The Music of Wicked: For Good

The music of Wicked has always carried the heart of the story—first on Broadway, and now across two epic films. 

In this episode, composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, music supervisor and arranger Stephen Oremus, and film composer John Powell take us inside the melodies, themes, and collaborative process that shaped Wicked: For Good—from reimagining classic songs to building a new musical vocabulary for Jon M. Chu’s cinematic vision. 

Director Jon M. Chu and producer Marc Platt reflect on how music guided some of the film’s boldest choices, while Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Marissa Bode, and Jeff Goldblum share how performing these numbers—often live—transformed their characters and the world of Oz itself.

Spoiler alert: this episode explores musical changes between the Broadway show and the film adaptation—including reimagined numbers and the emotional architecture behind them. But we’re saving the two new songs and the titular number for next week!