# What if Wicked had been made during the Golden Age of Movie Musicals? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 3, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-wicked-had-been-made-during-the-golden-age-of-movie-musicals/639801 "2012-11-03T22:34:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-wicked-had-been-made-during-the-golden-age-of-movie-musicals/639801/1 "2012-11-03T22:34:03Z")
My husband and I just saw Wicked and thought it was great. Today it occurred to me that Judy Garland (when she was older than Dorothy-age, obviously) would have been a terrific Elphaba. Can you imagine her singing “Defying Gravity”? My husband says Robert Preston would have been a good Wizard in this show, with maybe Vera Ellen or Shirley Jones as Glinda. (Ethel Merman for Madame Morrible?) Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-wicked-had-been-made-during-the-golden-age-of-movie-musicals/639801/2 "2012-11-03T22:38:19Z")
I feel like the music and characters are just wildly out of place for those actors, and the style of acting that was popular back then. I guess I’m saying I like it just the way it is. ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-wicked-had-been-made-during-the-golden-age-of-movie-musicals/639801/3 "2012-11-03T23:00:19Z")
I agree with **drew** that it doesn’t seem to fit the MGM classic style very well. But just for kicks . . . To the best of my knowledge, Vera Ellen didn’t sing at all; she was always dubbed. Maybe Deanna Durbin as Glinda? ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-wicked-had-been-made-during-the-golden-age-of-movie-musicals/639801/4 "2012-11-04T00:10:41Z")
Robert Preston would indeed have been ideal as the Wizard. Don’t think I agree about Judy Garland, though – Elphaba, despite being green, has to knock your eye out, and Judy, for all her pipes, just wasn’t that. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-wicked-had-been-made-during-the-golden-age-of-movie-musicals/639801/5 "2012-11-04T00:21:12Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > My husband and I just saw Wicked and thought it was great. Today it occurred to me that Judy Garland (when she was older than Dorothy-age, obviously) would have been a terrific Elphaba. Can you imagine her singing “Defying Gravity”? > > My husband says Robert Preston would have been a good Wizard in this show, with maybe Vera Ellen or Shirley Jones as Glinda. (Ethel Merman for Madame Morrible?) > > Thoughts? And Mickey Rooney for Boq! ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-wicked-had-been-made-during-the-golden-age-of-movie-musicals/639801/6 "2012-11-04T00:22:20Z")
> [@Rollo\_Tomasi](#): > > I agree with **drew** that it doesn’t seem to fit the MGM classic style very well. But just for kicks . . . > > To the best of my knowledge, Vera Ellen didn’t sing at all; she was always dubbed. Maybe Deanna Durbin as Glinda? I didn’t know that Vera Ellen didn’t sing. That’s a shame. She has such a great look for Glinda. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-wicked-had-been-made-during-the-golden-age-of-movie-musicals/639801/7 "2012-11-04T03:48:28Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Judy Garland . . . Can you imagine her singing “Defying Gravity”? Actually no, I can’t. She’d be totally wrong for that role. ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-wicked-had-been-made-during-the-golden-age-of-movie-musicals/639801/8 "2012-11-04T03:58:36Z")
Thinking back on all the musicals I’ve seen, I can’t really think of anyone who regularly sang in the belting style that sort of defines Elphaba’s role. Judy Garland is probably the closest, but still not right. Looks-wise, Cyd Charisse or Ann Miller might be closer than Garland, but Miller’s voice isn’t right either, and Charisse didn’t sing. I do agree that Robert Preston would have been a great Wizard. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-wicked-had-been-made-during-the-golden-age-of-movie-musicals/639801/9 "2012-11-04T14:20:18Z")
> [@Rollo\_Tomasi](#): > > To the best of my knowledge, Vera Ellen didn’t sing at all; she was always dubbed. Maybe Deanna Durbin as Glinda? Wouldn’t a casting director normally handle this by casting Jean Hagen but dubbing all the singing with Debbie Reynolds? Or the other way around? ---
**Author:** ![baronsabato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@baronsabato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baronsabato)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-wicked-had-been-made-during-the-golden-age-of-movie-musicals/639801/10 "2012-11-04T15:33:50Z")
Ethel Merman as Elphaba! ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-wicked-had-been-made-during-the-golden-age-of-movie-musicals/639801/11 "2012-11-04T22:00:30Z")
> [@Reno\_Nevada](#): > > Wouldn’t a casting director normally handle this by casting Jean Hagen but dubbing all the singing with Debbie Reynolds? Or the other way around? In-universe, you cast Jean Hagen with Debbie Reynolds singing behind the scenes (and behind a curtain at one point), but in real life, you cast Jean Hagen and Debbie Reynolds, with Jean singing for Debbie, who is pretending to sing for Jean. \