Audiences are flocking to theaters to see Wicked: For Good, the thrilling finale to Jon M. Chu’s Wicked films and, essentially, Act 2 of the musical. Which includes one of the best songs in the entire show: “As Long As You’re Mine.”
The song in the Broadway musical features Elphaba and Fiyero on a somewhat blank stage and the two cannot keep their hands off of each other. Jonathan Bailey and Cynthia Erivo’s version makes the audience wait for the two to finally kiss each other and the tension bleeds into the entire song. On the one hand, it was hot. On the other, I am not sure that it made sense for “As Long As You’re Mine.”
In the context of the song and the Broadway show, the two have run away together but it doesn’t happen right after their Fiyero’s potential wedding. In fact, there isn’t a wedding at all and the lead up to “As Long As You’re Mine” in the Broadway show feels a little more earned.
Which brings me to my main point: I don’t think “As Long As You’re Mine” in Wicked: For Good had enough “sex” in it. Because the song is supposed to be Elphaba and Fiyero having sex together for the first time.
“Kiss me too fiercely” with no kissing?!
Part of what works about the Broadway rendition of “As Long As You’re Mine” is that the two cannot keep their hands off of each other. While I enjoy the teasing that Elphaba and Fiyero are doing in For Good, it doesn’t really work for a song that is all about loving each other too much to stay apart. The song quite literally starts with the lyrics “Kiss me too fiercely, hold me too tight.”
Maybe part of my upset comes from many telling me that the Wicked: For Good version was hotter than the musicals take on it. And in some ways, it is. Yes, seeing Elphaba in the arms of a shirtless Fiyero was a gift to us all. But the song itself was a bit of a let down for me because the hold out for the kiss, while worthwhile, was not necessarily “worth it.”
One of the biggest watered down moments of the musical itself was the romantic side of Fiyero and Elphaba’s relationship. In the book, their sex life is more explicit and the musical has it washed down to “As Long As You’re Mine.” So yes, I am a little upset that a song where Fiyero and Elphaba’s hips cannot stay apart on a blank Broadway stage is somehow hotter than a movie’s option.
Don’t get me wrong. Again, I do love the teasing kiss we get. I just wish it happened as the lead up to “As Long As You’re Mine” because the actual performance needed a lot more touching, kissing, and more. We can keep the slow undressing though, that part was good and I approve of how hot that was.
(featured image: Universal Pictures)
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
