Why 'Wicked: For Good' Does Not Have To Place Focus On Dorothy

Fans everywhere have been excited by the release of Wicked: For Good, the sequel to last year's smash-hit Wicked. While the first film adapted Act I of Stephen Schwartz's iconic 2003 stage musical, Wicked: For Good will tackle Act II.

On stage, Act II of Wicked only runs for about an hour, so the film adaptation will be fleshing things out to achieve a full feature length. As well as two new original songs, 'Girl in the Bubble' and 'No Place Like Home', fans assumed this fleshing out would include a greater role for Dorothy Gale, the heroine of L. Frank Baum's original novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The events of the book occur concurrently with Act II of the musical, although Dorothy remains mostly offstage, appearing once in silhouette.

Expanding Dorothy's role would seem an easy road to extra content for the film. However, it appears to have been confirmed that Dorothy will mostly appear either from behind or from a distance in Wicked: For Good. While some fans are disappointed at this news, we really don't need more Dorothy in the film.

Here are a few reasons why.

We already know Dorothy's story

It is not at all an exaggeration to say that most people already know the story of Dorothy Gale. If they haven't read the novel, almost everyone would have seen The Wizard of Oz, the classic 1939 film starring Judy Garland as Dorothy.

The reason having Wizard of Oz events occurring alongside Wicked Act II works so well is that most of the audience already knows them. Small references and Easter Eggs are enough to gauge Dorothy's progress without infringing on the core part of Wicked's plot. More Dorothy in Wicked: For good wouldn't be fleshing things out or adding anything new, just rehashing a story everyone already knows.

'Wicked' is not Dorothy's story

Wicked the stage musical is loosely inspired by Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of The West. The full title of the musical is Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz. While Dorothy Gale has small roles in both versions, Wicked is not Dorothy's story. It is the story of the Witches of Oz, meaning Elphaba (The 'Wicked Witch' of the West) Glinda(The Good Witch of The North), and to a much lesser extent Nessarose (The Wicked Witch of The East).

The story is of Elphie and Glinda's unlikely friendship, and how the Wizard's lies warp the Ozians view of Elphaba. Giving more screentime to Dorothy would add very little to any of those stories, and actually take away from what Wicked is really about.

If not more Dorothy.. Then What?

Some fans have been questioning how the filmmakers will be padding out Wicked: For Good's runtime, without adding more Dorothy. The answer to that is really quite simple. Despite having some of the strongest songs ('As Long As You're Mine', 'No Good Deed Goes Unpunished', 'For Good'), it is generally agreed that Wicked's second act is the weaker part of the play. The reason for this is that with a lot of major events packed into only an hour of stage time, Act II often feels rushed.

Aside from context around the two new songs written for Wicked: For Good, the solution isn't necessarily to add a lot of new content, but to expand on what is already there. Flesh out the existing characters and relationships. Explore more of the events that made Nessarose the Wicked Witch of the East, so her fall from grace doesn't feel so sudden. Show a few extra scenes or secret meetings between Glinda and Elphie, so their relationship feels more nuanced, and their transition between friends, frenemies, enemies and back to friends flows a little more naturally. It's no different than anything done for the first film. While Act I of Wicked runs one hour and fifteen minutes, the first film clocks in at two hours and forty minutes. If the additions are handled well, fans will hardly notice.

Wicked was never about Dorothy Gale. She belongs on the periphery of the events. It is Elphaba and Glinda's story, and they deserve to keep centre stage.

Wicked: For Good hits theatres in November.