Defying courtesy: ‘Wicked’ fans turn screenings into their own personal concerts
The social contract has been shredded. PLUS: No ‘Star Wars’ in December 2026, Conan O’Brien to host the Oscars, and trailers for ‘Elio’ and the live-action ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ remake.
We’re about to hit the holiday gauntlet, and this Friday edition of Popculturology is ready to go. (Seriously, I’m possibly putting up our Christmas lights this weekend.)
Will I use the holidays to catch up on some TV watching? I still need to start Dune: Prophecy, a series that Vulture’s Kathryn VanArendonk described as “a show that can't always decide whether it's being made by hbo in 2024 or the syfy channel in 2005.”
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“I was so horrified that I could hear other people over Cynthia Erivo”
The effects of the pandemic shuttering us in our homes for almost a year absolutely shattered many parts of the social contract that had kept society together. People are getting into fights on airplanes. You’ve probably sat in a dentist waiting room next to someone watching TikTok at full volume. And now Wicked fans are turning screenings of the movie into their own personal concerts.
The New York Times reported this weekend that singalongs have broken out at early screenings of director Jon M. Chu’s much-anticipated adaptation of the Broadway hit.
Angela Weir went into a screening of Wicked on Monday night ready to be transported to the Land of Oz. But when Glinda (Ariana Grande) began to sing “Popular,” one of the musical’s early numbers, she was not the only one singing.
“It started slow. Then people heard each other — it was like they encouraged each other,” Weir said on Tuesday. “It was a beautiful scene, and then you’re taken out of it.”
As anticipation builds for the film’s release on Friday, some fans who have attended early screenings have ignored theater norms to sing right along with their favorite characters, much to the chagrin and annoyance of other Wicked enthusiasts. Many have taken to social media to issue a strict edict: Shush.
Look, this isn’t a concert film like Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour or Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé. It’s an actual movie. A movie that people are paying good money to see — and listen to. The average moviegoer isn’t forking over $20 per ticket to listen to Wicked fans sing over Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
“There’s this incredible last scene of the movie, and I wasn’t even in it because I was so horrified that I could hear other people over Cynthia Erivo,” Weir told The New York Times. “That stunned me.”
While I’m not partaking in Glicked weekend (sorry, Gladiator II and Wicked, but my theater outing this month is Moana 2), I’d 100 percent be asking for a refund if this kind of thing happened during a movie I was watching.
Wicked fans who just can’t help but sing along with the film’s songs are in luck, though. Universal is planning to release the movie in singalong form, with Variety reporting that “interactive showings of Universal’s upcoming movie musical will be offered in roughly 1,000 North American cinemas starting on Dec. 25.”
It’s OK that Wicked means something to you. It’s OK that you love the musical and are excited about the film. But it’s not OK to hijack a screening and ruin the experience of everyone around you. I didn’t go to Dune: Part Two and scream along with Hans Zimmer’s score. (The New York Times)
