Recently, it was announced that Jon M. Chu, who is coming off of his upcoming film adaptation of the 2008 Tony-winning musical, In the Heights, has taken over as director of Universal's long-awaited film adaptation of the Broadway smash, Wicked. He replaces Stephen Daldry, who had previously departed back in October of last year due to the studio wanting to mount it more quickly than he was comfortable moving. In fact, when Chu posted the announcement on his Twitter feed, he asked his followers "So... Twitterverse, who should we cast?". I've already thrown in other suggestions for Elphaba, Glinda, Fiyero, and Nessarose. So now, I'm going give a trio of ideas for The 'Wonderful' Wizard of Oz, who in Wicked is depicted as a dictator who uses deceit and trickery to hide his own shortcomings. On Broadway, that role was originated by Tony & Oscar-winning legend, Joel Grey.

Now on with my suggestions...

Long before making a name for himself on the big screen, Richard Gere's first major acting role was in the original West End production of Grease in London back in 1973. Yet, it wasn't until 2002 when he showed his musical theatre skills to a wider audience when he took on the role of Billy Flynn in the Academy Award-winning film adaptation of Chicago. His performance there earned him a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture-Comedy/Musical as well as a Best Actor nomination from the Screen Actors Guild. If Gere were to take on the role of The Wizard, it would mark his first musical since Chicago.

Long before making a name for himself on the big screen, Kevin Kline had started out working as an actor in the theatre. On stage, he appeared in a few musicals such as The Robber Bridegroom, On the Twentieth Century, and The Pirates of Penzance (which he got to reprise in a 1983 film adaptation). Those latter two credits in particular won him Tony Awards for his performances. If he were to take on the role of The Wizard, it would be a perfect fit for him not only given his musical theatre background, but also his comedy background since the character of The Wizard of Oz (in general) does have a bit of an eccentric personality.

Long before making a name for himself on the big screen, J.K. Simmons had a very musical background. His father was a music teacher, he participated in his high school choir, and graduated from the University of Montana in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music. From there, Simmons appeared in a production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel at the Houston Grand Opera, a 1987 Off-Broadway musical titled Birds of Paradise, and two revivals of classic musicals in the 1991-92 Broadway season. First as Captain Hook in Peter Pan starring Cathy Rigby, then as Benny Southstreet in Guys & Dolls with Peter Gallagher, Josie de Guzman, Nathan Lane, and Faith Prince. Since then, he participated in the chorus of the 1997 animated musical, Anastasia, and also appeared in the 2016 Oscar-winning movie musical, La La Land, but he only had a small speaking part in the latter. So if Simmons were to take on the role of The Wizard, it would mark his first time showing off his musical theatre skills to a wider audience.

​I'll be back with another one of these sometime soon to discuss a different character. In the meantime, what do you think of these ideas? Do you have any of your own? For those interested in reading the previous blog posts I've done on this topic, you can find the link to all of them below.

WICKED Film