John Powell & Stephen Schwartz - Wicked (2024) & Wicked: For Good (2025)

[Tydirium 1,563]

3 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Absolutely wasn't expecting this, but apparently the film is getting rave reviews:

https://variety.com/2024/film/news/wicked-first-reactions-ariana-grande-cynthia-erivo-oscars-1236194355/

 

I thought it would! It’s also doing extremely well with pre-sales. I couldn’t be more thrilled and excited. Hopefully Powell gives us some more details on his score album soon.

[PrayodiBA 972]

Another glorious!🥹, but sadly short, new sneak peek of Powell’s score in this new Instagram reel.

 

Here I extracted the audio:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DB4Gf0qvnAg/?igsh=MWxsbzMwM3FoNHIyNw==

 

Truly, this is gearing up to be a new Powell’s masterpiece!

 

——

Someone pointed out in the comment that the tune heard in this sneak peek is from the original Wizard of Oz, “Follow The Yellow Brick Road”, hear it below:

 

That tune was, presumably, adapted by Stephen Schwartz for the tune of “Thank Goodness” song from the original Wicked broadway, here:

 

 

[Tydirium 1,563]

It sounds like Powell is actually referencing both, simultaneously! If you listen closely, the horns go down to the last note of “Follow the Yellow Brick Road,” but the violins actually sustain the previous note—which is the last note of “Thank Goodness.” So you can hear it as either!

[PrayodiBA 972]

8 hours ago, Tydirium said:

It sounds like Powell is actually referencing both, simultaneously! If you listen closely, the horns go down to the last note of “Follow the Yellow Brick Road,” but the violins actually sustain the previous note—which is the last note of “Thank Goodness.” So you can hear it as either!

Nice catch!

Powell being meticulous as usual

[Tydirium 1,563]

Those French horns leaping up through the range into the high register are incredible.

[PrayodiBA 972]

7 hours ago, Tydirium said:

Those French horns leaping up through the range into the high register are incredible.

Yes, it is! 
In that particular moment, the music ventures into classic 90s Hollywood fantasy score, in particular the works of David Arnold or the old James Newton Howard

 

But the trumpets and the staccato-like rhythm/progression truly gave it away as this being Powell’s music

[PrayodiBA 972]

On 3/11/2024 at 12:07 AM, PrayodiBA said:

Another glorious!🥹, but sadly short, new sneak peek of Powell’s score in this new Instagram reel.

 

Here I extracted the audio:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DB4Gf0qvnAg/?igsh=MWxsbzMwM3FoNHIyNw==

 

Truly, this is gearing up to be a new Powell’s masterpiece!

 

Here is a longer version of the music above,

 

here I extracted (and stitched) the audio:

 

 

from this new IG reel:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCFlLi8yA2-/?igsh=MzFsdGlzdjRpODdj

 

[Tydirium 1,563]

Possible Powell score in this IG post? Sounds gorgeous!

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DCCru8tAHaK/

 

EDIT: The ascending ostinato at the beginning sounds like the one from the “Unlimited” theme.

[Anthony 895]

Certainly sounded like Powell. I'm surprised - based on the quality of what we've heard so far - there's been absolutely no news about the score album. I would have thought they would have wanted to push that as much as the OST. Or perhaps that's the point - most people are unlikely to buy two albums, and the OST will be the easier one to push. So don't muddy the waters by having two competing against one another.

[Tydirium 1,563]

14 minutes ago, Anthony said:

So don't muddy the waters by having two competing against one another.

 

I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s part of the reason why the score album isn’t coming out until December.

[Tydirium 1,563]

A brief new snippet of score (before segueing into stuff we’ve already heard) can be heard at 0:34 of this livestream:

 

 

The 4 notes at 0:37 are from “For Good,” which is a song towards the end of the musical. So, Powell is even referencing songs from next year’s Part 2, in his score for Part 1! Those 4 notes come back at 0:57 in the section we’ve already heard, but I didn’t realize it was “For Good” until just now.

[PrayodiBA 972]

13 hours ago, Tydirium said:

The 4 notes at 0:37 are from “For Good,” which is a song towards the end of the musical. So, Powell is even referencing songs from next year’s Part 2, in his score for Part 1! Those 4 notes come back at 0:57 in the section we’ve already heard, but I didn’t realize it was “For Good” until just now.

^^
Thanks for the info.

Man, it’s going to be quite a homework creating themes breakdown for this score (like I always try to do for Powell’s score), as I don’t have any prior knowledge of the original broadway material. I’m gonna need your help 😄

Speaking of the premiere, here is a photo of John Powell attending the premiere with his spouse, Holly Sedillos, who is also the lead soprano/vocal contractor in this movie:

Image from:

https://www.gettyimages.dk/search/2/image?events=776218884&family=editorial&page=48&sort=newest
 

 

[Jay 45,632]

I knew she was his partner, but I hadn't known that he had gotten remarried!

