The Yale LGBTQ Employee Resource Group and the Yale Cinemat co-hosted an advanced screening of “Wicked: For Good,” nearly a year after “Wicked” was released in theaters.
Angel Hu & Kelly Kong
Staff Reporter & Contributing Reporter
Kamini Purushothaman, Contributing Photographer
Community members packed in a Humanities Quadrangle auditorium on Tuesday night for an advanced screening of “Wicked: For Good.”
Directed by Jon M. Chu, the movie is the latter half of the “Wicked” saga and adapts the second act of the 2003 stage musical. The film, which will be released in theaters on Nov. 21, continues the story of Elphaba, now the Wicked Witch of the West, played by Cynthia Erivo, and Glinda, played by Ariana Grande. The two witches navigate the consequences of their past decisions and see their friendship put to the ultimate test by a series of events destined to shape the future of the Land of Oz.
The screening was co-hosted by the Yale LGBTQ Employee Resource Group and the Yale Cinemat, which worked with Manager of Film Programming Marc Francis and NBCUniversal to present the screening to the Yale community.
“The excitement about ‘Wicked: For Good’ is incredible – tickets sold out in seconds! – and it is so special that we all get to experience this film together on the big screen,” Elora Sparnicht ’27, the president of the Cinemat, wrote in an email.
“Movies have such power when it comes to bringing people together, and as student filmmakers and creatives, it’s so important to remember that,” Sparnicht wrote.
Christine Gentry, director of the Yale Teaching Fellowship and co-chair of the Yale LGBTQ Employee Resource group, highlighted the significance of “Wicked” in LGBTQ culture and community.
“‘Wicked’ and musical theater just hold a very special place for our members in their hearts,” Gentry said. “It just seems so exciting to give them some sort of VIP exclusive preview.”
Yale students expressed gratitude for the opportunity to view such an anticipated movie before its release.
“There’s so much interest in this sort of thing, and the fact that we have this is honestly an incredible opportunity,” Ryan Chao ’28 said.
The hosts welcomed a full house into the theater. Throughout the movie, the audience responded to various scenes and moments with rapturous laughter, gasps and applause.
“Seeing ‘For Good’ was just a much anticipated, amazing cinema moment. And I know we’re all super excited,” Chao said.
However, some attendants preferred “Wicked” over its sequel.
“It was a little underwhelming for me,” Nicole Viloria ’25 said. “I like the first one way more. I think the songs made more sense to me.”
“Wicked: For Good” also featured original music not in the canonical Broadway soundtrack, which drew mixed reactions from the attendees.
“I really like the new songs,” Sebastian Martinez ’29 said. “They made this movie more cohesive with the new songs, with the added transition to dialogues and scene choices.”
Chao, on the other hand, said that the new songs diluted the emotions and charged energy of the original musical’s second act.
“It’s hard when you need to make such a long film and you’re taking not as much content,” Chao said. “I think I was mostly disappointed with how stretched out things were and with the filler plots.”
However, Chao expressed admiration for Erivo and Grande’s performances.
“They’re able to showcase a lot of their personal acting style in the songs,” Chao said. “For example, Cynthia Erivo is an incredible dramatic actor, and we saw even more of that side of her that’s just really shown through in an incredibly powerful way.”
Other students praised the continuity between the first and second movies and liked its light humor.
“I think it did well to build upon the story. It had a sort of self-awareness of the silliness of itself,” Liam Hannigan ’26, an attendee of the screening, said.
The first part of “Wicked” was released in theaters on Nov. 22, 2024.