The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was sold out on Saturday, but not only for the football game. Fans were given a theatrical halftime show from “Wicked” that captured the attention of both football fans and entertainment professionals.
While the 75,000 fans enjoyed a vintage USC performance, with the Trojans defeating the Wolverines 31-13, the Trojan Marching Band collaborated with the USC School of Dramatic Arts to put on a halftime performance of “Wicked,” the highest-grossing film adaptation of a Broadway musical of all time.
“It was just such a surreal experience, I cried,” said Keira Weiss, a junior SDA student. “It’s probably one of the biggest audiences I’ll ever have the opportunity to have my work in front of.”
SDA senior Tina Zhang said it was encouraging to see how receptive the crowd was to her work.
“We’re moving towards pop singing and films where everything is more edited and filtered,” Zhang said, “So to see people receive the more traditional theater was amazing.”
The band played songs from the musical while members of SDA re-enacted scenes from the movie. The performance opened with “No One Mourns the Wicked,” then transitioned into “What is This Feeling?” “Dancing Through Life,” “Popular” and ending with the grand finale “Defying Gravity.”
The performance caught the eyes of actress and singer Cynthia Erivo, who played Elphaba in last year’s release of “Wicked,” as well as Jon M. Chu, the director of the film, who both posted in support of the performance on their Instagram stories.
Junior SDA student Delilah Brien, who was painted fully green to play Elphaba, said her mind was blown when she saw the shout-outs.
“My goal is to pursue this until I die,” Brien said. “To see a finished result be shouted out by such powerful creators in our industry was life-changing for me.”
“I was freaking out. I am a huge Jon Chu fan,” senior performer Angelina Tharitimanont
said. “When Cynthia posted, I was so honored because she is the iconic Elphaba. I’m waiting for Arianna Grande and Jonathan Bailey to post next.”
The entire production was prepared in three weeks, with two days reserved for rehearsal on the field.
“It was a crazy turnover, but also very realistic for the real world of theater and how fast you have to learn and adapt,” Tharitimanont said.
Coincidentally, the Michigan marching band put on a halftime “Wicked” performance a little over a month ago, which Tharitimanont said was much different than theirs.
“We emphasized the dance, the costumes, the more theatrical and spectacular aspects,” Tharitimanont said.
The Trojan Marching Band, also known as “The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe, Ever,” is known for its high-profile collaborations.
“Hopefully, SDA and the Trojan Marching Band can do more collaborations in the future,” Zhang said.