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Let the (Consensual) Wicked Sing-alongs Begin

New meaning to 4DX. Photo: Wicked Movie/YouTube

If a quick request to not sing were enough to stop theater kids, then they would not be theater kids. Cynthia Erivo might’ve been “okay” with all the unsanctioned sing-alongs, but AMC and many other moviegoers weren’t. But starting this Christmas, you can finally hold space for the lyrics of “Defying Gravity” with the consent of everyone around you. Read on for the latest on when and how to get tickets to sing-along screenings.

Defying theater norms

November 22, 2024: AMC is planning to air a “please don’t sing”–themed, 30-second-long advertisement before upcoming showings of Wicked, per ABC. But, this is said with love, we’re not sure if that is enough of an “immovable object” to compete with “the unstoppable force” that is the theater-kid impulse to sing along to Wicked. A better option might be to tell these theater kids they should simply wait until Christmas to see the movie, when there will be scheduled “sing-along” screenings in roughly 1,000 movie theaters across the country, per Variety. The total theater count has not been finalized yet, so if you live in a county where the high school has an arts program, please send a flare up ASAP so they know to come to you. It may be your area’s only hope.

Cynthia Erivo has made her peace with you singing

November 28, 2024: Congrats, theater kids! Your leader is fine with all the singing. At Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Cynthia Erivo said it’s “good” people are singing along. “I’m okay with it,” she told Hoda Kotb. “We spent this long singing it ourselves, it’s time for everyone else to join in. It’s wonderful.”

Ariana Grande is perhaps less on board with the singing. “If someone throws popcorn at you, or their phone or something, maybe stop,” she told NBC News previously. No one will mourn your wicked ass if the theater kicks you out.

Before getting into the Wicked of it all, Erivo presented Kotb with a bouquet to celebrate her final Thanksgiving Day Parade. Kotb is leaving The Today Show in January, and Erivo wanted to mark the occasion. “Before you even begin, these flowers are for you because I know this is the last Thanksgiving parade you’re doing, and I wanted to celebrate that, and I wanted to say we love you,” she said.

It’s our line now

December 10, 2024: Have you been practicing your battle cry? Tickets for sanctioned Wicked sing-alongs are now on sale at more than 1,000 participating theaters and ticket retailers. The film’s official site currently shows these special screenings — which will feature onscreen lyrics and an introduction from Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande — running from December 25 to January 2. Rejoice, theater kids. Starting Christmas Day, you won’t have to be treated as animals that should be seen and not heard.

Let the (Consensual) Wicked Sing-alongs Begin