Students got to channel their inner Elphaba and Glinda on Friday, as the Students Activity Board (SAB) hosted a “Wicked Pop Up Shop” in the University Center event lounge.
With the excitement surrounding “Wicked: For Good’s” release next week, Jillian Wroblewski, a senior marketing major and SAB's campus life coordinator, brought this event to life.
The event offered students pink and green drinks, assorted candies, cupcakes, and notepads, alongside the choice of either an Elphaba or Glinda themed stuff-a-plush and a photo opportunity with cardboard cut-outs of the main duo.
“For this event, we focused on activities and décor that captured the iconic feel of Wicked, with color schemes and movie elements, to create an immersive experience,” Wroblewski said.
Wroblewski said she wanted to create a stress-free experience for those who attended the event, and it did exactly that.
“The environment at the event was joyful and energetic, people were engaged with the event and eager to get their hands on a stuff-a-plush,” Wroblewski said. “It feels incredibly rewarding to see students connect over something as iconic and meaningful as Wicked.”
Wroblewski said the event was a success, and that students who arrived took a little bit of everything which was nice to see.
“Students lined up an hour before the event began and we ran out of bears within the first half hour,” Wroblewski said.
Jessimar Walwin and Anna Galarza, both freshman business and law majors, were first in line.
Walwin said she knew of the film because of its adjacency with “The Wizard of Oz,” which was one of her favorite movies growing up.
“I didn’t watch the original musical on Broadway, but once I heard Ariana Grande was [in the film], I went to watch the first one and fell in love,” Walwin said.
Galarza said she learned about “Wicked” from the movie last year.
“One of my friends forced me to watch the first ‘Wicked’ movie but then I fell in love with it,” Galarza said.
Galarza said they were happy that SAB was hosting a “Wicked” event, but upset because they had class during the beginning of the pop-up.
“We knew we couldn’t make it because these things get packed, and once it gets packed, everything is gone,” Walwin said.
However, they received an email from their professor that morning that class had been cancelled, allowing them to line up around 11:15 a.m., with doors for the event opening at noon.
Galarza said she has also been first in line for the Snoopy’s Sweet November Pop Up and the Sugar Rush Sweet Treat Pop Up hosted by SAB previously.
Galarza and Walwin attended the event together and got themselves corresponding Elphaba and Glinda stuff-a-plush bears.
“I give the event a 10/10,” Walwin said. “I love when they do things like this, they’re so cute and who doesn’t love freebies.”
Like Galarza and Walwin, Amira Hashemisohi, a freshman nursing major, and Amy Rodriguez, a freshman occupational therapy major, decided to get corresponding bears too— one would get Elphaba and the other would get Glinda.
Rodriquez said the Elphaba bear came with all her accessories, but Hashemisohi said she felt a little sad that the dress for Glinda was blue and not pink.
Overall, Rodriquez and Hashemisohi said the event was super cute and got them in the mood for the movie.
“I felt like I was in the world,” Rodriguez said. “Hopefully me and Amira can go watch the second movie together.”
They also grabbed some candy bags and bracelets while in there, which Hashemisohi said were great additions to the event.
“We got everything we wanted,” Hashemisohi said. “I want to thank SAB because the event was so cute and fun.”
Wroblewski said students can definitely look forward to more fun themed events hosted by SAB to bring the campus community together.
“SAB always hopes that events like this give students a place to connect over a common interest and an opportunity to take a break from their busy schedules,” Wroblewski said.
Anticipating “Wicked: For Good”
As the second installment of the “Wicked” franchise approaches, SHU students expressed some of their opinions on the first film and whether or not the original Broadway show “changed for the better.”
Brianna Martinez, a sophomore theater and secondary education major, said her exposure to “Wicked” first came through bootleg recordings of the Broadway show before the first movie came out.
“It’s kind of always been there because I’m a theater kid, but I definitely got into it more because of the movie,” Martinez said.
Martinez said she praised the casting decisions of Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as Glinda and Elphaba, respectively, from the initial announcements back in 2021.
“All the casting is great except for Madame Morrible,” Martinez said. “Michelle Yeoh is a good actress but she’s too uptight. The character is supposed to be crazy and cooky and it doesn’t come across in the movie too well.”
While Martinez said she personally liked the performance from Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, she believes he looked out of place.
“He doesn’t look like a 19-year-old,” Martinez said. “Maybe it works for the time skip, but he looks like a man. I still love him though – my Letterboxd review is just me saying how hot he is.”
Overall, Martinez said “Wicked” was a good movie, rating it a seven out of 10, but her main complaints were about the color grading and the split into two parts.
“Why is it gray?” Martinez said. “It’s supposed to be magical. Plus, the second act is really short, like, if you’ve seen it, you’d think they could fit it all into one three-hour long movie.”
Besides the bootlegs and first movie, Martinez said she watched “Wicked” on the West End in London this past spring and enjoyed the stage show better than the movie.
“There’s a different vibe to it that isn’t captured in the movie,” Martinez said. “It just is a different experience with the audience reactions during the characters’ entrances and big numbers that you can’t get in the theater.”
Compared to other movie musicals, Martinez said “Wicked” is not great, especially when compared to the classics that came out in the same Technicolor era as “The Wizard of Oz,” from which “Wicked” derives, like “Singing in the Rain.”
“[‘Wicked’] is a good movie musical for this era, because there haven’t been many good ones,” Martinez said. “Like, it’s good for now, but in the overall scheme, it’s just meh.”
