David Farnor | On 25, Jan 2026

Director: Jon M Chu
Cast: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum
Certificate: PG

How on earth do you top Defying Gravity? That’s the problem that Wicked has never really solved. Ever since Idina Menzel introduced us to Elphaba on stage back in 2003, there’s no getting round the fact that the second half of the musical is, well, a bit naff. What begins as a rousing call to stand out from the crowd should build into a stirring display of battling injustice and unexpected harmony but instead stumbles into an uneven chapter that never quite hits the peak of part one’s finale.

Wicked: For Good picks up with Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) now ostracised as the Wicked Witch of the West by the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum) and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), with Glinda (Ariana Grande) perpetuating her villainous reputation as the Wizard’s spokesperson. Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), meanwhile, is engaged to her and has been appointed captain of the Oz guard, neither of which sit well with him.

It’s inevitable that Elphaba and Glinda will collide once more, and the frustration of Wicked: For Good is feeling the cogs moving everything into place to line up with The Wizard of Oz. And so the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow all rear their heads – along with the flying monkeys, some magic red shoes and a flying house from Kansas.

Some of these elements are more convincing than others, largely thanks to the committed cast doing their best to elevate the source material. Ethan Slater and Marissa Bode are particularly heart-wrenching as Boq, the Munchkin who is attached to Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose, but foolishly holds a candle for Glinda. Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Yeoh are having fun in roles that become increasingly superficial, while Jonathan Bailey brings gravitas to a romantic interest who could’ve been straw-thin.

Cynthia Erivo, as ever, is superb as the heartfelt, resilient and vulnerable Elphaba, and she sells everything from compromises to cardigans with irresistible charisma – the added song No Place Like Home is a moving, rallying anthem. But it’s Ariana Grande who steals the show, as she finds new depths and sadness to the unscrupulous Glinda, whose growing self-awareness of her own corruption is a poignant mirror of Elphaba’s boldly liberating rebellion. Her additional song, The Girl in the Bubble, is beautifully done, and director Jon M Cho excels when leaning more into character moments than the impressive visual effects – if part one’s success was partly in its expansive, lush world-building, part two sometimes forgets to balance out the bloated script by scaling things down to a personal level, or being daring enough to rework the material entirely. The result is a satisfying conclusion, but not a jaw-dropping one. Wicked: For Great may never have been on the cards, but Wicked: For Good lives up to its title.

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