Every L Frank Baum reader is as well-acquainted with the young heroine, Dorothy Gale, as avid bingers of Hollywood classics, namely Judy Garland's immortalizing of her in 1939's iconic The Wizard of Oz movie. Wicked novel author, Gregory Maguire, portrays Dorothy as an outsider in Oz, overwhelmed by political chaos. Though practical and good-natured, her tendency to sing annoys the Ozians, becoming a humorous threat. In the lore of today's popular cinema, she exists for the most part outside the periphery, hinted at, foreshadowing a destiny rather than a presence. 

The Wicked musical presents Dorothy Gale looming in the background as her narrative is pivotal to the story that is coming.

On Broadway, Dorothy Gale is never seen as a completely prominent character. Rather, she is a symbol. Her entrance in Oz is crucial, but she stays offstage, mentioned only indirectly. The musical makes a narrative choice to shift focus to Elphaba and Glinda's stories; thus, Dorothy Gale is never a participating character. Though Gale's indomitable presence in the popular Broadway musical Wicked is inevitable, no actor actually plays her.

In the production of the famous Broadway musical, the main characters, such as Glinda or Elphaba, engage with her by directing their dialogues toward the wings or a trapdoor, suggesting that her character is positioned offstage and not visible to the audience. However, the sequel to Jon M. Chu's silver screen rendition of the story has the potential to weave Oz's heroine into the main frame.

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While sometimes the strongest forces of all do not arrive all at once, their shadow does much of the work beforehand. 

In the 2024 movie version of Wicked by Jon M. Chu, Dorothy Gale is seen for a fleeting moment in silhouette with the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Cowardly Lion, nodding to the iconic Wizard of Oz imagery. When it is impossible to get away with removing Gale from the story of The Wizard of Oz, she remains an elusive presence instead of an active participant in the first film, glimpsed in the background.

However, her existence in the upcoming sequel of Wicked could mean major changes in the stories for the leads, as Ariana Grande hinted at the "shadiness" Glinda harbours towards Gale, speaking to Empire. Safe to say, Glinda and the farmgirl do not see eye-to-eye exactly yet, as the long journey to the yellow brick road continues. Director Jon M. Chu has also hinted that Dorothy's lore will play an even larger role, if not a central character, in Wicked: For Good, coming November 21, 2025.

Wicked focuses on Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda's (Ariana Grande) stories, with Gale's omniscient presence defining the costs of their decisions. Additionally, Wicked is a prequel and reinterpretation centered on the witches. Meanwhile, Dorothy Gale's narrative, which many know through Oz, is secondary to the girlhood, power, identity, and rebellion that Wicked makes central.

Dorothy Gale need not always say her lines, but she flies across the Wicked's world with promise and presence. As Wicked: For Good expands the story of the Land of Oz, viewers starved to watch Gale on screen could finally get to see her step from the shadows to restructure the tale of Oz; however, the strings of her fate lie in the hands of Oscar-nominated Jon M. Chu. 

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Do you hope to see Dorothy Gale in the next Wicked movie? Tell us in the comments below.