Defying Gravity - Commentary

It was really special, actually

And when I approached it at first, I-I didn't know how much I could make it my own

I-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 th-thеre's something really thrilling about hеaring 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 sort a-a ferocity to Elphaba

And-and a depth to the character that is beautifully expressed

In everything she does, but I think, um very strongly and 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, uh, 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-that final cry needed to be from this primal place

And boy, it-it was so emotional to hear it in the studio

We all just went, "Woah, that's it," I mean that's, you're never gonna

It was one of the most powerful moments I've ever had on the show, to get to hear that final

That final moment in such a new and thrilling way