There are tons of easter eggs in Jon M. Chu‘s first installment of the two-part movie musical movie juggernaut Wicked — specifically in the “One Short Day” moment, one of many expansive musical sequences that dance across the screen with enthusiastic electricity as Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) arrive to Emerald City to meet the Wizard with clear eyes and full hearts — they can’t lose.
As we navigate the big city with our favorite witches, we are treated to cameos of Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, the original Elphaba and Glinda, respectively. The duo performs new additions to the number in the musical-within-a-musical Wizomania. Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz appears as the guard who has the honor of greeting Elphaba and Glinda and punctuating the end of the number by announcing “The Wizard will see you now!”
There is one more cameo that is probably the most important — well, to me, at least. We get to see Winnie Holzman, the woman who wrote the script for the Broadway and film adaption of Wicked, as a celebratory resident of Emerald City.
It immediately made me think of the gone-too-soon 1994 ABC teen drama My So-Called Life.
Because I am old, I feel I need to explain the importance of My So-Called Life.
First off, it introduced us to Claire Danes and what would become her iconic quiver-lip cry. She played Angela Chase, an angsty teen navigating the battleground of high school.
Second, it gave us Wilson Cruz as Rickie, one of the first — if not THE first openly queer lead characters on network prime time television with a fully formed narrative.
Third: Jordan Catalano. It was our first serving of a pre-30 Seconds To Mars Jared Leto.
Fourth, it was one of the first teen dramas that felt like it was grounded in reality as it honestly talked about issues like sex, queerness, addiction, and other taboo topics of the time.
Fifth, it was a series created by… Winnie Holzman.
Winnie Holzman in the “Father Figures” episode of ‘My So-Called Life’
Between My So-Called Life and Wicked, Holzman knows how to sculpt these emotionally rich, flawed, kindhearted lead characters who are surrounded by a menagerie of characters who are just as complex and represent possibility. She builds a world you want to live in.
That said, Elphaba is so Angela Chase, and Angela Chase is so Elphaba — and this connection has been made before in a 2005 Chicago Tribune article about Wicked. “In many ways, Holzman reconceived the Elphaba character as another incarnation of her most beloved character — Angela Chase, as performed by Danes in a series that many teenage girls still watch on DVD.”
Can you tell this article was written in 2005?
Even though she was celebrated for her profound ability to create outcast angsty multidimensional teen characters who happen to be female, Holzman said in the interview: “I try to write people. I don’t have any special-interest groups.”
With this connection between Elphaba and Angela, I thought, “Why stop there?”
If Angela is Elphaba then Rayanne Graf (played by the amazing A.J. Langer on the series) is Glinda — and that is wildly accurate.
Rayanne is eccentric, a little unpredictable, rude, and has a distinct sense of style and persona that leads to a certain kind of reputation… all wrapped with a heart of gold. Glinda is eccentric, a little unpredictable, rude, and has a distinct sense of style and persona that leads to a certain kind of reputation… all wrapped with a heart of gold. Both have good intentions and prove that you can be self-centered but kind. The main difference is that Glinda gives Chanel through a pink lens while Rayanne (who is a recovering alcoholic btw) serves vintage store, east coast art scene boho chic energy.
And that would make Jordan Catalano our Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) — a clueless man who doesn’t need to know much because he is gorgeous. Everyone wants to fuck him — and guess what? Rayanne ends up fucking Jordan — and we all know that Glinda would so boink Fiyero at the drop of a witch’s hat. (I don’t know if that happens in the lore, but it sounds accurate).
The diverse array of characters that inhabit Shiz University is most definitely comparable to My So-Called Life‘s Liberty High School — and yes, I am talking about being diverse. My So-Called Life was one of the first series I remember seeing white lead characters but having a background of actors that included everyone on the melanin spectrum. And did you know that Jeff Perry — yes Cyrus from Scandal — played one half of a gay couple on the series that takes Rickie in? That’s very progressive for 1994.
Although he wasn’t a meanie like them, Rickie, along with Angela’s frenemy Sharon Cherski (Devon Odessa) parallel a mix of the created-for-the-movie-version-of-Wicked characters Pfannee (Bowen Yang) and ShenShen (Bronwyn James). The pair provide this hilarious chorus that surrounds Glinda while Rickie and Sharon are a different kind of chorus, acting as a sounding board for both Angela and Rayanne.
Elphaba’s younger sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode), like Angela’s younger sis Danielle Chase (Lisa Wilhoit). This is almost by default, but the two carry that “I want out of my older sister’s shadow” energy. And then there’s awkward, but kind Boq (Ethan Slater) — who is the Brian Krakow (Devon Gummersall). However, Boq is not as creepy or incel-y like Brian.
Finally, there’s the infamous Tino in My So-Called Life. He seems to have all the answers. He’s always providing rides and Chinese food for the gang. He’s cool. He’s a big deal. He’s basically The Wizard of Oz. The only difference is that we don’t ever see Tino — but we see the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum).
Since Holzman appeared in the fourth episode of the one-and-done series as a guidance counselor, I am going to compare her character to Michelle Yeoh’s Madame Morrible — who I believe is wildly misunderstood.
I remember watching the Wicked musical in San Francisco. It was then that I learned why everyone was talking about it and peeing in their pants with excitement over the Act I finale. I appreciated it — and Chu’s version is contemporary CINEMA at its finest. However, I love the musical and the movie, but don’t expect me to show up at one of those Wicked sing-along screenings. Those sound like an absolute nightmare, but if that’s your thing… God bless your soul.
Nonetheless, when I cobbled my My So-Called Life connection with Angela Chase as a grunge-era teen interpolation of Elphaba I appreciated Wicked even more. Red haired Angela and the very green Elphaba are outsiders stumbling through messy relationships, mistakes, victories, love, figuring out who they are, and living life like real human beings — as Holzman intended.
