By Zuzanna Spiewak

Loud crunching of popcorn. Coughing, sneezing, talking and laughing. The person in front of you constantly going to the bathroom, a child crying. All these things are staples of the cinema experience, a checklist that adds up to ruin your showtime experience. But are people singing along another item to be checked off, or can an exception be made?

This recent discussion started over the popular musical-turned-movie, ‘Wicked’. With its first Broadway showing being over two decades ago on October 30th, 2003, it quickly became a global phenomenon. To this day, it’s the second-highest grossing musical in the world.

The highly anticipated adaption released on November 22nd, starring singer Ariana Grande and actress Cynthia Erivo as the two main characters, Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba.

Fans of the musical flocked to the cinemas and helped make it the 27th highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office, according to The Numbers and its runtime is not even done yet, leaving cinemas at the very end of January.

However, it seems not everything is sunshine and rainbows in the land of Oz, with people not being able to agree whether singing along to the songs and performances in the movie is acceptable or not.

A YouGov poll revealed that 48% of people thought that singing along to a musical showing should not be permitted. However, 34% of people disagreed, thinking that it is an acceptable thing to do.

It seems cinemas such as AMC agree with the 48% of people interviewed, as shortly after the film was released in American cinemas, a disclaimer was shown before every showing.

“At AMC Theatres, silence is golden. No talking. No texting. No singing. No wailing. No Flirting. And absolutely no name-calling. Enjoy the magic of movies”: Stated the 30-second advisory, which included short clips from Wicked in-between.

Around the same time, when Wicked first arrived at cinemas, it even created discourse in its Reddit community, ‘r/Wicked’, a place for fans that as of now has 272k members. A blog post read:

“But before we all rush off to our screenings, I just want to throw out a friendly PSA: While sing-along screenings are a blast, they aren't currently scheduled for WICKED. So, during regular showings, let's keep our vocal talents in check. I know it’s tempting—I mean, who doesn’t want to let loose on "Popular" or nail that Fiyero! riff? But remember, there are people in the theatre who’ve waited decades for this film and just want to experience the magic without unplanned background vocals.”

While some agreed, not every single community member was content with staying quiet.

“I don’t see the issue. No way I’m staying silent during Defying Gravity. I’ve sung along to every musical I’ve seen in theaters, and I’m not going to stop now,” said one member, rainbowfire545.

“Disagree with this unPOPULAR opinion! Theater kids are gonna sing, deal with it!” said another, mzlange.

However, it seems a solution to this problem has been created. With cinemas such as Odeon having created special sing-along showings where showing off your vocals is not only acceptable but encouraged.

We can expect these special showings to be more common by the time the second part of Wicked, “Wicked: For Good” arrives in November this year.

With Wicked being the fifth longest movie of 2024, running at two hours and 40 minutes, we can expect this much anticipated sequel to stand at a similar time.

The hype for part two is building, with Wicked being the first ever musical to gross £4.213 million in just one week during Christmas 2024, which was only a couple weeks ago.

Should people be allowed to sing along in the cinema?