[Edmilson 12,033]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH 

 

Mattel’s ‘Wicked’ Movie Dolls Mistakenly List Porn Site on Packaging

[Jay 45,632]

LOL

[Tydirium 1,563]

https://www.instagram.com/p/DCPYmIdSPm9/

 

[tomsmoviemadness 4,738]

Sweet post from Holly Sedillos.

 

She mentioned that Stephen Schwartz personally asked Powell to score the film. That's really cool.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DCR4NC5SGux/?igsh=YTF0eTI5MjJiYnBp

 

[Gabriel Bezerra 758]

I watched the play (through very legal means, mind you) so I could get all the references Powell will make, and I wouldn't be surprised if he quotes from the Wizard of Oz more directly

Spoiler

since the second act happens within that movie, and some characters become characters from that movie

There's a lot he can do with it.

[mstrox 7,334]

I guess it depends on how much money Universal was willing to shell out to Warner Bros to license elements of the original musical adaptation - the copyrights from which they guard pretty closely.

 

Disney paid through the nose to license the idea of ruby slippers from WB for Return to Oz (ruby slippers not being in the original Baum book), but they opted to make their Wicked Witch a legally distinctive shade of green for Oz the Great and Powerful so that they didn’t have to license the character from WB.

[Tom Guernsey 3,742]

2 hours ago, mstrox said:

I guess it depends on how much money Universal was willing to shell out to Warner Bros to license elements of the original musical adaptation - the copyrights from which they guard pretty closely.

 

Disney paid through the nose to license the idea of ruby slippers from WB for Return to Oz (ruby slippers not being in the original Baum book), but they opted to make their Wicked Witch a legally distinctive shade of green for Oz the Great and Powerful so that they didn’t have to license the character from WB.

And they say commerce ruins art…

[Tydirium 1,563]

New clip with score:

 

 

[tomsmoviemadness 4,738]

I'm getting more and more of the feeling that there will be more score than just some "in between songs" stuff.

 

Hoping for it at least!

[Jay 45,632]

Yes, seems I was quite wrong with my assumption!

[Bat1989 172]

21 hours ago, tomsmoviemadness said:

I'm getting more and more of the feeling that there will be more score than just some "in between songs" stuff.

 

Hoping for it at least!

Being honest, it seems pretty much confirmed at this point that this will be the case.

 

One of my favorite scores from Powell, Happy Feet, has 1 hour and 7 minutes in the official score album, with the soundtrack album having 41 minutes of pop songs.

 

And the duration of the movie was 1h and 48m.
 

If Wicked has 54 minutes of songs in the movie(at least that’s what the soundtrack album implies), it would be possible to have 1h and 47m minutes of Powell’s score in the film as a whole.

Also there’s the possibility of the songs in the album being longer than the versions of the movie, so the duration of the score can be a bit longer because of that too

[Tydirium 1,563]

Hopefully he makes a score album announcement post for this soon… He just posted the cover art for his “That Christmas” album today.

[smity3sd 11]

If anyone lives in Singapore or has a VPN there's a great behind-the-scenes special out with many snippets of (seemingly Powell) score:

 

https://www.mewatch.sg/watch/Defying-Gravity-The-Curtain-Rises-on-Wicked-E1-501469

I haven't watched the whole thing yet but I didn't see any interviews with Powell himself, mostly just the original composer and orchestrator briefly talking about the process of scaling up the original Broadway 23-piece orchestra to near 100. You can also hear the new John Williams-like extension created for the end of "Defying Gravity" during the credits (for what will follow the battle cry), which sounds extremely similar to the music from the end of "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" but with the "Unlimited" theme being played by the brass section instead, complete with powerful timpani hits to close it out. So excited to hear the full score!

[Tydirium 1,563]

Holy cow, the orchestra on “Defying Gravity” sounds incredible.

[Anthony 895]

I hope there's an instrumental version of the song album.

6 hours ago, smity3sd said:

I haven't watched the whole thing yet but I didn't see any interviews with Powell himself

 

There's not even a mention of him. It's odd as the snippets of songs really sound nothing like him, so from the sound of things, he only wrote the score, rather than re-orchestrating or arranging anything else. Which I guess we knew, but I wonder how consistent it will sound. I get the impression it might be a work of 2 halves that have rather different sounds from one another.

[PrayodiBA 972]

Wicked score album will be released on December 13,2024!

