Seeing ‘Wicked’ in the theater? Fans say please don’t sing along … yet : NPR

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo star as Glinda and Elphaba in the movie Wicked. They’re shown above speaking about the film in Las Vegas in April 2024.

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Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images

The first part of Wicked arrives widely in theaters on Friday, Nov. 22 — and fans of the Broadway musical have a request: please don’t sing along.

At least, not yet.

Beginning Dec. 25, sing-along screenings of the film will be available in theaters for fans who want to join Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in gravity-defying choruses of songs, Variety announced Monday.

Until then? Fans say: Do. Not. Sing.

“People want to sing along,” said Howard Sherman, a U.S. theater columnist for London’s The Stage. “I know I have my coping mechanisms when I see favorite musicals: [I’m a] big head bobber, I’m a toe tapper. I even sometimes mouth the lyrics, but my vocal cords don’t vibrate.”

Sherman said that singing together is unifying and brings a lot of joy — but he hopes in the early weeks, when people are seeing it for the first time, they will “want to just experience what they’re being given from the screen.”

Fans across the web hope that moviegoers will partake in that experience silently. Or at least, quietly.

“They didn’t buy tickets to hear some rando, they wanna hear Ariana Grande,” Alex Lewis, an actor and one of three members in the band Lewberger, said in a TikTok posted to the band’s account.

Munashe Chinyanganya, a creator and podcast host, posted a video saying she had a suggestion for those who were desperate to sing: Get it out in the car ride on the way to the theater, then promptly put yourself on mute.

Fans aren’t the only ones who want a quiet movie experience.

AMC theaters is playing an advisory before the film reminding audiences to stay silent throughout. In addition to the usual admonishments for talking and texting, the pre-show voiceover also tells audiences not to wail, flirt, call people names…or sing.

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, who play Glinda and Elphaba in the film, told NBC News that they understand the urge to sing along.

“It’s tempting,” Grande said.

“I say, if you come the first time and you sing through, sing through,” Erivo said. “But come a second time and let us sing to you.”

The Wicked film will only tell the first half of the musical’s story. For the rest, fans will need to let Grande and Erivo sing to them again when Wicked: Part 2 is released next year.

Jennifer Vanasco edited this story.