much earlier evil hit theaters and the evil experience opened at Universal Studios Florida, the musical’s success on Broadway inspired a unique show experience Universal Studios Japan.
In 2006, Universal Creative along with the Broadway team created an abridged 35-minute version of Wicked to show the musical to theme park fans in Osaka, Japan. The show was featured as the main attraction at Universal Studio Japan’s defunct Oz area. It also incorporated characters from L. Frank Baum wizard of oz stories and his own emerald city with classical touches wizard of oz film style without infringing copyright.
The shortened version of the evil it basically featured most of the songs that are out there now Evil first part, and were performed in versions that combined English and Japanese lyrics, creating a bilingual performance accessible to locals and tourists alike. However, out of necessity it mostly focused on the story between Elphaba and Glinda.
The songs were as follows, according to the wicked Universal Studios Japan career Fandom Wiki page:
- “A short day”
- “Dear Old Shiz”
- “What is this feeling?”
- “The Wizard and I”
- “Popular”
- “A sentimental man”
- “Defying Gravity” and “For Good”
As seen above in a post by former Glinda performer Maki Ogasa (@omaki.musical), the open show often featured a foreign performer like Elphaba, while Glinda and the ensemble would be made up of talent from Japan . The main roles were cut to save time, so there was no Fiyero to dance for life and no Boq or Nessa. Several Elphabas, including Jemma Rix, who was the show’s first Wicked Witch of the West, would go on to play the role in international tours of evil.
With the premiere of the evil movie, former cast members have taken a trip down memory lane to celebrate their role in the story of evil and its first theme park appearance, which lasted until 2011.
Here’s the least grainy look we could find of the theater’s façade inspired by the Emerald City it housed evil at Universal Studios Japan.
While we wait for Universal Studios to announce a major one evil presence in their theme parks (fingers crossed for Epic Universe), you can visit the evil Experience at Universal Studios Orlando. This attraction had special appearances by Elphaba and Glinda, but only for its opening; honestly, they need to release the witches! You can visit several evil pop-up shopping and giveaways at Universal Studios Hollywood.
evil it’s in theaters now; Evil part two arrives in November 2025.
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