John M. Chu, Joe L. One of the greatest Broadway productions of all time is set to be brought to the big screen, expanding the universe of Frank Baum and reflecting the social changes caused by the adaptation of Oz. The Wicked director admitted that the Yellow Brick Road – referring to one of Oz’s hit tunes – is the road they’ve been traveling on 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 icon for follow-up films. “The Wizard of Oz was always kind of prophetic. It was written at a time when America was in transition,” Chu told NBC News. According to him. In that era, the Great Depression had just begun 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 the possibilities are for the next thing,” he said, explaining the context of the release of the Wizard of Oz bringing about change.
According to Chu, the country went through another change in 2003, when the Tony-winning Broadway musical Wicked debuted. “When Wicked came in, it was his re-examination,” he claimed. “It was right after 9/11 and about to go to war. So the second time America is in transition,” he explained.
As for the highly anticipated Wicked musical starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, it will be released in the era of Donald Trump’s presidential election, which is another important time for the states. “This is the road we travel,” he said. Chu pointed out that there is no “yellow brick road” or magicians or other magical elements in real life.
Getting uncomfortable, maybe yelling at each other a little bit, forgiving each other, having some grace toward each other is the only way out,” he said. Chu recalled that the music came to him during the 2019 pandemic that immediately inspired him to connect the dots in historical context. “I was like, wow, this is so prophetic,” he said.
