Consider the lyrics of these two (fairly) contemporary musicals: “And if I am flying solo, at least I am flying free. To those who ground me, take that message back from me: tell them how I am defying gravity,” and “I’m never goin’ back, the past is in the past. Let it go, let it go, and I’ll rise like the break of dawn. Let it go, let it go. That perfect girl is gone. Here I stand in the light of day. Let the storm rage on. The cold never bothered me anyway.”

They belong, respectively, to “Defying Gravity,” sung by the characters Elphaba and Glinda in the Broadway musical Wicked (2003), and “Let It Go,” sung by the character Elsa, from the animated movie Frozen (2013). They share quite a lot of common ground, other than being the Act I closers of their respective oeuvres and sung by characters that fit the anti-heroine stereotype. In fact, they can both be read as coming-out and self-determination anthems on the merits and strength of their own lyrics and in-universe interpretation. Elphaba and Elsa, one acted by Idina Menzel, one voiced by her, are very similar characters: they were both born “different,” Elsa with ice powers she struggled to control and Elphaba with green skin—characteristics that initially made them outcasts in their respective universes.

“The casting of Idina Menzel as Elsa enhances the parallels that exist between Frozen and Wicked,” writes Alison Halsall in the South Atlantic Review. Both musicals are adaptations of fairy tales: the former of Hans Christian Andersen’s Danish fairy tale, the latter of L. Frank Baum’s American fairy tale, The Wizard of Oz. And “both stories about two girls who are (girl)friends or sisters,” Halsall writes. But the parallels don’t stop there. For both,

the conflict is structured around the opposition between angelic character and sorceress/witch archetype. Both are musicals about being different, and, more to the point, are at heart a love story between women (Wicked, especially). The princes/love interests are peripheral to the storyline, serving only to highlight the relationship between the girls/women.

The parallels continue in the Act I songs, which, much like another storied Act I closer, Funny Girl’s “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” show the characters’ recognition of their own worth and power. Specifically, “‘Defying Gravity’ reinforces the strength of Elphaba’s character and her determination to remain true to herself,” writes Michelle Boyd in American Music.

“Many draw parallels between Elsa’s anthemic delivery of ‘Let It Go’ as a torch song for coming out in a number of ways,” writes Cole Reilly in Counterpoints. “Elsa decided to no longer conceal this part of her, but to embrace it instead: this facet of her, which she was told was horrible, dangerous even, can finally be appreciated as beautiful, special, and liberating.”

Reilly analyzes the shimmery, diva-like gown Elsa fashions out of ice, arguing that it

reflects her choosing: she made it, and she appears to move comfortably in it. No one else is in the castle with her, so she’s not trying to impress anyone else. She is not doing it for the male gaze but for herself. Once Elsa is able to take her magic capabilities for a test drive, she and the audience are in awe.

This constitutes a visual parallel in Wicked, in which Act I ends with Elphaba high above the ensemble, spot-lit and with huge, prism-like shafts of light emanating from her limbs.

Ultimately, both musical numbers showcase the importance of being true to oneself. However, concludes Halsall,

the ending of Frozen focuses on the “happily ever after” marriage plot, whereas Wicked’s emphasis is always on the intricacies of the friendship and love between Elphaba and Glinda. In this way, lesbian subtext appears to be more permissible on a Broadway stage than in a globally marketed Disney animated feature.

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