As for the overall reception, Martinez said the adoration for the first “Wicked” film has been immense, and she can understand why.
“I think Wicked is good, but I think the reason it resonates with so many people is because it’s so surface level,” Martinez said. “It can be interpreted as so much, but it is so plain – so it can just be whatever you want it to be.”
Being a theater major, Martinez said it just is not her favorite show in general.
“I wouldn’t call it top tier theater,” Martinez said. “It’s more of an introductory show, like if you’re just starting to watch shows I’d say to go watch ‘Wicked.’ It has sad moments but it’s an overall happy show. It’s like a Disney movie at this point, which isn’t bad—it just is.”
Martinez said she will eventually see the second part in theaters, but it is not a priority of hers as of now.
Jasmine Gomez, a senior theater and film major, said while she is a theater kid, she does not consider herself a fan of “Wicked,” but that is not to say that she doesn’t enjoy it.
“I first got into the film last year when it came out, especially when it was trending on TikTok,” Gomez said.
While Gomez said she has not seen the show on Broadway, she feels like movies are often a better medium for musicals because of the limitations that come with being a stage show, and “Wicked” was no different.
“It was more in depth, since movies have more free range than Broadway shows do, but both are great from what I’ve seen online,” Gomez said.
A complaint Gomez said she had for the film, focused on the presentation of color, whether it be the color grading or the makeup, it all seemed washed out.
“I absolutely hated Arianna's makeup because I felt like it washed her out so much, especially when the movie was already so colorless,” Gomez said.
However, Gomez said she thinks the split into two movies was a good move.
“In our day and age, we don't have a lot of patience to watch a four-hour long movie,” Gomez said. “True fans might, but for film you want to get an audience out of everyone. Plus, it creates more interest from the public waiting for the second part, rather than just releasing one movie.”
Other positives Gomez said she had for the movie revolved around the main three characters (Elphaba, Glinda, and Fiyero) and the acting and singing performances that brought them to life.
“I feel as though the casting was great, and while they were choices not too expected at first, I think it worked out,” Gomez said.
Apart from Martinez and Gomez, students learned of “Wicked” through a variety of ways. Some students learned of the film by watching the Broadway show.
Anna Accardi, a freshman diplomacy and international relations major, said she saw the Broadway show in 2016, while Michael Makar, a freshman psychology and speech major, said “Wicked” was the first Broadway show he saw back in 2019 which inspired him to pick up a minor in theater.
Madison Minick, a freshman psychology and criminal justice major, first learned about the film through “Glee” covers and Zara Ladson, a freshman physics and engineering major, was introduced solely by the film.
Despite the different lengths of exposure to “Wicked,” most the students said they are huge fans of the musical – especially the film.
“I really like how the movie goes more in depth with things, like they really expand on Act I,” Accardi said. “So, I’m very excited for the second one.”
In the second part, Accardi said she is looking forward to hearing the new songs added in the second act, as they will hopefully add even more to the characters of Elphaba and Glinda.
“I think a better question would be ‘What am I not looking forward to?’” Accardi said.
Makar said he liked the decision to split the show between two movies because it allows for the characters to be more fleshed out than on stage. As for the characters, he said the casting was perfect.
“I think the only other person I would want to see as Elphaba is Jessica Vosk, and that’s because she was Elphaba in 2019 on Broadway,” Makar said. “That’s who I saw, and she’s so good.”
But Accardi, Ladson, and Makar all said their favorite character in the movie was Elphaba. Minick, however, said her favorite was Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero.
Giavanna Manchisi, a junior secondary education and fine digital arts major, said her mom is a huge Broadway fan, so she knew the songs by heart since she was young, even before she saw the show on Broadway at the age of seven.
“It’s one of only two Broadway shows I’ve seen,” Manchisi said.
Between the live show and movie, Manchisi said she loved both, and while there were slight differences, overall, the vibe was similar enough, which she said she enjoyed.
“They put a lot of effort into the movie, especially compared to the show on Broadway, so that everyone can still feel the magic that is ‘Wicked,’” Manchisi said.
As for which of the two iterations she preferred, Manchisi said it’s hard to decide.
“I like both, I’m not picky,” Manchisi said. “But obviously one is cheaper.”
Manchisi said her favorite character was always Fiyero, and his energy stayed the same in the movie, which made her happy – especially when it came to “Dancing Through Life,” her favorite song from the show.
“He’s just cocky,” Manchisi said. “It’s funny. I like his energy.”
Maya Ragy, a sophomore biology major, said as a kid she was aware of “Wicked” and saw it on Broadway, but once she saw the announcement of Ariana Grande as Glinda, that pushed her to see the film.
Lexi Bastawros, a sophomore biology major, said she knew a few songs from the soundtrack but never knew anything about it besides the association with the “The Wizard of Oz” movie.
“When the movie came out, my good friend Maya really hyped it up,” Bastawros said. “So, I forced my whole family to watch it. She’s an influencer.”
Ragy asked Bastawros if her influence was good, and Bastawros said, “It was. I was changed for good,” nodding to the title of the upcoming second film.
Ragy rated the movie a 10/10 and Bastawros gave it a 9/10 – both said they are excited to watch the upcoming continuation.
“Wicked: For Good,” the second, final installment of the “Wicked” films, releases in theaters on Nov. 21.
Solomon Lee is a writer for The Setonian’s Features section. He can be reached at solomon.lee@student.shu.edu.
