Wicked fever is sweeping the globe, with the long-awaited movie breaking box office records on its opening weekend.
A prequel to The Wizard of Oz, the film tells the backstory of how the Wicked Witch of the West became an evil sorceress.
Fans have lapped up the tale, which reveals that the notorious villain started out as a bright, talented girl named Elphaba, who the public shunned because of her green skin.
Despite standout performances by Ariana Grande, 31, and Cynthia Erivo, 37, the musical hasn’t been without its detractors. The British film board slapped it with a Parental Guidance rating because “a green-skinned woman” being “mocked, bullied and humiliated because of her skin colour” might be upsetting.
Censors are concerned with the mental health of modern audiences. However, no one was concerned 85 years ago with the wellbeing of the original movie’s leading cast members.
Made in the days before anyone gave a hoot about health and safety, the makers of the féted fantasy film maimed several of their stars.
Margaret Hamilton, the actor who played the original Wicked Witch of the West, suffered one of the most serious injuries on The Wizard of Oz set.
“Makeup artists used copper-based green make-up,” says an industry historian. “At one point, there was a pyrotechnic mishap. Her make-up caught fire, leaving her with third-degree burns on her face and arms. She needed weeks to recover and unsurprisingly, she point-blank refused to do any more stunts after that.”
The actor who played the original Tin Man, Buddy Ebsen, also fell victim to a serious make-up malfunction. Makeup artists achieved his metallic look with pure, powdered aluminium. Just 10 days into filming, doctors admitted him to hospital with an almost fatal case of aluminium poisoning.
Bert Lahr, the actor who played the Cowardly Lion, collapsed from heat exhaustion. He had been wearing his 45kg costume under hot studio lights for too many hours. Additionally, Ray Bolger, who played the Scarecrow, suffered permanent damage to his face from his prosthetic mask.
Last, but not least, the film’s big star, Judy Garland, was just 16 when she stepped into the role of Dorothy. Producers forced her to take pep pills every morning to boost her energy and barbiturates every night to make her sleep. By the end of filming, Judy, mum to Cabaret star Liza Minnelli, was addicted and she remained so until she died, aged 47.
“People say the movie was cursed,” says the insider. “But the truth is far simpler than that. People didn’t give safety much thought eighty-five years ago.”
Some ways in which Wicked differs from The Wizard of Oz
Don’t expect any input from Dorothy. In Wicked, she makes just a fleeting cameo appearance.
The original Wizard of Oz was a benevolent character. In Wicked, he tricks the inhabitants of Oz into believing he’s a deity. “He’s a self-glorifying nincompoop,” says Wizard actor Jeff Goldblum, 72.
Good witch Glinda was as nice as pie in the 1939 movie. In Wicked, Glinda, played by popstar Ariana, is a shallow, spoiled girl who sometimes bullies Elphaba.
The Wicked Witch of the West was just plain evil in the original. In Wicked, the character, played by Cynthia, is a misunderstood, animal-loving heroine.
The buck stops here
When news broke last month that Ariana was paid 15 times more than Cynthia for her part in Wicked, fans were outraged. The studio immediately refuted the claim, saying they paid the actors equally.
The pay packets of The Wizard of Oz stars tell a different story.
Producers paid Judy just $16,300 for her lead role in the classic, the equivalent of $370,000 today.
Meanwhile, Margaret, who filled the clompy shoes of the Wicked Witch of the West, took home $35,700, around $810,000 in today’s money.
But that paled in comparison to Scarecrow actor Ray, who scooped $122,500 – a handsome $2.7 million in today’s money.
Silver slip-up?
Eagle-eyed Wicked fans have spotted in Dorothy’s fleeting cameo that she’s wearing silver slippers instead of her famous red ones.
Costume designer Paul Tazewell says the colour choice is an ode to L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz book.
“In the book, they were these odd little silver boots,” he explains.
When filmmakers turned the book into a movie in 1939, they changed the shoes from silver to red. That way, they’d stand out more against the yellow brick road.
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