u201d Erivo\u2019s 11 o\u2019clock number, \u201cNo Good Deed,\u201d was undoubtedly the most anticipated song among Wicked<\/em> fans. The entire sequence in the film is executed masterfully. Erivo cements her rightful place in movie-musical history when she shouts out, \u201cFiyero, where are you?\u201d followed by a chilling, \u201cOne more disaster I can add to my generous supply.\u201d Then, as she approaches the bridge, she screams out Fiyero\u2019s name in a battle cry similar to the one in \u201cDefying Gravity.\u201d The bridge has been tweaked in subtle but impactful ways\u2014the tempo slows so that we can really hear Elphaba reckon with the concept of a good deed\u2014only to give way to an ending that will surely have your audience erupt into applause (as mine did!).<\/p>\n

\u201cMarch of the Witch Hunters\u201d<\/div>\n

If you listen closely to the first few seconds of \u201cMarch of the Witch Hunters,\u201d you\u2019ll hear a chant that may sound familiar. Could that possibly be a rendition of the Winkie Guards chant from The Wizard of Oz<\/em>? The song then goes into the track as we know it, though Slater\u2019s Boq is a bit more sinister-sounding and the song ends with a line omitted from the musical album: a faint cry from someone in the chorus yelling, \u201cMelt her\u201d\u2014a hint at what\u2019s to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Girl in the Bubble\u201d<\/div>\n

The second of the two new songs, \u201cThe Girl in the Bubble,\u201d is an introspective solo ballad from Glinda\u2014and one that seems to nod a little to Grande\u2019s professional life, too, as Glinda reflects on the costs of being a public figure.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Good\u201d<\/div>\n

Unlike the original Broadway cast album, the film soundtrack ends with \u201cFor Good,\u201d which feels fitting: Wicked: For Good<\/em> foregrounds Elphaba and Glinda\u2019s relationship in a way the stage musical does not. That dynamic is really the focal point of this cinematic phenomenon, so it only seems right to have the Erivo\/Grande duet be the album\u2019s end. Their voices blend together perfectly, hardly straying from the original framework of the song. Some things are just too good to touch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

Source URL: http:\/\/vogue.com\/article\/a-deep-dive-into-the-wicked-for-good-cast-album<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Music A Deep Dive Into the Wicked: For Good Cast Album By Sammi Tapper November 22, 2025 Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection The decision to split Jon M. Chu\u2019s big-screen adaptation of Wicked into two films not only meant double the movies\u2014already a major indulgence for fans of the Broadway musical\u2014but also double the press tour […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":724963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-724962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-vogue-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=724962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/724963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=724962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=724962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=724962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}