Kyle Buchanan

Thank you.

You know, I came to Wicked as something of a virgin.

I had never seen it on stage, which made me feel like a little bit of an aberration.

But I actually think that gave me a very sort of clean perspective on the movie project itself.

And also, this may well be how people come to Wicked in the future because the movies are such a phenomenon that I think a lot of people and future generations will experience this as a movie-first experience.

Yeah, a very long time.

I think people hoped that they would be, but there was enough precedent to suggest that they wouldn't.

I mean, when you look at the really big musical theater phenomenons that have...

come out on film, something like, you know, Les Miserables or Phantom of the Opera, they couldn't quite translate that gigantic, overwhelming enthusiasm to, you know, big, boffo box office scores.

And then you had, you know, outright bombs like Dear Evan Hansen or Cats that maybe did a little bit of damage to the actual, you know, brand on stage.

So it was not a done deal at all that Wicked would be a success.

And in fact, I think that's why it took so long to get off the ground.

That was Cynthia.

I know that one.

I also think that Ariana and Cynthia, you know, they have this ability on screen and certainly when they sing to sort of match each other's frequency.

They can also do that emotionally in real life.

But certainly in this case, where nobody was quite sure what anyone was doing.

And yet the moment continued to heighten, heighten, heighten until it reached an absolutely absurd place.

I don't know that anybody involved knows how they got there, but God bless them for doing it.

That's what's beautiful about it.