Breaking Down Wicked’s Iconic Songs With Composer Stephen Schwartz

The Wicked Witch of the West has been a fixture in American culture for nearly 125 years. After coming to life in 1900 with L. Frank Baum’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, she rose to prominence onscreen in 1939, portrayed by Margaret Hamilton as a sinister old lady intent on ruining an innocent girl’s wish to go home. Decades later, Gregory Maguire gave her an origin story, introducing her as Elphaba in his 1995 novel Wicked. That, in turn, was adapted into a hit Broadway musical in 2003—one of the most lucrative and longest running. Now, Elphaba’s story is coming to the big screen with director Jon M. Chu’s two-part adaptation, starring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as her perkier counterpart Glinda. The first installment arrives in theaters on Nov. 22.

Wicked is much more than a simple origin story. Told through music and lyrics by the Oscar-winning composer Stephen Schwartz, it explores love, betrayal, and heartbreak as Elphaba navigates her complex relationship with the future Glinda the Good. Schwartz, whose other musical credits include Godspell and Pippin, has been involved with Wicked since its inception onstage. Countless vocalists have interpreted these songs, on Broadway and on tours around the world, but the film brings new opportunities to dive even deeper into the world of Oz. That meant some songs were expanded or restructured—a challenge that Schwartz was excited to tackle with his collaborators.

TIME spoke to Schwartz about key songs in Wicked, from Elphaba’s first big number to the dramatic cliff-hanger, from their origins to how they translate onscreen.

“The Wizard and I”

Wicked’s third song follows Elphaba as she realizes her life is about to change. Madame Morrible (Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh in the movie), the headmistress of Shiz University, has seen Elphaba’s magical talents, and announces that she will write to the Wizard so the two can meet. This is perhaps the first time Elphaba is noticed for something that doesn’t have to do with the electric green color of her skin. It’s one of the most emotional moments in the show as Elphaba stands alone in the middle of the stage and sings.

But that bare-bones approach made Schwartz worry about how the song would present on film. For the movie, Chu leaned into the fantastical elements of the story to convey Elphaba’s sudden flood of hope. Schwartz says that the director’s clever solution managed to make the song feel more cinematic while staying true to its purpose. He was also struck by Erivo’s performance, noting that her voice sounds much younger in this song compared to the movie's last, "Defying Gravity." This choice made the progression of the character clear, and it was a subtle decision that Schwartz remembers Erivo making on her own. “Cynthia can sing anything, she’s gifted like a virtuoso with an instrument,” he says. “It was really interesting and impressive how she brought who and where the character was at that particular point in the story into the sound of her voice.”

“What Is This Feeling?”

Early in the process of writing the show, Schwartz was having trouble with this number, which finds Elphaba and Glinda as reluctant roommates who can’t stand each other. After conferring with his collaborator Winnie Holzman, who wrote the book for the Wicked musical (and later co-wrote the film’s screenplay), he cracked it on the fifth try. Holzman had the idea to write a “falling in hate” song. She told Schwartz that instead of a song where two people instantly fall in love, they should instantly fall into loathing, but in such an intense way that it somehow still feels good. 

Initially, Schwartz wrote a song more resembling a ballad, but during readings he could see that it wasn’t working. “I realized the idea was right, but it needs to be really high energy,” he says. He went home after one reading and wrote the song overnight. That version made it to Broadway—and Schwartz notes it is one of the songs in the movie that most closely resembles how it is performed onstage. 

“Dancing Through Life”

One of Wicked’s longer songs, “Dancing Through Life” covers a lot of ground. Fiyero (Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey), the partying prince who keeps getting kicked out of different schools, arrives on the scene and gets everyone together to dance at the Ozdust Ballroom. Schwartz wrote an earlier version of this song that was preformed pre-Broadway in the show's out-of-town tryout in San Francisco, called "Which Way Is the Party?" But it didn't land with audiences, which is when Schwartz decided it needed to more explicitly state Fiyero's philosophy for life: “Nothing matters but knowing nothing matters/  It’s just life/ So keep dancing through.” As he sings, major developments are happening for all the key characters, including Glinda gifting Elphaba the pointed hat that eventually becomes her signature look.