As per the latest update on 5 Cat Studios website:

https://5catstudios.com/listen

 

We got back-to-back Powell’s score, what a time to be Powell fan!

[Jay 45,632]

Woohoo!

[Tydirium 1,563]

I’m seeing the film Saturday and again on Sunday. I’ll be back with thoughts on the score, but I’m sure it’ll be great! I’ve listened to some leaked clips of the movie, and Powell’s score sounds phenomenal. Can’t wait to dig in and dissect it!

[Edmilson 12,033]

1 hour ago, PrayodiBA said:

Wicked score album will be released on December 13,2024!

As per the latest update on 5 Cat Studios website:

https://5catstudios.com/listen

 

We got back-to-back Powell’s score, what a time to be Powell fan!

[smity3sd 11]

1 hour ago, Tydirium said:

I’m seeing the film Saturday and again on Sunday. I’ll be back with thoughts on the score, but I’m sure it’ll be great! I’ve listened to some leaked clips of the movie, and Powell’s score sounds phenomenal. Can’t wait to dig in and dissect it!

I'm seeing it Wednesday and Monday! Can't wait to hear the score, Powell is my favorite composer and Wicked has been my most anticipated movie musical for years, so the combo is making my hype go through the roof right now. Only heard the audio posted in this thread so far (so hard resisting listening to the leaks) but it seems like it'll be a classic already from just that. So eager to hear how he incorporates the themes from the musical into his style, I'm sure all the smart folks here will have great breakdowns that I can't wait to read.

[DangerMotif 1,303]

Just saw the film, the last hour is a John Powell masterclass. Not so much to do in the beginning of the film but the last hour is an incredible Powell score

3 hours ago, PrayodiBA said:

Wicked score album will be released on December 13,2024!

As per the latest update on 5 Cat Studios website:

https://5catstudios.com/listen

 

We got back-to-back Powell’s score, what a time to be Powell fan!

Happy it’s coming out but gonna be painful having to wait a month for this

[Luka 307]

30 minutes ago, DangerMotif said:

Just saw the film, the last hour is a John Powell masterclass. Not so much to do in the beginning of the film but the last hour is an incredible Powell score

Omg, now I really can't wait!! 

[PrayodiBA 972]

3 hours ago, Tydirium said:

I’m seeing the film Saturday and again on Sunday. I’ll be back with thoughts on the score, but I’m sure it’ll be great! I’ve listened to some leaked clips of the movie, and Powell’s score sounds phenomenal. Can’t wait to dig in and dissect it!

 

1 hour ago, smity3sd said:

I'm seeing it Wednesday and Monday! Can't wait to hear the score, Powell is my favorite composer and Wicked has been my most anticipated movie musical for years, so the combo is making my hype go through the roof right now. Only heard the audio posted in this thread so far (so hard resisting listening to the leaks) but it seems like it'll be a classic already from just that. So eager to hear how he incorporates the themes from the musical into his style, I'm sure all the smart folks here will have great breakdowns that I can't wait to read.

I also plan to see this in IMAX this Thursday/Friday.

Can't wait to hear firsthand Powell's score

 

1 hour ago, DangerMotif said:

Just saw the film, the last hour is a John Powell masterclass. Not so much to do in the beginning of the film but the last hour is an incredible Powell score

Happy it’s coming out but gonna be painful having to wait a month for this

What do you think of the score overall, how it ranked among Powell's score? And how the score is mixed in the movie, is it mixed well or mostly overpowered by sfx/dialogue?

[DangerMotif 1,303]

1 hour ago, PrayodiBA said:

What do you think of the score overall, how it ranked among Powell's score? And how the score is mixed in the movie, is it mixed well or mostly overpowered by sfx/dialogue?

The first 2 hours the score is there but reminded me a little of Elfman’s BB2 score but with longer tracks. There were 2-3 real standout tracks then. Once the train comes and they get to OZ it’s all Powell and it’s pretty incredible how good it gets. Very emotional stuff. The theme for the spell book has a choir that reminded me of Enfy’s nest from solo. Can’t stress enough how happy I was score wise towards the end.

1 hour ago, PrayodiBA said:

is it mixed well or mostly overpowered by sfx/dialogue?

At the beginning it was covered a little but it shines a lot towards the end

[PrayodiBA 972]

41 minutes ago, DangerMotif said:

The first 2 hours the score is there but reminded me a little of Elfman’s BB2 score but with longer tracks. There were 2-3 real standout tracks then. Once the train comes and they get to OZ it’s all Powell and it’s pretty incredible how good it gets. Very emotional stuff. The theme for the spell book has a choir that reminded me of Enfy’s nest from solo. Can’t stress enough how happy I was score wise towards the end.

