NBC decided to steer its musical special Wicked: One Wonderful Night down a decidedly apolitical path.
At the tail end of Thursday’s two-hour broadcast, Wicked and Wicked: For Good star Marissa Bode appeared on stage to introduce her screen sister Cynthia Erivo‘s command performance of the musical’s high-flying anthem, “Defying Gravity.” Bode reminded the packed auditorium at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles that Wicked is “filled with so many incredible songs, but there is one that stands out.”
“It’s connected with so many people from all over the world. I’m talking, of course, about ‘Defying Gravity,'” she continued. “The song is an ode to authenticity and about believing in yourself no matter what obstacles the world puts in your way. Performing ‘Defying Gravity,’ please welcome the incredible Cynthia Erivo.” But that’s not exactly how Bode’s introduction played out during the special’s live taping.
The Sept. 24 recording, which was attended by Entertainment Weekly, included additional comments that were cut from Thursday’s broadcast. In Bode’s full introduction, she added that the song’s paean to “authenticity” and “believing in yourself” extended to standing up to a “power-hungry dictator.”
EW has reached out to representatives for NBC and Bode for comment.
Griffin Nagel/NBC
Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, and Ethan Slater on ‘Wicked: One Wonderful Night’
Indeed, the two-part film, based on the stage musical by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, contains decidedly anti-authoritarian themes, with its “Wicked” Witch of the West (Erivo) being branded a traitor by a corrupt despot (Jeff Goldblum’s Wizard) after she uncovers a secretive plot being executed against the fictional Oz’s animal citizens.
Bode’s cut comment clearly pointed to this narrative fact. Elphaba is an outspoken champion of civil rights who opposes the Wizard’s two-faced treachery, and “Defying Gravity” is the apotheosis of this rebellion within the musical. But Bode’s pointed delivery, and the reaction of the crowd, suggested that the comment carried an evident double meaning in the current political climate.
Bode has been outspokenly political since her rise to fame for portraying Nessarose Thropp in Wicked. The actress, who uses a wheelchair, is a champion of disability rights, particularly as they intersect with the movement to uplift Black lives.
Just two weeks before the taping of One Wonderful Night, Bode took to her TikTok account to defend a post construed by some of her followers as controversial, in which she rejected “being called hateful because I don’t feel an ounce of sympathy” for the slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, whom Bode described as “a man whose whole career was built on being a bigot.”
Bode posted that TikTok on Sept. 11, the day after Kirk was shot while discussing gun violence at Utah Valley University. On Sept. 17, ABC indefinitely suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! after host Jimmy Kimmel stated in the previous night’s monologue that the “MAGA gang” were “desperately trying to characterize” Tyler Robinson, the alleged perpetrator of Kirk’s death, as “anything other than one of them.” After intense pushback, the network lifted Kimmel’s suspension, with his return to air occurring on Sept. 23, the day before the taping of One Wonderful Night.
NBC
Cynthia Erivo soars over the audience on ‘Wicked: One Wonderful Night’
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Bode was one of number of stars from the films to appear on the special. Erivo joined her Good Witch counterpart Ariana Grande in several duets, and all three actresses performed alongside and engaged in banter with Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Bowen Yang, and Ethan Slater.
Jonathan Bailey, who plays the dashing Prince Fiyero, was not present for the live taping, as he was wrapped up in production in England. But he did join the aforementioned stars in a separately-recorded cast conversation that played between the night’s musical numbers. There were also surprise guests, including the stars of the original Broadway production, Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, who sang a touching rendition of the closing number “For Good” with Erivo and Grande.
Following its Thursday night premiere on NBC, Wicked: One Wonderful Night begins streaming on Peacock Friday.
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