Review: Wicked defies expectations, stays true to original
There’s typically a curse when films adapt works made for other mediums, but Wicked breaks that spell, along with all my expectations. Released Nov. 22, the film stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, a young woman misunderstood because of her green skin, and Ariana Grande as Glinda, the popular girl. The two become friends at Shiz University in the Land of Oz, but after meeting the wizard, their friendship is put to the test. In the opening sequence, Wicked is revealed to be part one of a duology, capturing the first half of the original Broadway musical. The film features catchy musical numbers I didn’t know I remembered until I found myself mouthing along. I found “Dancing Through Life” and “One Short Day” most impressive in terms of choreography and cinematography. While the actors and extras danced, the camera twisted and turned around the characters, creating an immersive experience. The “Dancing Through Life” sequence takes place in the Shiz library with Fiyero, played by Jonathan Bailey, dancing and performing amateur gymnastics on the giant rotary machine used to find books. I’m not sure how that was filmed, but kudos to whoever made that set because it looked so real. “One Short Day” gives a grand tour of the Emerald City through Elphaba and Glinda’s perspective, with sets and costumes matching the city’s green hue and the chaotic, gorgeous dancing from the extras. It also features a pleasant surprise for fans of the original play. This film defied my expectations in many ways, but the one I never saw coming was Elphaba’s younger sister, Nessarose, played by Marissa Bode. Like me, Bode uses a wheelchair, and Nessarose is a disabled character. This authentic disability representation is rarely seen in big productions like Wicked. I related to her character so much that I found myself holding back tears of sadness and joy. As for the stars of the show, Erivo didn’t just fly; she soared with her rendition of “Defying Gravity.” I have never gotten chills during a musical film before, and no, it wasn’t cold in the theater. She was just that good. Grande’s portrayal of Glinda shows how far she’s come since her Nickelodeon days, but she still taps into that bubbly personality as Glinda. Although mildly annoying at times, the personality is essential to Glinda’s character. Grande’s angelic, opera-like voice fits Glinda perfectly as she belts out notes in the opening act for “No One Mourns the Wicked” and later for her scene-stealing “Popular.” With 2 hours and 40 minutes of runtime, Wicked dragged a little around halfway through, but I wasn’t bored. In fact, I wish the film was longer. Luckily, Wicked: Part Two is scheduled for Nov. 21, 2025, according to Universal Pictures. Wicked is everything a musical film should be. The sets and costumes were designed with careful attention to detail, the actors sang live and, most importantly, it stayed true to the original. It made me realize and appreciate how much time and effort went into this film, from the singing and dancing to the camera work and visual effects. I can’t wait to see how part two plays out next year. news-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu
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- UTA's barbecue spot offers unique experience to introduce culture to studentsTre’s Bar-B-Q doesn't go about things the traditional way. In the back of the Maverick Dining kitchen, executive sous chef Austin Banks and his crew use an indoor smoker to slowly cook 18 to 22 briskets each night for next-day service. “We put in a system in place to where we always want to be ready for the next day,” Banks said. The setup was years in the making for Banks and Maverick Dining. Banks used to bring his own barbecue pit to smoke meat for catering events on campus, he said. After receiving positive feedback and hosting a few sold-out events, the concept slowly baked into a full-fledged campus restaurant in January 2025. Now, Tre’s Bar-B-Q looks to establish a unique experience among Arlington’s ever-growing barbecue scene — teaching student workers how to cut meats, offering vegetarians alternative options like baked potatoes with beans, corn or other toppings and introducing international students to the vast world of barbecue. “It's something that brings all cultures together,” Banks said. For sous-chef David Patton, these conversations with students opened his mind. “I can recall just a quick story of seeing international students and they're asking me questions where I'm like, ‘Oh you don't know what coleslaw is?’” Patton said. “But then having to backtrack and be like, ‘You know what? Maybe this person doesn't know what coleslaw is. They’ve never ever seen it.’” These interactions are what shape Tre’s Bar-B-Q’s flavors as it grows into its space within the university. The restaurant looks to bring barbecue to all parts of campus and do so with care. To do so, they also add something traditional. “We put love,” Banks said. “It's all about the love and what you put into it.”
