Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for WickedWicked’s resounding success is a lesson in adaptation. Director Jon M. Chu faithfully retains the core spirit of the Broadway production, but with just as much skill, he also navigates the conundrum that inevitably befalls all adaptations: recognizing which parts of the original material need to be refined. Chu and his team make several alterations that benefit Wicked’s narrative tableau, ranging from letting an actor’s close-up say more than any ballad could, to incorporating prominent hints about the future that awaits certain characters in Wicked: Part Two. One particular change, a new verse during the song “One Short Day,” clarifies several plot points and enhances them with deeper meaning than Wicked’s stage counterpart.

How Is the ‘Wicked’ Movie’s Version of “One Short Day” Different From the Broadway Song?
Image via Universal Pictures

After the first verse of “One Short Day” in the stage version, Elphaba and Glinda attend Wizomania, a live theatrical performance that’s one of the Emerald City’s hottest tourist attractions. Choir singers and costumed dancers whimsically regale the crowd about the Wizard’s arrival in his hot air balloon. After this brief diversion, the ensemble cast resumes the song’s closing chorus, and Elphaba and Glinda are off to see the Wizard in his palace.

Chu’s film keeps the basic concept of Wizomania and expands it into a longer segment with new music exclusively written for the film by Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz. As Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) take in every delight the Emerald City has to offer, they pause long enough to watch a mini-concert by a duo called the Emerald City Players. Two elegantly dressed women (Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, who originated the roles of Elphaba and Glinda on Broadway, respectively) sing a slower-placed anthem about the Wizard’s (Jeff Goldblum) origins, his revered status, and his ties to the Grimmerie — an ancient spell book that holds all of Oz’s magical secrets.

‘Wicked’s Extended Version of “One Short Day” Clarifies and Foreshadows Important Storylines

According to the Emerald City Players, the Wizard fulfills a prophecy laid down by Oz’s ancient leaders, the Magical Wise Ones. The Wise Ones recorded their magical knowledge in the Grimmerie, but after their deaths, no one could decipher the language — except for a single individual who would rescue Oz’s people from their “darkest hour,” restore their joy, and become the custodian of their history. Once the Wizard descended from the sky and chanted a strange-sounding word, Oz’s people believed he was the great leader whose arrival the Wise Ones had prophesied; they rallied behind him and never looked back. However, keen-eared viewers will note that the word the Wizard’s hologram chants during the Players’ presentation is “O-Ma-Ha” — otherwise known as Omaha, Nebraska, the Wizard’s hometown in L. Frank Baum’s first The Wizard of Oz book. It’s a clever way to foreshadow his conman nature, especially since droning “Omaha” is some pretty lackluster improv.

Related Before It Was a Movie, ‘Wicked’ Almost Became a Gritty Network Miniseries Starring Salma Hayek The series had a powerhouse team of producers behind it, but it never became a reality.

Linking Oz’s magical secrets to the Grimmerie and the Wizard also enriches the Grimmerie’s importance. Compared to the Grimmerie’s role in the stage show, where it’s closer to a MacGuffin device, changing the book into a prized but indecipherable relic compounds why the Wizard and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) plan to weaponize Elphaba’s ability to read its contents. Likewise, the Grimmerie’s legendary status emphasizes Elphaba’s innate connection to it, and suggests Elphaba might be the real person destined to fulfill the Wise Ones’ prophecy — if it weren’t for Oz’s systematic corruption and bigotry.

Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth’s ‘Wicked’ Cameos Are More Than Just an Easter Egg
Image via Universal Stage Productions

Rather than risk disrupting Wicked’s pacing by forcing in a new song, Chu and Schwartz seamlessly integrate this expositional moment into an existing number. As for Menzel and Chenoweth’s presence during “One Short Day,” although any cameo from these two Broadway icons would please hardcore fans, any singers could’ve portrayed the Emerald City Players. Their contribution succeeds because their segment serves Wicked’s larger story without distracting from it. Even the existence of the Emerald City Players makes sense in-universe. Of course, the Wizard would promote his propaganda through crowd-pleasing entertainment; the Players are just Wizomania on a bigger budget.

Some of these thematic layers are implied but not fully fleshed out in the stage production, while others are new inventions for Chu’s interpretation. Once the Wicked movie places all of them front and center, “One Short Day” transforms from a catchy but mostly empty bop highlighting on-stage visual spectacle into key foreshadowing that advances the plot — as all musical numbers ideally should.

Wicked is in theaters now.

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Your changes have been saved Wicked The story of how a green-skinned woman framed by the Wizard of Oz becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. The first of a two-part feature film adaptation of the Broadway musical.Release Date November 22, 2024 Cast Cynthia Erivo , Ariana Grande , Michelle Yeoh , Jeff Goldblum , Jonathan Bailey , Ethan Slater , Marissa Bode , Bowen Yang , Bronwyn James , Keala Settle , Peter Dinklage , Aaron Teoh , Grecia De la Paz , Colin Michael Carmichael , Adam James , Andy Nyman , Courtney Mae-Briggs , Sharon D. Clarke , Jenna Boyd Runtime 160 Minutes Writers Gregory Maguire , Winnie Holzman , Dana Fox , L. Frank Baum Studio(s) Marc Platt Productions Expand