Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in Wicked [Universal Studios]

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WICKED: PART ONE
Directed by Jon M Chu
Certificate: 12a
☆☆☆☆

THERE is a miserable agenda among those of us who have had our youth and passed through the foothills of adulthood. Too often we look at those following on behind us and are dismissive of their culture.

I was given a front row seat this week to witness the response of those aged between about 12 and 25 to Wicked, starring the singer Ariana Grande.

Trust me: these kids are all right.

The Leicester Square event saw those attending done up in pink and green finery that screamed acceptance and joy.

And you cannot fail to be charmed to learn this generation are taken with a film about friendship, about how an environment shapes a person, about being true to yourself – oh, and that human greed has destroyed the natural world. That too.

Wicked is the backstory of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West (Cynthia Erivo), who you will recall was accidentally bumped off by Judy Garland, and the beautiful Glinda, the good witch of the North.

We discover why Elphaba was born green and the impact this has. After watching a painful childhood where she is horribly misunderstood, she joins university along with Glinda. We follow them on their educational journey as they discover who they really are.

This means working out what magic power can do, how they should be used, and paying a visit to the mighty Oz (Jeff Goldblum) for some life coaching.

You’d have to be as miserable as a witch with a house dumped on her head to find fault, but here goes: the story makes little sense.

Fans of the Wizard of Oz know the WWotW is mean, nasty and deserves to melt painfully at Dorothy’s hands.

But with that in mind, it’s hard to make sense of Wicked: Alphaba has a very good reason for being put out, and means you feel that for all these years you were backing the wrong horse.

But ignore this jumble. Wicked is beautiful to look at, has an uplifting message, shows Grande’s comic range (it is a wide one) and brings a sweet light into a dark autumn.

A surprise cameo from Edinas Menzel, who provided the voice of Elsa in the smash hit Frozen, was greeted at the screening I attended with unbridled enthusiasm.

The Wicked generation today were brought up on Frozen and it added another layer to the love in.