Jon M. Chu who is set to bring one of the biggest Broadway productions to the big screen while expanding L. Frank Baum’s universe reflects on the societal shifts caused by the adaptations of Oz. The Wicked director admitted that the Yellow Brick Road — referring to one of the hit melodies from Oz — is the road they have been traveling ever since Baum released The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900.
Its 1939 adaptation The Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland, became a masterpiece and an iconography for follow-up movies. “The Wizard of Oz was always sort of prophetic in a way. It was written at a time of America in transition,” Chu told NBC News. According to him. in that era, the Great Depression had just run its course and people were about to go to war.
Meanwhile, there were questions about what the American dream would look like “when the road ends and what are the possibilities of the next thing,” he said explaining the context of Wizard of Oz’s release bringing a transition.
According to Chu, the country went through another transition in 2003, when the Tony-winning Broadway musical Wicked debuted. “When Wicked came around, it was a re-examination of that,” he claimed. “That was right after 9/11 and about to go into war. So another time where America is in transition,” he explained.
As for the much-awaited Wicked musical featuring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in leading roles, it will be released in Donald Trump’s presidential re-election era, another crucial time for the States. “This is the road we travel,” he said. Chu explained how in real life there’s no “yellow brick road” or wizards or other magical elements.
Being uncomfortable, maybe yelling at each other a little bit, forgiving each other, having some grace for each other is the only way out,” he added. Chu recalled that the musical came to him during the 2019 Pandemic which instantly made him connect the dots in historical context. “I felt like, wow, this thing is so prophetic,” he said.
