Are You Going to See a Gingham-Clad Dorothy Gale in ‘Wicked’?

If you have seen the musical Wicked, you know that it is focused mainly on the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba, and her time at school where she was friends with Glinda the Good Witch. But does this mean we won’t see Dorothy Gale in the movie? It’s…complicated.

In Wicked, we are venturing into Elphaba’s (Cynthia Ervio) story. Elphaba is attending Shiz with her sister Nessa (Marissa Bode). There, Elphaba is forced to room with Glinda (Ariana Grande) and the two start out loathing each other before eventually becoming friends. Most of the story takes place prior to The Wizard of Oz’s protagonist Dorothy Gale ever getting caught up in that tornado in Kansas.

There are moments later in the musical (and definitely in the book) where Dorothy plays a part, but the question of who is playing her in the Wicked movies comes down to whether or not the movies will bring in more of the books. If they are staying more towards the Broadway show, casting someone of name to play Dorothy seems like sort of a waste.

How Broadway staged it

On Broadway, the ending of Elphaba’s story is a bit different than in the novel. When Dorothy comes to Elphaba’s castle in the musical, we only see Dorothy in shadows or in moments when she is off stage. There isn’t really a moment where Miss Gale comes on stage to sing a song or share a moment with Elphaba or Glinda and it is staged in way that still leaves The Wizard of Oz completely to Dorothy’s story while allowing Wicked to be Elphaba and Glinda’s.

The musical also changes Elphaba’s ending, making it seem like a planned escape for Elphaba by staging her “death” with water and running off with Fiyero, which is not what happens in the novel by Gregory Maguire. So there are changes between the novel and the staged musical and while we might not get to see Dorothy when we head to the theatre, there is a way for the movie adaptation of the musical to bring Dorothy into it through what happens in the book.

How the book can make Dorothy work

The musical gave Elphaba her own story and that is also the case with the novel, but it does include a bit more of Dorothy. In the novel, when the Gale home crashes into Munchkinland and lands on Nessa, killing her, it results in Glinda and Elphaba fighting over the shoes and gives a lot more context as to why Elphaba is so upset with Glinda. From there, we get a bit more of Dorothy when she finally gets to Elphaba’s castle and tries to ask for forgiveness for killing Nessa.

This is not in the musical Wicked, but if the movies were going to add some more context in from the novels, we could see Dorothy in that way.

As of now, we do not have a Dorothy

There is not a publically know casting for Dorothy Gale yet. Made famous by Judy Garland in the 1939 film, the role is a beacon of innocence and trust and reminds us that we can always go home. How that role would differ in a story like Wicked would be interesting to see.

So until we know more about how much of the novel the movies are going to lean into, at least we can hope to see a glimpse of her!

(featured image: Universal Pictures)