- Arlington’s 18-year-old blends traditional Texas barbecue with Lebanese flavorsMarc Fadel woke up at 7:40 a.m. on a Thursday. Around noon, he would start prepping for his barbecue food truck’s 5 p.m. Friday opening. Trim the brisket. Make the rubs and sauces. Prep the vegetables. But there was an issue. “I got to UTA so fast,” Fadel said. “I’m running across campus, and I got there, 8:02. Luckily, the professor still let me take the exam.” At 18 years old, Fadel is a construction management freshman at UTA who also runs his business, Habibi Barbecue, on West Arkansas Lane. During the week, he enjoys college life: taking some classes online at Tarrant County College, playing basketball at the Maverick Activities Center and eating Panda Express in the University Center. Starting Wednesday, he begins prepping his barbecue rub for Friday and Saturday openings. On one Saturday, his brisket and ribs sold out within two hours. “Almost 200 pounds of meat — gone,” Fadel said. The food truck, which opened in September, is already on Texas Monthly’s radar. It’s a family affair. His parents, both UTA alumni, help with prep and service. His girlfriend works the counter. Born to Lebanese immigrants, Fadel creates a fusion of traditional Texas barbecue with his favorite flavors from his culture — garlic potatoes, hummus, house-made garlic aioli and tzatziki. As Fadel talked about his food truck, his face beamed with pride as he went through every piece of equipment. It’s that attention to detail that he brings to his barbecue. The bark on his roundly trimmed prime brisket. The pork belly cubes, hand-seasoned one by one. He dry-brines his meat a day in advance, then makes all his rubs and sauces by hand, including a signature bright red sauce made with Big Red. He then smokes the meat with seasoned post oak sourced from Paris, Texas. Fadel credited his drive to high school. As an Arlington Independent School District senior, he juggled culinary competitions, working 40 hours a week as a pitmaster at Tex-Ethiopian restaurant Smoke’N Ash BBQ and filming a TV documentary called “BBQ High” on Max — all while being a student in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. “I put my heart and my soul in this. I love it. Sweat, tears, blood,” he said. “A lot of blood — I cut myself a lot.” Fadel doesn’t talk much about the future for fear of jinxing himself. However, he has thought of a restaurant with a few booths and a nice wood finish in five years. He wants it to be in Pantego, Texas, or Dalworthington Gardens in Arlington. He has been playing “Restaurant Tycoon” on Roblox to prepare for that moment. For now, though, he’s enjoying UTA, which he loves despite it not being his first choice. He’s staying in school in case the barbecue business doesn’t work out as planned. He doesn’t mind being recognized on campus or while shopping for ingredients for his documentary appearance. And on Sundays, Fadel puts on his “body by brisket” shirt and enjoys sleeping in. @DangHLe news-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu
- Arlington’s tucked-away gem provides explosive mix of barbecue and Mexican flavorsBarbecue has been a journey for 225° BBQ co-owner Rene Ramirez — literally. Before settling into its current location on East Main Street in east Arlington, 225° BBQ started as a food truck in Dallas in 2018. Then, it bounced to Grand Prairie, Texas, to various parking lots and eventually to where it is now. Although the location didn’t work out for a while, they were asked to come back and now own the spot. But Ramirez has not settled. He starts his day at around 3 a.m., trimming briskets, boiling beans and prepping sides. Some nights, he doesn’t sleep until midnight. “By the second day, third day, I’ve already worked like 40 hours, and then the week just started,” he said. At its current location, where the smoky scene of brisket drifts through the air, a mural of singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez lies on the wall as an intentional effort to represent the marriage of Texas pride and Mexican culture. It’s that culture of identity, history and hustle that led 225° BBQ to become KERA’s best barbecue joint in North Texas, voted by more than 9,000 readers in 2023. The Mexi-cue fuses traditional Texas barbecue with Mexican flavors and draws a loyal following. Ramirez estimated that around 70% of his customers are from word-of-mouth, with some coming religiously around once or twice a week. On the menu, brisket and shrimp tacos both have places alongside barbecue plates. With its meat, 225° BBQ provides something savory, sweet — and plenty of spice — that goes beyond salt and pepper. The rub has barely changed since the start. That meat is smoked with post oak and pecan wood in a two-to-one ratio that Ramirez sources from east Texas. After years of bouncing around, 225° BBQ now has a team of seven or eight. Ramirez never forgets its beginning. It’s the years of practicing barbecue in his backyard, taking orders from roadside pop-ups to the food truck, that have brought him here. It’s that failed brisket at his family cook-off over a decade ago that started it all. His brother, who won that cook-off, is now his business partner. “It’s still my baby at the end of the day,” Ramirez said. “I gotta make sure everything’s right.” Multimedia editor Ronaldo Bolaños contributed to this reporting. @DangHLe news-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu
