Warm up your voice for a Christmas release of sing-along Wicked!

Whenever a musical movie is released, there's a chance that you'll find yourself singing the soundtrack for the next few months. Frozen found many people singing anything from "Let it Go" to "Love is an Open Door" and who of us hasn't heard someone singing "We Don't Talk About Bruno" from Encanto? For people like those among us who went to see Les Miserables and struggled to not join in on "One Day More," there is hope. Starting this Christmas, theaters will have special showings of the upcoming Wicked film where you can break out your Broadway belt.

"Come with me to the Emerald City"

According to a Variety exclusive "moviegoers can channel their inner Glinda and Elphaba during sing-along screenings of 'Wicked.' But they'll have to wait." According to contributor Rebecca Rubin, "audiences can belt along to classics like 'Popular' and 'Defying Gravity' at their own peril,'" while "fans will need to wait until the second movie...to harmonize ion Act 2 favorites like 'For Good' and 'No Good Deed.'"

It's a perfectly valid desire to not watch a classic musical with an amateur chorus around you. You might be hearing this music for the first time and want no interruptions. You may be looking forward to the new magic of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande collaborating on music you've loved for years. It just might not be your cup of tea to watch an interactive musical.

Not to worry. So far, the plans are to release the interactive showings in1,000 theaters across North America. "Exact plans including the location count and showtimes, have yet to be finalized."

I am hoping to find a showtime near me. I was in Brigham Young University's Women's Chorus when they featured three songs from the musical in their autumn concerts. In the process of fine-tuning the choral performance, the conductor stopped rehearsals one day to give us permission to sing "Defying Gravity" the way we did when no one was listening. For the next run-through, we were all singing our hearts out as 170 women who sang the song 170 different ways. And it was a wonderful, chaotic moment for us. We then put away our inner Elphaba and sang the music with precision and attention to rhythm and harmony. In memory of those 170 versions of "Tell them how I am defying gravity," I hope to sit in a theater full of fans and hear how they ove the music.

The interactive showings may not be for all audiences but it would be a wonderful thing to hear how people connect with such favorites as "I'm Not That Girl" and "The Wizard and I."

Wicked can be enjoyed on the big screen as of November 22, 2024.