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In “Wicked,” Elphaba and Glinda travel from Shiz University to the Emerald City on a glistening green train to meet the wizard. In real life, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande have traveled much farther and wider and longer — and on airplanes — to promote their hotly anticipated film.

The journey from successful stage musical to big-screen adaptation is rarely truly successful. From director Joshua Logan’s use of coloured filters in the 1950s adaptation of South Pacific (which looks as if something is wrong) to Tom Hooper’s recent mega-mess movie of Cats, there are so many pitfalls to avoid.

As director Jon M Chu’s first instalment of the mega-musical adaptation Wicked arrives in cinemas, a new audience of fans is connecting with Stephen Schwartz’s memorable score. Featuring hits including Popular, The Wizard and I and For Good, the musical is particularly loved for its celebration of female characters in…

Exclusive: Jon M. Chu talks Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande making Elphaba and Glinda their own

'Wicked" the movie has heart, smarts and courage

‘Once I’m in my costume - and this is probably a terrible idea - and the harness is on, I’m not doing it’

3/5 Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande showcase phenomenal vocal ability in this adaptation of the blockbuster musical, but they’re let down by a film that is aggressively overlit and shot like a TV advert

Wicked review: "Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo will have you defying gravity"

3/5 This story of self-acceptance and female empowerment is visually ravishing but with part one an hour longer than The Wizard of Oz even the superfans may wish they’d get a move on