Why Cynthia Erivo’s “Fi–EH–ro” Is a Genius Musical Reference in Wicked

I am a musical theatre nerd, but mostly a music theory nerd ... and I figured everyone had noticed this 20 years ago. Probably a few people have, but it turns out most people don't have the weird ears that I do:) (and that's a good thing; it is torture to type this next to my space heater that is whirring a B-flat while my computer whirs an A). Anyway, thanks for dropping by my quirky corner of the internet. Stick around, it's fun here.
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If you love Wicked, The Wizard of Oz, or nerding out about music theory (hi, welcome, you’re my people), you’re going to hear this moment differently from now on.
At 2:11 in the film version of Wicked: For Good, Cynthia Erivo belts “Fi–EH–ro” — and the first two syllables form a perfect octave, the exact same interval used at the start of “Over the Rainbow.”
Music teachers literally use “Some–WHERE” to teach what an octave sounds like… and Stephen Schwartz absolutely knew what he was doing.
But in Wicked, instead of staying contained like the original melody, the phrase soars upward, musically mirroring how Wicked reimagines and expands the world of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Once you hear this connection, you can’t un-hear it.
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#Wicked #MusicTheory #OverTheRainbow #StephenSchwartz #CynthiaErivo #MusicalTheatre #MusicNerd #BrigidKaelin