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The highly anticipated sequel Wicked: For Good soars into theaters on November 21, with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande leading the big-screen adaptation of the smash Broadway musical.

However, the inspiration for the original Wicked novel , published by Gregory Maguire in 1995, hardly lends itself to song and dance. Shockingly, it was a brutal child murder that helped convince the author to commit to his reimagining of L. Frank Baum ’s classic 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz .

While lyricist Stephen Schwartz adapted the story into the bombastic Wicked musical many know today, Maguire’s original Wicked novel is rooted in somber themes—examining the effects of political propaganda and the genesis of evil.

One of the real-life events that made Magui

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