With the much-anticipated release of *Wicked*, the film adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical, moviegoers are already facing disruptions from fans — known as “theater kids” — singing along to the soundtrack during screenings.
Writing for *News.com.au*, and later shared by the *New York Post*, Eleanor Katelaris recounted her experience attending a *Wicked* screening in Sydney, Australia, where, to her dismay, several “musical theater kids” began singing along with the soundtrack.
Remy Tumin and Sara Ruberg of *The New York Times* reported similar incidents across early screenings, with multiple fans recounting disruptions by fellow audience members singing aloud.
Angela Weir, who attended a screening Monday night hoping to be immersed in the Land of Oz, shared her own experience. During Glinda’s (Ariana Grande) performance of “Popular,” she was shocked to find she wasn’t the only one singing. “It started slow. Then people heard each other — it was like they encouraged each other,” Weir explained. “It was a beautiful scene, and then you’re taken out of it.” Weir noted that she couldn’t fully appreciate the final number, “Defying Gravity,” due to the surrounding noise. “There’s this incredible last scene of the movie, and I wasn’t even in it because I was so horrified that I could hear other people over Cynthia Erivo,” she said.
Meanwhile, self-described “theater kid” Leah Barnes, 28, from York, Pennsylvania, told *The New York Times* that she plans to sing along regardless of any backlash and advised others who might be “judgmental” to wait for the streaming release. “People who just are judgmental in that way — please wait to stream it,” Barnes said. “Don’t go the first day and yell at people for singing, for sharing that kind of joy, when we’ve been waiting so long in anticipation for this movie.”
Famed movie critic Richard Roeper criticized this sentiment on X (formerly Twitter), calling it “nonsense.” “In a [NY Times] article, a *Wicked* fan who intends to sing her heart out along with the movie says of those who would frown on that: ‘People who just are judgmental in that way, please wait to stream it.’ Nonsense. It should be the other way around,” he wrote.
Unless it’s a special ‘singalong’ event, YOU should be the one to wait to stream it, so you can sing to your heart’s content at home, rather than ruining the experience for everyone else at the theater. They’re paying to hear Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, not you,” he added.
Universal Pictures is set to host special *Wicked* singalong screenings this Christmas, offering fans a chance to sing their hearts out in a judgment-free theater setting, *Variety* reports.
“Moviegoers can channel their inner Glinda and Elphaba during sing-along screenings of *Wicked,*” the outlet noted.
However, these interactive showings will require a bit of patience. The singalong screenings will roll out in approximately 1,000 North American theaters starting on Dec. 25, about a month after the film’s general release. Details on locations and showtimes are still being finalized.