Before a single note of 'Defying Gravity' makes it to the screen, the soul of a movie musical is found in the edit. For 'Wicked', that soul is being shaped by Myron Kerstein, an editor whose unique sense of rhythm is everything.
The Man Behind the Musical Cut
In the world of blockbuster
filmmaking, the director gets the spotlight and the actors get the applause, but the editor is the storyteller who operates in the dark. For the cinematic adaptation of 'Wicked', that storyteller is Myron Kerstein. An Oscar-nominated editor, Kerstein has become the go-to craftsman for the modern movie musical, having shaped the rhythm and heart of films like 'In the Heights', 'tick, tick… BOOM!', and now, the two-part 'Wicked' saga. His philosophy is deceptively simple: treat a musical number exactly like a dialogue scene. For Kerstein, a song isn’t an interruption for spectacle; it’s a continuation of the character's emotional journey. This approach is what separates a movie that simply has songs from a true musical story.
A Creative Bromance with Jon M. Chu
Kerstein's unique rhythm is amplified by his long-standing collaboration with director Jon M. Chu, a partnership he lovingly calls a 'bromance'. Since first teaming up on 'Crazy Rich Asians', the pair have developed a creative shorthand that allows for fearless experimentation. They push each other, deconstruct and reassemble songs, and aren't afraid to start and stop the music to build tension or land a dramatic moment. This trust was honed on 'In the Heights', which Kerstein considers a laboratory for the techniques they would later bring to Oz. This history gives them the confidence to ground the fantastical world of 'Wicked' in genuine human feeling, ensuring that no matter how grand the spectacle gets, the story remains focused on the intimate bond between Elphaba and Glinda.
Performance Over Spectacle
In an age of unlimited digital possibilities, Kerstein's guiding principle is restraint. He calls it avoiding 'music video land'—a place where flashy cuts and sweeping cameras overshadow the characters. His process starts with emotion. He watches hours of raw dailies, not just to find the best shots, but to feel what the actors are conveying in each take. Thanks to the production's use of high-quality live vocals, he can edit a song with the same flexibility as a dramatic scene, weaving in and out of the music without the jarring transition of a pre-recorded track. This allows him to prioritize the performance above all else. A quiet, intimate look between Cynthia Erivo's Elphaba and Ariana Grande's Glinda holds more power for him than the most elaborate visual effect.
Finding the Rhythm of Oz
Editing the two 'Wicked' films simultaneously presented a unique challenge: one day he'd be cutting the bubbly, joyous 'Popular', and the next, the dark, operatic 'No Good Deed'. It was a 'brain fry' that required him to keep two different tonal timelines straight. Kerstein and Chu decided to assemble both films first to understand the complete story arc before focusing on polishing the first movie. This macro view was essential. For iconic numbers like 'Defying Gravity', Kerstein’s rhythm isn't just about cutting to the beat; it's about building anticipation, stopping the music to let a dramatic moment land, and then igniting the climax. He collaborates closely with the music department, sometimes asking to open up a song in a way composer Stephen Schwartz had never considered, all to serve the story's emotional architecture.
