Wicked: For Good music producer loses studio and family home in Los Angeles fire
Music producer Greg Wells has lost his studio and family home in the Los Angeles wildfires with work set to resume on 'Wicked: For Good'.
'Wicked: For Good' music producer Greg Wells has lost his studio and home in the Los Angeles fires.
The producer worked on the soundtrack for 'Wicked: Part One' and was just about to resume work on the highly anticipated sequel - which is due to be released later this year - but his state-of-the-art studio and family home in the Pacific Palisades burned down.
He told Variety: "I’ve never forgotten being up in a tea room where I got a little fortune and it said, ‘The only thing permanent is impermanence.’
"And that’s applicable every day, but after the euphoric high of ‘Wicked’ coming out and doing what it’s doing, which is thrilling and wonderful, and then seeing just how fragile things can be…
"You know, I think life is supposed to be hard. I’m not sure it’s supposed to be quite this hard. But it could be so, so, so much worse than it is.
"I know a number of people have died, but the people immediately close to me and my family, we’re all healthy and safe — and kind of depressed and bewildered.”
In the music world, Wells has worked with the likes of Katy Perry, Adele, Celine Dion, Dupa Lipa and more, while he also produced the soundtrack for 'The Greatest Showman'.
He revealed his work on 'Wicked: For Good' is "backed up in a safe way", but he needs to decide where he will continue work on the movie.
He explained: "The clock is ticking because we’re trying to record the orchestra in May this year; last year (for ‘Part One’) it was June, so there’s a lot to do between now and then.
"And I’ve lost all my computers except for one. There’s just a lot to replace and figure out where I’m gonna do this and how I’m gonna do it.
"And that’s all manageable. I’ll figure it out.”
As for the sequel itself, director Jon M. Chu recently defended the decision to name the movie 'Wicked: For Good' - taken from the penultimate song - instead of 'Wicked: Part Two'.
Speaking to Variety at the National Board of Review Awards this week, he said: "Who wants a movie called ‘Wicked: Part Two’?
“On the script, it always said, ‘For Good,’ and so it was just a point of like, ‘Do we really want to call this “Part Two”?’
"And nobody wants that.”
Chu - who has also helmed the likes of 'Crazy Rich Asians' and 'In The Heights' - insisted no other film titles were considered for the follow-up, which is coming to the big screen later this year.
He added: "I mean, that’s the destination. ‘For Good,’ we know, is like, ‘Where are we going with this movie? Let’s finish this thing.' "
In the song, Elphaba and Glinda - played by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in the film adaptation - sing about their relationship together and how it's affected their own lives.