- Arlington’s Hurtado Barbecue finds great success through Mexi-cue flavorsBehind the modest-sized, single-story Hurtado Barbecue restaurant on East Front Street, five 1,000-gallon smokers run simultaneously. It’s around 2:15 p.m. on a recent Friday. Two pitmasters have been in the smoker area trimming and preparing the meat since 4 a.m. Soon they will tag out for the two other pitmasters who will stay past closing when necessary. “There’s no cutting corners, any of that,” pitmaster Chris Kurosky said. The smokers cook the chickens, sausages and briskets — all menu items that brought Hurtado Barbecue from serving at pop-up events to opening three brick-and-mortar locations in two years. Outside of the Arlington location, UTA alumnus Brandon Hurtado and his wife own restaurants in Dallas, Fort Worth and Mansfield. What makes Hurtado’s winning recipe? “The love we put into this,” Kurosky said. Hurtado Barbecue’s Mexi-cue flavor offers unusual fare like quail and sweet, plump bacon burnt ends. Its cultural influence is presented from the dry rubs to sides like street corn with spices and crema. On adventurous days, you can get the tostada, which consists of smoked brisket topped with refried beans, salsa verde, Valentina hot sauce, cotija cheese, cilantro and onions. As Kurosky sliced raw pork belly, his fellow pitmaster Joe Ponce tossed them in the spice blend, which is a Hurtado’s recipe but is packaged from a manufacturer that can produce big volumes. They work in tandem. Kurosky has more than 15 years of barbecue experience. “We all got a good amount of experience. This isn’t the place you come to learn barbecue. It’s a place you better know your barbecue,” he said, laughing. Heat radiates from the smokers. Once summer hits, the smoker area may reach around 135 degrees, Kurosky said. As the time goes on, they are gradually turned off. But as of right now, they need to make enough briskets for customers. No one wants a barbecue place that runs out of briskets, he said. At the front, customers lined up from the counter to outside the door, eager to put in their orders for Hurtado’s bold, sweet and spicy interpretation of Mexi-cue. @DangHLe news-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu
- Arlington family turns childhood memories into award-winning barbecue restaurantFasicka Hicks still remembers the aroma of berbere, a classic Ethiopian spice blend, in her mother’s kitchen when she was a child living in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. “I always think back when I work on any of the things that I do in this restaurant because it takes me back to the time that I spent with my mother,” she said. Berbere differs depending on each household, but it has more than a dozen different spices, starting with chili pepper. Fasicka Hicks’ sister prepares the spice blend using their mother’s recipe and ships it to her. The Ethiopian flavors now make up a whole section of the menu at Smoke’N Ash BBQ, Hicks’ restaurant that she co-owns with her husband, Patrick Hicks, on South Cooper Street. Patrick Hicks grew up in Waco, Texas, and barbecue is his life, his wife said. “The skill level on the barbecue was his, and the skill level on the Ethiopian side was mine,” Fasicka Hicks said. “So, we were just doing our own thing, and at the end, where we combined everything, where we can help each other as well.” Depending on the previous night’s preparation, the Hicks’ may arrive at their restaurant as early as 4 a.m. for the day’s work. She’s still hanging on to the Ethiopian recipes. “I have learned so much about my husband now than ever, and I think we understand each other much better now than ever because we’re here together,” she said. Smoke’N Ash BBQ was recently recognized by the Michelin Guide as one of the state’s best restaurants and named a best Texas chef semifinalist for the 2025 James Beard Award. Fasicka Hicks is proud of the recognition, but she won’t grow a big head because of it, she said. “What matters is those people coming in here just waiting for the food,” she said. At Smoke’N Ash BBQ, traditional barbecue flavors blend with Ethiopian spices. The smokiness of the meat is paired with the spiciness of the seasoning. It’s rich, sweet and savory. The restaurant also serves lamb as an alternative to pork. Fasicka Hicks said she never thought there would be a platter that offers both Texas barbecue and Ethiopian dishes. If she were a first-timer, she would have doubted Smoke’N Ash BBQ the same way people have doubted them. But barbecue is about community, and Ethiopian food is about getting together. Smoke’N Ash BBQ is about sharing a meal together and hearing laughter at the table. Them being on the same platter makes sense, she said. @DangHLe news-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu
- Arlington’s barbecue restaurant maintains success by embracing traditionsPaul Lovato watched Jambo’s BBQ pitmaster make a chopped brisket sandwich. He started counting. One. Two. Three. Four. Forty-three. The number of steps along the small kitchen to complete the sandwich. That was in 2013, on the day before he officially took over Jambo’s BBQ in Rendon, Texas, from founder and pitbuilder Jamie Geer, Lovato said. The restaurant later had two more locations, but following personal family matters, he now only owns the location on West Division Street, bought in 2016. He pursued the barbecue business after managing fast food restaurants for years. That experience allowed Lovato to redesign the Jambo’s BBQ kitchen to streamline the process, so customers can get their food as quickly as possible. Now, a sandwich takes 10 steps. But Lovato kept many things from Geer’s time as the owner — including the recipe. “Jambo’s is pure Texas barbecue: salt, pepper, garlic,” Lovato said about the brisket. “That’s it.” For pork and turkey, the recipe builds upon the “SPG” seasoning, adding red pepper, chili and turbinado sugar. Lovato also sources green pecan wood locally, which adds sweetness and nuttiness to the meat. Lovato didn’t change much of the building of his restaurant, which was originally opened in 1931. It wasn’t just a dining establishment and tea room. It also housed an illegal casino. Upstairs, he kept the casino table. On Instagram, Lovato has learned to produce Instagram Reels to promote Jambo’s BBQ. He calls himself a natural — most of his clips are filmed in one take. “Most of the time, I don’t even have a script,” he said. He said he’s proud of keeping the place open. He’s proud of working in a historic building. He’s proud of the people who stuck with him through everything, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Lovato stopped there. His eyes went red. “It’s just a pride of when you put some food in front of people and see their eyes light up and it makes them happy. That’s what I enjoy,” he said. @DangHLe news-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu
