The library scene in “Dancing Through Life” is one of Wicked’s most impressive musical numbers, and the behind-the-scenes details make it even more remarkable. Since its release, Universal’s Wicked musical adaptation has won over fans of the Broadway show and new viewers alike. The 2024 Wicked movie is the first half of the two-part story, with the other half coming out in November of this year.

While waiting for Wicked: For Good, fans like me have been rewatching the first one to keep the magic alive. Every watch through, the same scene leaves me reeling, and, surprisingly, it’s not “Defying Gravity.” As much as the iconic song on the Wicked soundtrack is the showstopper, my thoughts continually go back to the library scene in “Dancing Through Life.” The scene was always impressive, but the Jonathan Bailey musical number is even more extraordinary, knowing just how much engineering, choreography, and stuntwork went into creating “Dancing Through Life.”

The Tornado Wheel Makes Dancing Through Life’s Library Scene More Dangerous Than It Looks

Although the actors look relaxed while performing the sequence, the library scene in “Dancing Through Life” is one of the most challenging things that Wicked’s creative team had to pull off. Rather than creating the number with movie magic, the spinning wheel of books, which they nicknamed the tornado wheel, is entirely real, as are the stunts.

Cinematographer Alice Brooks reveals the dimensions as 185 feet by 145 feet wide by 45 feet tall when speaking with Vanity Fair. It consists of three rotating bookshelves, each of which can move separately from one another. They also have ladders attached through the middle. The ladders that go across the wheel are stuck in place, and Director Jon Chu said that they could chop someone’s head off if they got stuck.

According to Chu, he had a hard time convincing people to buy into creating the tornado wheel (via Vanity Fair). Specifically, the insurance didn’t even want to let them do the set piece due to the liability and danger. Luckily, Chu’s vision won out in the end, leading to the library sequence in “Dancing Through Life”, one of the best group numbers in a Broadway musical adaptation.

Wicked Hired Circus Performers, Martial Artists, & Parkour Runners To Pull Off The Stunts

Besides the lead and supporting characters in Wicked, the actors in the library portion of the “Dancing Through Life” scene were professional dancers. This is noticeable in the fact that the background characters all execute their moves with precision and perfect timing. However, they looked for a different skill set when hiring people to pull off the stunts in the tornado wheel. In the interview with Entertainment Weekly, choreographer Christopher Scott revealed that they brought in martial artists, circus performers, and parkour runners to do the tornado wheel portion of the musical number.

Scott emphasized that parkour was the most valuable skill for the people in the tornado wheel because the choreography and set piece required fast reaction times. They needed to be able to navigate the changing factors like the speed and direction that the wheels were moving. Since parkour includes using obstacles in an environment to pull of speed and stunts, they likely had an easy time navigating the ladders, though that’s just speculation.

Even considering the specialty of the performers, the execution stunts and choreography in Wicked’s “Dancing Through Life” become even more impressive when considering the fact that the tornado wheel wasn’t built until two weeks before filming. As such, the time to learn choreography and practice on the actual set piece was relatively limited.

Engineers Watched The Choreography From Outside The Wheel To Ensure Safety

Given the danger of the tornado wheel, the question naturally comes up as to how they kept anyone from getting harmed. Even the film editor admitted to questioning it in the Entertainment Weekly interview. Luckily, the VFX supervisor, Pablo Helmen, answered the question immediately after that. Helmen said this:

“There’s about four or five people that are behind [the walls of the wheel] that are looking at a bunch of monitors, and they’re changing the speed so that the dancers don’t get crushed.”

This detail shows just how much care and attention went into executing the tornado wheel scene in a safe way. The people who knew exactly how the set piece worked were directly involved in operating it, decreasing the likelihood of error.

The Costuming Was Important To Dancing Through Life’s Library Scene

During the interview with Entertainment Weekly, Oscar-winning costume designer Paul Tazewell went into all the factors that went into costuming Fiyero, Glinda, and Elphaba in the library scene of “Dancing Through Life.” The challenge that went into Jonathan Bailey’s Fiyero costume was creating a design that would stand out as princely while also allowing for movement. He sewed corded stretch panels into the sides of the suede jacket for mobility’s sake. The pants were also made out of ponte material, which is a sueded cotton stretch fabric that would add texture while allowing Bailey to move.

The focus for Elphaba and Glinda’s costumes was picking the right colors to make them stand out from their peers. Tazewell revealed during his interview that Elphaba’s costume was made from a slightly darker version of the pinstripe that the other students wear. This allows her to be noticeable without being too outlandishly different from the others. It also mirrors the fact that she wants to fit in with her peers even if she can’t.

On the other hand, Glinda wears what Tazewell calls her “flirty dress.” Although he doesn’t mention the shape of the dress, it’s clear from watching the library scene that Tazewell made sure the dress would have movement to it whenever Glinda spins. Jon M. Chu noted during his breakdown of the scene with Vanity Fair that Pfannee and Shen Shen initially wore pink alongside Glinda, but he and Tazewell decided to make Glinda the only character wearing the color, that way she’d stand out from the rest of the students.

Jonathan Bailey Made The Shocking Decision To Do His Own Stunts

The final aspect that was integral to making the Wicked musical number work is the fact that actor Jonathan Bailey did all of his own stunts in the tornado wheel. When speaking to Collider, he described the stunts in the wheel as the most difficult aspect of “Dancing Through Life.” This is entirely unsurprising considering he has scenes where he jumps, swings, and hangs upside down all while singing live.

During an interview with TODAY, the actor provided a glimpse into how he achieved this feat. He explained that he trained with both singing teachers and choreographers to make sure that he could sustain his ability to sing, dance, and do his stunts for 10 straight days of filming. Although the stunts in the tornado wheel are undoubtedly more intensive than anything in his past projects, Bailey’s experience performing on the West End likely helped him endure the constant singing and dancing.

Additionally, Bailey shared what it was like to film the rotating upside-down stunt when speaking to Entertainment Weekly. He would get strapped into a harness and rotate 360 degrees. While upside down, Bailey shared that he would have the blood rush to his head and blackout for a second. Jonathan Bailey’s commitment to filming his own “Dancing Through Life” stunts is impressive. Ultimately, it’s just one more example of the time and pᴀssion that went into filming Wicked. It truly seems like a labor of love for every individual both behind and on the screen.

Sources: Entertainment Weekly, Today, Vanity Fair, and Collider