For Good (Commentary)

[Spoken] It took me a long time when I was writing the show to have the courage to write the song "For Good" Because I knew that that musicalization and embodiment of their relationship was the heart in the story I think that's one of the reasons it's been such a resonant song for so many people who-who hear it There was a party at John Chu's house, a dinner party, and I believe that is when Cynthia and Ariana met for the first time And after dinner they sang "For Good" and you could just feel them bond right there My family was around and I had this piano in the living room And we were like, "We're not gonna ask this, but we could ask this, but you're here, what if you guys sang 'For Good'?" They had never rehearsed this before, they just knew it as fans And so they, we, Stephen Schwartz played on the keys and they sang "For Good" All of us in tears, it was the first time hearing their voice together, they never auditioned together It was a perfect foot to start this movie on We all know what it's like to have to acknowledge that if we love someone, but we can't be in the same realm or life together anymore Sometimes you just have to love them and let them go And that is what that moment is, and that is what every human being on Earth has had to do At least a few times, ya know? That is something that is just devastating And um, to have it so beautifully articulated and to have it so beautifully executed by Stephen Schwartz, it's just, I think that's the magic "For Good" is the very last time that they get to see each other It's really heartbreaking but it really is their final moment to profess how much they love each other and how much they've been through together And it's the moment that they ask for forgiveness, it's the moment that they ask for absolution It's a hard song to sing when you actually care about the person that you're singing it with and there were a lot of tears, uh, when we shot it, yeah