Though it’s Fiyero’s song, Elphaba and Glinda share a dance at the end, and their relationship is forever changed. They let their walls come down and stop seeing each other as enemies. “It’s very exciting when you can tell a big story moment wordlessly, just with music and movement,” Schwartz says. “That’s something Jon Chu was able to achieve in a wonderful way because of closeups, and things you don’t have onstage.”

For the movie, Schwartz considered an idea for a new song about Elphaba, Glinda, Fiyero, Boq (Ethan Slater), and Nessarose (Marissa Bode) being friends. "Like a Grease song, a 'We Go Together' type of thing," he says. Ultimately, the song didn't feel necessary because that storytelling was accomplished in other ways, much of if through dancing.

“Popular”

After the breakthrough in their relationship at the dance, Glinda sings to Elphaba that she wants to help her become popular. The bubbly tune, punctuated by Glinda’s promises to fix her friend’s hair and show her how to flirt, came to Schwartz easily. He wanted it to sound like the cheerleaders in high school that he had crushes on (“the unattainable girls”), but slightly offbeat compared with your typical bubblegum pop. “I made it odd rhythmically, instead of straightforward,” Schwartz adds. “The accents come in strange places. There’s a yodel in the title when she does ‘Pop-youuu-lar.’” 

For the movie, Schwartz, music producer Greg Wells, and musical supervisor Stephen Oremus wanted to update the rhythm, but he remembers that Grande was adamant that they stay true to the original. It was important that all changes to the song felt like they came from Glinda’s motivations, rather than Grande’s own vocal stylings. “She does little inventive things within it, but I think they are strongly character-based,” Schwartz says. “That was something she was very insistent on.”

The movie also features an extended ending for the song, which Schwartz recalls that Grande was initially hesitant to perform. But Schwartz explained to her that he felt that this was what Glinda would do, especially visually on screen. Then, he remembers, she went with it "wholeheartedly."

“One Short Day”

This was the third song Schwartz wrote for the show, following a version of what became "No One Mourns the Wicked" and an earlier version "The Wizard and I." Both were quite dark, and Schwartz remembers writing "One Short Day" to bring in some levity and fun. The result is a celebratory number (and the one that is most changed for the film) that brings Elphaba and Glinda to Oz.

Before Elphaba meets the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum), she and Glinda cram in as many exciting activities as they can on the trip. “Winnie and I had this idea that when the girls go to Oz, it would be like one of those tourist books,” Schwartz explains. “If you only have one day in the Emerald City, what should you see?” They end up on a whirlwind tour, where they are enchanted by the cultural offerings. “One Short Day” also includes a mention of the Wizard and his supposed powers in a brief play-within-a-play.

In the movie, this portion is expanded to delve into the history of Oz, including details about the city’s ancient book of spells known as the Grimmerie. Schwartz says the new part of the song also highlights how the Wizard is using propaganda and spreading misinformation about himself to the citizens of Oz.

“Defying Gravity”

The Act I closer and one of Wicked’s most memorable songs comes as Elphaba is being chased by the Wizard’s guards. The man she had so trusted has just betrayed her—and he’s gotten all of Oz to turn against her. In response, she vows to fight back. But the walls are closing in, and Glinda is begging Elphaba to apologize, hoping that things can return to normal. Instead, Elphaba levitates for the first time. Onstage, she is hoisted into the air as she sings. 

“I wanted you to feel this power coming up through the ground, inhabiting her, and then her owning her power,” Schwartz says. When Erivo sang “Defying Gravity” in the movie, Schwartz admired how restrained she was—until the very end. The final note, a riff that has had a life well beyond Wicked, becomes Elphaba’s battle cry. “It’s fun for me to hear what the different choices are,” Schwartz says. “The only rule for me is that it has to feel organic, it can’t feel like you’re doing a riff on American Idol. It needs to feel like it comes from the gut. I certainly think Cynthia achieved that.”