“Good News, She’s Dead” — 'Wicked' Performance Makes Awkward Announcement the Night of Queen Elizabeth II’s Death

Musicals have always had a rough time at the box office, with the whimsy of live performances difficult to translate to the big screen.

Steven Spielberg's West Side Story opened to a cringe-worthy $10.5 million, and Cats did even worse at $6.5 million.

2024's Wicked seems to have bucked this recurring trend. The film collected $114 million in North America and an additional $50.2 million internationally, bringing its global total to $164.2 million over the weekend.

Fans even dressed up for the occasion — painting their faces green, putting on themed dresses, or going full pointy-hat mode.

This success brings us to a viral TikTok video about the stage play that's the basis for the Ariana Grande led film, Wicked. The video by user Laynie (@lay_nie), has clocked in an impressive combo of 6.2M views and 1M likes, covering a performance of Wicked in London on the night of Queen Elizabeth II's death.

In it, Laynie explains how the show opened with a statement addressing the Queen's passing, informing the audience that the performance would proceed as usual, followed by a minute of silence to honor her.

Here comes the awkward part. The irony hit when the opening number, which she filmed, began with the line, "Good news. She's dead," referring to the wicked witch. Needless to say, this unintentional satire was not lost on the internet.

One commenter noted, "THE FIRST SONG IS LITERALLY 'no one mourns the wicked.'" Another seemed to feign sadness while holding back a laugh, "It only gets worse the more the song plays too."

Someone else wrote, “This will never not be funny to me.”

Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on September 8, 2022, ruled from February 6, 1952, until her death. Throughout her 70 years on the throne, many lauded her as a symbol of stability and continuity for the United Kingdom, embodying the qualities of nostalgic femininity.

Numerous Brits expressed their fondness of her, with a 2022 Ipsos poll showing she was their favorite royal, as opposed to others who shirked their ties to the throne.

Namely, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who've been criticized as fame-hungry individuals. Others have said they only made news for poo-pooing royal duties and "sh--ting" on the Royal Family’s legacy, most famously in an interview with Oprah.

The recent cancer diagnoses of King Charles and Kate Middleton have been getting big headlines as well.

But, Elizabeth’s legacy has set a precedent for a portrayal of public strength — and the King and Princess have been no exception.

One more note, perhaps a little more unknown to Americans, is the long and tumultuous saga of the Royal Family, famously portrayed in the Netflix series The Crown.

This show made the family drama supremely international. Perhaps this very well-done expose was worth it– since it went gangbusters with 24 Primetime Emmys.

As Wicked continues to dominate both on stage and screen, this ironic, and viral theatre moment proves how much politics, entertainment, and social media are inextricably intertwined. Whether each likes it or not.

But audiences apparently believe the film to be very good, so if you intend on watching it, these links may help to inspire your decision to shell out for tickets.