Stephen Schwartz and Arranger Stephen Oremus share fun details of the original Wicked Broadway musical. Speaking to Variety, the creators revealed they had to change Glinda’s voice because Kristin Chenoweth wanted to sing in her pure soprano range.
That’s when Schwartz came up with the idea of her singing in full range while addressing the public. “I think that’s one of the really cool things about musical theater,” he said. He admitted that an actor’s voice can affect the final version of any song.
“I don’t know how much actors influence the final version of a play, but they have a lot of influence in musicals because you want to make it bespoke,” he revealed. Musicals require actors to hit every note, rhythm, and tempo and make it look natural at the same time.
Oremus added that they always pushed Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, who played Glinda and Elphaba in the latest movie adaptation of the hit Broadway musical. “I would go “Yeah… and? How about some more?” And they’re like, “Oh, we can do other things?” he recalled.
He also revealed that the actors were treating the material with respect and were “excited” to wrap their voices around the material. They were ready to “inhabit these characters and find for themselves where it needed to be.”
However, the added pressure was to live up to musicals that have been loved by people for the last 20 years. The creators wanted to honor that and blow it up into a brand new and “beautiful” version of the OG musical. “That was the fun challenge for us,” he added.
Oremus added that every time anyone from the music team wanted to do something different, he and Stephen would push them in that direction and say “Let’s keep exploring. Let’s have some fun with it,” he added.
The latest Wicked musical was a blockbuster film that grossed $635 million at the worldwide box office. In addition to Erivo and Grande, the film also starred Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Peter Dinklage, and others. Wicked is currently in theaters.
