Three weeks ago, Universal Studio released “Wicked,” a movie adaptation of Winnie Holzman’s iconic musical starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. The movie has quickly become one of the highest-grossing films of 2024.

In just three weeks, “Wicked” has earned a spot as the second-highest-grossing Broadway musical adaptation, just behind “Mamma Mia.” The movie also has three Oscar nominations. However, the question is, what did PHS students think of it? For many who saw the film, it was love at first watch.

“I loved the movie,” freshman Reina Hansen said. “I thought that it was wonderful.”

Hansen’s idea was echoed across the board. In fact, not only by students but by PHS staff also. 

“I’ve been to see ‘Wicked’ twice,” PHS school psychologist Kristen Cuddy said. “I am just in love with it.”

Some PHS students saw the film and loved the feelings and memories that the show evoked.

“I went to ‘Wicked’ with my sister,” junior Geo Dilworth said. “It really brought back a sense of nostalgia, because [my sister] was the one who originally introduced me to the musical.”

However, despite many students loving the film, some had less than stellar reviews.

“I just wasn’t very impressed,” junior Dawson George said. “It was really just too much singing and way too long.”

Interestingly, the consensus is against George’s opinion. The music was one of people’s favorite parts.

“I really loved the vocals,” junior Norah Startin said. “It was significantly better than I was expecting. I did not know that Ariana [Grande] could sing like that.” 

When it came to music, there were a lot of fan favorites. However, some songs did not hit the mark.

“I did not enjoy ‘Something Bad’ and ‘Sentimental Man,’” Dilworth said. “They just didn’t have the same vibe as the other songs.”

Despite these couple of songs, the show had a lot of great numbers. In fact, some found the music so good that it made them really have to think about what their favorite actually was. 

“I really loved most of the songs,” Ms. Cuddy said. “But if I had to choose, I think I would say ‘No One Mourns The Wicked,’ ‘Popular’ and obviously ‘Defying Gravity’.” 

Some students completely disagreed and had totally different opinions about the musical numbers in the show.

“My hot take is that ‘Defying Gravity’ is overrated,” Hansen said. “I liked ‘The Wizard and I,’ ‘What Is This Feeling?’ and ‘Dancing through Life.’”

Obviously, this was only the first half of the original musical, leaving PHS students waiting for “Wicked: For Good.”

“I can’t wait for part two,” Dilworth said. “It has my favorite song.”