Wicked, like many big time Hollywood projects, is a product of adaptation.
Talk to any fan of musical theater and they were well aware of and excited about Universal’s take on it for the screen decades before it finally released ago. But did you know the musical was also adapted from Gregory Maguire’s novelWicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West even before then?
Not to mention the novel is a spinoff from the original The Wizard of Oz, which is also an adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Art begets art, and so it goes.
Anyway, if you’re interested in reading the musical screenplay, check out the PDF below. Also, for more info in the adaptation process, check out the video essay and our brief technical analysis, as well as check out this interview with Winnie Holzman, who worked on the scripts for both the stage and the screen.
Exploring the Changes from Stage to Screen
As highlighted in Backstage Magic’s video essay above, many of the stunts in Wicked the film pay homage to the technical stage design for the stage in ways that don’t cut corners. When writing any adaptation it’s always important to consider the technical and creative constraints for each individual medium, so it’s cool to see that someone with such a technical knowledge of the stage production is lauding the choices made for the film adaptation.
If you’re a fan of the film but haven’t had an opportunity to check out the stage production, we’ve included the stage play below so you have a chance to read and explore the different ways writers Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox may have written for the screen differently than Holzman’s original musical.
Check it out below! And stay tuned for the screenplay once we’re closer to awards season.
‘Wicked’ Full Musical Script | PDF
Wicked plot:
“Elphaba begins her first day at Shiz University, where she is to look after her younger sister Nessarose, who is in a wheelchair. However, Elphaba’s father has not arranged for her to have a dorm room. She is forced to room with the popular but vain Galinda. During their first encounter, Elphaba and Galinda express an immediate dislike for one another through a song. Elphaba also discovers she has an innate talent for magic when she uses it unconsciously to protect her sister.”
Was this helpful in wrapping your head around adaptation? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Author: Grant Vance
This article comes from No Film School and can be read on the original site.