At the beginning it was covered a little but it shines a lot towards the end

Thank you!

I really can't wait now

 

I suppose this glorious music cue comes up at that train/oz part in the movie:

 

[DangerMotif 1,303]

8 minutes ago, PrayodiBA said:

I suppose this glorious music cue comes up at that train/oz part in the movie:

Yes, this was the music either when the train arrives or leaves, don’t remember.

[Bat1989 172]

10 hours ago, DangerMotif said:

The first 2 hours the score is there but reminded me a little of Elfman’s BB2 score but with longer tracks. There were 2-3 real standout tracks then. Once the train comes and they get to OZ it’s all Powell and it’s pretty incredible how good it gets. Very emotional stuff. The theme for the spell book has a choir that reminded me of Enfy’s nest from solo. Can’t stress enough how happy I was score wise towards the end.

At the beginning it was covered a little but it shines a lot towards the end

If the the score album had practically all of the lengh of Powell´s works in the movie, how long you think it could be?

[DangerMotif 1,303]

1 hour ago, CT-7567 said:

If the the score album had practically all of the lengh of Powell´s works in the movie, how long you think it could be?

Hard to tell who made what in the first hour or so, I assume it would be the arrangement of the broadway and Powell's music in the album so likely over 1:30hr

[Edmilson 12,033]

[Bat1989 172]

[Smeltington 1,878]

17 hours ago, Tydirium said:

I’m seeing the film Saturday and again on Sunday.

 

15 hours ago, smity3sd said:

I'm seeing it Wednesday and Monday!

 

13 hours ago, PrayodiBA said:

I also plan to see this in IMAX this Thursday/Friday.

 

I'm seeing it on twelve consecutive Tuesdays!

[tomsmoviemadness 4,738]

Reviews for the film are overwhelmingly positive with a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes

[PrayodiBA 972]

And yet, with all those bountiful of critics reviews, there is only one mention of John Powell's score from major critic, which is from Deadline.

https://deadline.com/2024/11/wicked-review-cynthia-erivo-ariana-grande-movie-musical-adaptation-1236181476/

"....John Powell’s thrilling musical score, blending with Schwartz’s iconic tunes, is note-perfect...."

 

I guess this omission is to be expected.

Like I said way back at the beginning when we found out the first bit of info that Powell might have a hand in this movie, that any new theme that Powell might have created for this will be instantly overshadowed by the already iconic tune of the original Broadway material, which basically what people look forward the most.

 

I skimmed some of those reviews; any mention of the score is phrased as "...the music is incredible...", "...Schwartz's themes beautifully played on the background to lift up the scenes...." with no specific credit to Powell. So I can presume that Powell's music blends so well with the surrounding that it's almost indistinguishable with the musical numbers.

 

What's rather unfortunate that this basically diminish all the award chance for the score, even though Powell's score has been put for award consideration

[Smeltington 1,878]

Well you're lucky when any review of a film mentions the score, and double or triple lucky if it's a movie musical, since what people think of as "the music" is going to be the songs first and foremost. People don't understand or think about the fact that someone had to separately go in and write an actual film score for a movie musical. And it's going to be even harder for normies to make the distinction in a case like this where Powell is extensively using the song tunes in his score (which is awesome).

 

In terms of awards though, this confusion sometimes helps the score composer's chances.

[Tom Guernsey 3,742]

2 hours ago, Smeltington said:

Well you're lucky when any review of a film mentions the score, and double or triple lucky if it's a movie musical, since what people think of as "the music" is going to be the songs first and foremost. People don't understand or think about the fact that someone had to separately go in and write an actual film score for a movie musical. And it's going to be even harder for normies to make the distinction in a case like this where Powell is extensively using the song tunes in his score (which is awesome).

 

In terms of awards though, this confusion sometimes helps the score composer's chances.

I was kinda thinking the same with respect to the music getting a mention. Even when the music in a non-musical gets mentioned it more often than not seems to be because the composer is a classical or pop/rock composer dabbling in film music.

 

Does anyone remember that Danny Elfman was involved in the 2002 film version of Chicago?! I don’t know if he wrote that much music or how much he adapted Kander & Ebb’s terrific songs (I’ve not seen the film in ages) but quite an interesting choice. He only got a couple of tracks on the OST. 

[PrayodiBA 972]

Good news!

The score album will come out 1 week early! Now on December 6th

As per the latest update on 5 Cat Studios website

https://5catstudios.com/listen

 

Wow two big Powell scores just days apart!

[Will 2,393]

Excellent! Really excited for this. The excerpt above is superb.