The big difference between Part I And Part II? In the second film, Dorothy will appear more meaningfully than in the film Part I. And the matter of casting for what could very well be an off-screen role could ease fans into the next year of anticipation.
The decision to split Bad It was polarizing, but ultimately satisfying for many (including the theater guy who wrote this). It left every beat of Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s original show intact, with room for play for choreographers. In the Heights director Jon M. Chu. Yet the question is how Bad 2 – with fewer songs and a darker edge – could be just as satisfying as the first half.
Schwartz has said over the years for which he would write new songs Bad 2which establishes Elphaba owning her title as the Wicked Witch of the West and ultimately has her fateful encounter with Dorothy Gale. Dorothy doesn’t actually play a role in the Broadway show (she only appears in shadows), but she could in the movie, if Chu doesn’t mind making inevitable comparisons to Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz.
Yes, there are other ways to expand Bad‘s original Act II that avoids any echoes of the 1939 film, especially when Chu and Schwartz want more for their powerhouse stars, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, to sing on. But a recent performance by young actor Alisha Weir at the Bad The green carpet of the premiere made Broadway go crazy Marvel fans enjoying post-credits. Is Weir, who broke out in Netflix’s Matilda the Musicalbut is perhaps better known as this year’s terrifying vampire child Abigail, Bad: Part IIIs Dorothy Gale? This single photo is the only proof:
Dorothy actually appears in it Bad: Part I for a hot second early on: a CG version of the character is seen from the back, skipping down the yellow brick road alongside the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion. But in the Broadway show, all the familiar characters are in Dorothy’s orbit as she steps into Oz to begin her adventure, and in the film it’s easy to imagine her taking on a corporeal form. Weir would be a great and logical choice: Matilda the Musical is an underrated adaptation in which she really rocks, and she is a known entity for Universal Pictures, which was released Abigail. Maybe she was present at the Bad premiere as a fan of the show. But if you’re around for Dorothy and show up in silver shoes (the original color of Dorothy’s ruby slippers in L. Frank Baum’s book), you’re either hiding a secret or out to activate Internet brain worms. Or both?
Currently, Universal and Chu have not announced any casting for Dorothy Bad: Part II. The sequel was shot back-to-back Part Iso when Weir is inside Part IIshe managed to escape all the paparazzi who photographed Grande in costume on the set for weeks. Is Dorothy’s casting the best-kept secret in Hollywood, or just the kind of rampant speculation that a mega-blockbuster invites? We’ll know next year.