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Wicked: The Soundtrack
Wicked: The Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 2024 film Wicked by Jon M. Chu, which is based on the first act of the stage musical by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman. It was released by Republic Records and Verve Records on November 22, 2024, the same date as the film's theatrical release in the United States. Along with the film cast, the soundtrack is billed to Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, the film's two main stars, who each appear on seven tracks out of eleven on the standard release.
The soundtrack album comprises 11 songs from the film, with all songs from the first act of the original stage musical being included. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, who play Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, each appear on seven songs. The majority of the vocals were recorded live on set, rather than in a recording studio.
It was produced by Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz, Greg Wells, and Stephen Oremus, and was mixed by Wells. All songs were orchestrated by Jeff Atmajian. Mike Knobloch, President of Music and Publishing at NBCUniversal, stated that Schwartz, Wells, Oremus, and the production team wanted the album to be "a standalone and complete aural experience" from the film itself. He further stated:
The original cast recording is iconic, so priority number one was to not mess it up. It has also been a great opportunity to make a soundtrack for a beloved musical that will only be the second Wicked album in two decades. But while our primary mission was to make the film, we didn't want the soundtrack to simply be a 'copied and pasted' byproduct."
Work on the soundtrack began early in the film's pre-production process, as the musical numbers would largely drive production. The process began by developing the songs' instrumental tracks and recording demos in phases. The film employed a large orchestra, in contrast to the smaller pit orchestras used in Broadway productions. Schwartz stated, "There's this huge, magical world that Jon Chu has created and the music needed to have the size to occupy that world. . . .Songs needed to be adjusted based on the action we're seeing on the screen. In some cases, things were expanded."
Cast vocals were recorded throughout filming, which required the work of sound engineer Simon Hayes, who worked as a live sound mixer. Each actor was equipped with three microphones: one boom mic and two lavalier microphones. They were also fitted with in-ear monitors that would play the finished studio backing tracks or a live keyboard. When certain filming restrictions did not allow the actors to sing the entire piece live, their live performances were intercut with their pre-recorded studio vocals. Schwartz stated, "The way their voices sounded in the recording studio needed to match how they sounded when they were on a soundstage, and that was tricky. We had a strong technical team and we were very aware going in that we were going to mix and match."
Studio versions of the vocals were recorded as a back-up before they were recorded live. The soundtrack album uses the same vocals that are in the film, with some small exceptions, such as an Aaron Copland-esque part Schwartz wrote for "Defying Gravity" that is only on the album and not the film. Some of the differences are due to the fact that Schwartz felt he had more artistic license with the soundtrack album. In addition, the creative team decided against including pop covers of the songs, as was done with musical films like Frozen (Demi Lovato's "Let It Go") and The Greatest Showman (Kesha's "This Is Me"); Wells was also a producer on the soundtrack album for the latter.
"Popular" was the first musical number shot for the film. Schwartz, Wells, and Oremus proposed modifying its rhythm from the stage musical version and "hip-hop[ping] it up a little bit", but Grande insisted that the song stay true to the original. Wells had previously produced "Popular Song" (2012) by Grande and Mika, which samples "Popular", and felt it could work as a proof of concept for a more hip hop version. The song features an extended ending with additional key changes.
Wicked: The Soundtrack
Wicked: The Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 2024 film Wicked by Jon M. Chu, which is based on the first act of the stage musical by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman. It was released by Republic Records and Verve Records on November 22, 2024, the same date as the film's theatrical release in the United States. Along with the film cast, the soundtrack is billed to Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, the film's two main stars, who each appear on seven tracks out of eleven on the standard release.
The soundtrack album comprises 11 songs from the film, with all songs from the first act of the original stage musical being included. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, who play Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, each appear on seven songs. The majority of the vocals were recorded live on set, rather than in a recording studio.
It was produced by Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz, Greg Wells, and Stephen Oremus, and was mixed by Wells. All songs were orchestrated by Jeff Atmajian. Mike Knobloch, President of Music and Publishing at NBCUniversal, stated that Schwartz, Wells, Oremus, and the production team wanted the album to be "a standalone and complete aural experience" from the film itself. He further stated:
The original cast recording is iconic, so priority number one was to not mess it up. It has also been a great opportunity to make a soundtrack for a beloved musical that will only be the second Wicked album in two decades. But while our primary mission was to make the film, we didn't want the soundtrack to simply be a 'copied and pasted' byproduct."
Work on the soundtrack began early in the film's pre-production process, as the musical numbers would largely drive production. The process began by developing the songs' instrumental tracks and recording demos in phases. The film employed a large orchestra, in contrast to the smaller pit orchestras used in Broadway productions. Schwartz stated, "There's this huge, magical world that Jon Chu has created and the music needed to have the size to occupy that world. . . .Songs needed to be adjusted based on the action we're seeing on the screen. In some cases, things were expanded."
Cast vocals were recorded throughout filming, which required the work of sound engineer Simon Hayes, who worked as a live sound mixer. Each actor was equipped with three microphones: one boom mic and two lavalier microphones. They were also fitted with in-ear monitors that would play the finished studio backing tracks or a live keyboard. When certain filming restrictions did not allow the actors to sing the entire piece live, their live performances were intercut with their pre-recorded studio vocals. Schwartz stated, "The way their voices sounded in the recording studio needed to match how they sounded when they were on a soundstage, and that was tricky. We had a strong technical team and we were very aware going in that we were going to mix and match."
Studio versions of the vocals were recorded as a back-up before they were recorded live. The soundtrack album uses the same vocals that are in the film, with some small exceptions, such as an Aaron Copland-esque part Schwartz wrote for "Defying Gravity" that is only on the album and not the film. Some of the differences are due to the fact that Schwartz felt he had more artistic license with the soundtrack album. In addition, the creative team decided against including pop covers of the songs, as was done with musical films like Frozen (Demi Lovato's "Let It Go") and The Greatest Showman (Kesha's "This Is Me"); Wells was also a producer on the soundtrack album for the latter.
"Popular" was the first musical number shot for the film. Schwartz, Wells, and Oremus proposed modifying its rhythm from the stage musical version and "hip-hop[ping] it up a little bit", but Grande insisted that the song stay true to the original. Wells had previously produced "Popular Song" (2012) by Grande and Mika, which samples "Popular", and felt it could work as a proof of concept for a more hip hop version. The song features an extended ending with additional key changes.