Wicked movie: How Part I is longer than the whole Broadway musical.

The first thing you need to understand about the new movie version of Wicked is that, despite being only Part I of a two-part adaptation, it is in fact lengthier than the entire blockbuster stage musical on which it is based. The movie does not itself slot in time for such an intermission, but it ends right at the plot point that serves as the musical’s famed Act 1 finale: “Defying Gravity,” the song belted by an unjustly persecuted Elphaba as she finally rides off into the skies on her broom, destined to be forever vilified as the Wicked Witch of the West. In the years leading up to Part I’s release, a flurry of news stories teased all sorts of new goodies to be included in the film: additional songs from composer Stephen Schwartz, more plotlines and details from the eponymous 1995 novel that inspired the musical, and various “added elements” to the beloved songs. The song that plays throughout that stirring event is stretched out to accommodate the changes, which brings us to … The Songs Wicked: Part I doesn’t include any new musical numbers, but the beloved songs are all given significant flourishes, and Fiyero’s “Dancing Through Life” gets an extra-special boost. I’ve mentioned the reasons why “Something Bad” and “Defying Gravity” are longer than expected, but “One Short Day,” the catchy ballad that soundtracks Elphaba and Glinda’s trip to the Emerald City, is also given an extra job: Several lines are added to explain the Grimmerie, a mystical spellbook owned by the Wizard.