How "Wicked" went from a novel based on the untold history of "The Wizard of Oz" to one of the most beloved musicals of the last few decades is basically a fairy tale. And while it was a challenge to adapt the musical to the silver screen (more on that later), it all finally came to fruition.

As of this writing, it's just getting started:

Let's put ourselves in the shoes of a total newbie to the Wicked World: You've seen The Wizard of Oz, right? Of course you have: Judy Garland's 1939 musical about a Kansas girl flying over the rainbow, based on a story by Frank L. Baum, is one of the most beloved works of cultural art in American history. (The musical is also a confusing metaphor for American populism and the gold standard of the early 20th century.)

In 1995, author Gregory Maguire took the side story of The Wizard, the relationship between Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West (taken from the initials of L. Frank Baum), and created a revisionist novel titled Wicked: The West He created a revisionist novel titled: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch. The novel follows Elphaba from her upbringing to her college years, where she becomes close to her former rival, Glinda, but the two become estranged again. He went on to publish two more novels in the Wicked series, but it was the first novel that spawned the musical.

In 2003, Maguire's novel was adapted into "Wicked" (the musical) by Stephen Schwartz, the legendary Broadway playwright who has written musicals such as "Pippin" and soundtracks for films such as "Enchanted" and "Prince of Egypt". Schwartz is also the author of "Pippin". Schwartz, a master writer of musicals such as "Pippin" and film soundtracks such as "Enchanted" and "Prince Egypt," wrote the lyrics with playwright Winnie Holtzman (she created the legendary show "My So-Called Life"), Broadway smash hit was born.

In early November, casting directors were informed that the film was going full speed ahead with the announcement of the two lead actors, which worked out really well.

First, Ariana Grande was cast as Glinda, made famous by Kristin Chenoweth. Not only does she have the pipes, but Ariana is a longtime "Wicked" fan and no stranger to the musical genre (she was on Broadway before she was a Disney Channel kid). She has performed songs from the musical, including the Wicked 15th anniversary special and a remix of Glinda's biggest song "Popular" on the Mika track

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considered one of the most difficult roles in modern theater, by Idina Menzel Elphaba, made famous by Tony, Emmy and Grammy Award-winning Broadway legend Cynthia Erivo, a legendary performer.

In short, these are solid casting decisions that bring star power and satisfy Broadway fans at the same time.

Here are the two stars reacting to the announcement via FaceTime and giving each other congratulatory flowers:

Cute.

There was a remarkably long road to getting "Wicked" to the big screen. According to Polygon, in 2012, Universal announced that it would produce the film with Stephen Daldry directing; by 2016, the production was aiming for a 2019 release, but then a few things happened: first, as tends to happen with films that have been in preparation for a while, scheduling coordination went awry; and second, "Cats" was released and everyone began to question the wisdom of trying to bring a beloved musical to the big screen. Which is correct? Cats, which was to be released on the release date vacated by the film adaptation of Wicked, was such a flop that the musical's writer, Andrew Lloyd Webber, had to get a therapy dog.

In early 2021, the production was renamed John M. Better than "Cats," but still not as good as the Hollywood musical trend.

The fact that Schwartz and Holtzman will be working on the script is great news. Because any changes will be handled by the people who first adapted "Wicked" and should feel "in line" with the vision for the show.

However, who knows? Andrew Lloyd Webber also collaborated on the film adaptation of "Cats," and we all know how well it turned out. The same is true of the hugely popular musical Dear Evan Hanson, which was recently adapted into a poorly received (and I would argue unfairly maligned) film, despite the fact that the musical's author is an executive producer.

Nevertheless, there is good reason to believe that "Wicked" as a film would work particularly well. After all, the original is a musical, the original is a book, and the original is a movie.

So we are optimistic that the film, when it is released, will buck the recent trend,

with production beginning next summer, so we will have to wait at least a year, perhaps longer.

We will update as further information comes in.