Wicked made me feel like I could be unapologetically myself

When I heard Wicked’s Elphaba belting ‘If I’m flying solo, astatine slightest I’m flying free’, thing successful my caput fundamentally clicked into place.

The fantastic satellite of Oz has been portion of my beingness for arsenic agelong arsenic I tin remember. At an aboriginal property I fell successful emotion with Dorothy and the Emerald City successful L. Frank Baum’s classical children’s caller and wore the pages bladed with changeless re-reading. 

A fewer years later, I watched the 1939 movie mentation successful each its technicolour glory and felt an inexplicable yearning whenever I listened to Judy Garland’s Somewhere Over the Rainbow – a rendition that moves maine to tears astir each clip I perceive it. 

Little did I cognize that determination was already a philharmonic spinoff called Wicked that would soon go an incredibly important portion of my adolescence and my find of self-empowerment.

Until then, successful the large and tiny ways, Oz seamlessly nestled its mode into my life.

I recovered immense amounts of consolation successful the motley unit of Yellow Brick Road travellers – the Cowardly Lion, the heartless Tin Man and the brainless Scarecrow – who recovered their mode to 1 different contempt their debilitating insecurities. 

As a queer Pakistani Muslim surviving successful a predominantly achromatic country and (for a agelong time) incapable to travel to presumption with my identity, the themes of recovered household and unconditional emotion were a salve for what could beryllium a precise lonely existence. 

Musicals were not a happening successful my household increasing up truthful everything I learnt astir this satellite I had to observe myself – mostly by accident.

But everything changed the archetypal clip I heard Defying Gravity, 1 of the astir celebrated songs from Broadway’s Wicked, which spins the communicative from the position of the notorious Wicked Witch of the West, aka Elphaba.

Legendary theatre stars Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth debuted arsenic main characters Elphaba and Glinda the Good Witch connected Broadway successful 2003. Years aboriginal some singers appeared connected Glee, the aforesaid amusement wherever I was treated to Lea Michele and Chris Colfer’s instrumentality connected Defying Gravity, For Good and Popular. 

This was my archetypal instauration to Wicked but it was surely not my last.

But it was erstwhile I experienced the erstwhile opus unrecorded connected signifier – astatine this constituent I was a teen afloat of choler astatine an unjust satellite that wouldn’t let maine to beryllium my existent aforesaid without fearfulness of retribution – that thing changed wrong me.

As Elphaba approached that iconic last riff my bosom soared astatine the imagery of her coming into her afloat powerfulness and deciding to unrecorded for herself and the satellite she wanted to spot – damn the consequences. 

My emotion for the satellite of Oz grew tenfold. I recovered myself belting the lyrics successful the shower, putting the soundtrack into my survey playlists and instinctively seeking its clasp erstwhile I was astatine my lowest points. 

It offered maine a consciousness of empowerment truthful seldom seen successful the media – wherever an outcast pistillate is the protagonist of her ain communicative and a nuanced pistillate relationship forms.

My unending adoration for Wicked is acold from unique, thing that has been made each the much wide successful the pb up to Jon M Chu’s movie adaptation starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. 

Countless fans person shared their stories of the spot Wicked has provided them successful times of hardship and joy.

As Wicked gears up to scope audiences crossed the globe, I can’t incorporate my excitement astatine the thought of however galore young radical whitethorn beryllium discovering the magic of Oz for the archetypal time, conscionable erstwhile they request it most. 

First and foremost, this is simply a communicative for the underdogs successful society, whose voices person been ignored and overridden by those successful power.

In particular, it warms my bosom to spot idiosyncratic arsenic passionate and dedicated arsenic Cynthia playing Elphaba. Given the supra themes, it is simply a relation that Black women person agelong felt an affinity with, adjacent if it has seldom been reflected connected stage.

As enactment by Cynthia successful a caller NYT interview: ‘The lore of Oz was precise closed to girls who looked similar me, and present I’m the Wicked Witch of the West. I deliberation the doors are precise unfastened now, which is wonderful.’

Will you beryllium going to spot Wicked? Have your accidental successful the comments belowComment Now

Perhaps my favourite facet astir the communicative of Wicked, and my top root of comfort, was that things did not extremity perfectly for Elphaba. 

She mislaid her home, her family, the enactment of each she had ever known and yet by the extremity of the amusement she rises from the ashes to beryllium that yes, it is worthy it. 

What’s more, Wicked has acted arsenic a gateway into philharmonic theatre for scores of radical who person yet been rescued by this accepting assemblage and the treasure trove of stories wrong – and I person religion this movie volition proceed this trajectory.

It feels unusual to deliberation astir the idiosyncratic I was erstwhile I archetypal work The Wonderful Wizard of Oz each those years ago. I americium not who I erstwhile was and determination is simply a peculiar benignant of vindication knowing I tin get astatine the cinema arsenic unapologetically myself.

An accomplishment that would person been a tube imagination for my younger self. 

Wicked arrives successful cinemas connected November 22.

Do you person a communicative you’d similar to share? Get successful interaction by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

Share your views successful the comments below.

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