Defying Gravity (Commentary)

It was really special, actually. And when I approached, at first I didn't know how much I could make it my own. I was very okay with Being as Bible as possible. So whatever was written was what I was Willing to sing. But when I got there, both Stephens, Stephen Oremus And Stephen Schwartz, let me sing. They were just like, you sing it How you feel it should be sung. And there is what we call the war Cry at the end. And they were like, make it your own. Do whatever You want to do with that. And there's just something really thrilling About hearing that version now. And that being sort of like cemented For me when I've been singing the other version, Idina's version For years. And to know that the Connection is there is really special She brings a ferocity to Elphaba and a depth to the character that is Beautifully expressed in everything she does, but I think very Strongly in Defying Gravity. Also, it's the last song in a movie And therefore, you need to feel not just that the act of a show is Coming to an end, but a whole movie is coming to an end And therefore, there are sequences put in at the end to Kind of sum up the whole movie. And that required writing Some stuff that would allow that to happen, which I found Very exciting. And I really love how it's turned out We wanted it to be different than, you know, we wanted it to be Unique to her. It was very important that Cynthia get to really That final cry needed to be from this primal place. And boy It was so emotional to hear it in the studio. When we all just Went, well, that's it. I mean, that's, you're never going to It was one of the most powerful moments I've ever had on the show To get to hear that final moment in such a new and thrilling way