Grammy Award winner Ariana Grande who is known for being in some of the current generationʻs childhood shows like Victorious and Sam and Cat. But now she is taking her talents to the big screen in a leading role for the first time. She is set to appear as Glinda the Good Witch, opposite Cynthia Erivo playing Elphaba, in the upcoming film adaptation of one of Broadway’s best-selling musicals Wicked.
Wicked is a part of the Wizard of Oz franchise. It follows the story of Elphaba, also known as The Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda the good witch before Dorothy landed in Oz. It was originally a book written by Gregory Maguire, which was later adapted as a musical and produced by Joe Mantello.
The Wizard of Oz franchise dates back to 1900, to a book called The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Throughout its rich history, there have been many legends involved in many different adaptations of the novel across multiple types of media.
The original film adaptation featured the legendary Judy Garland, who was already well-known before she starred in the film at just 16 years old. It has also inspired musicals such as The Boy from Oz starring Hugh Jackman, and the original adaptation of the Wicked musical starring Idina Menzel as Elphaba. If that name sounds familiar, it may be from the role that she is most known for, which would be playing Elsa in the Disney movie Frozen.
Wicked debuted on Broadway the day before Halloween in 2003 to rave reviews. Broadway is widely regarded as the pinnacle of musical theater, and Wicked is considered the pinnacle of Broadway musicals. Wicked is one of the only Broadway musicals that hasn’t stopped shows since 2003, outside of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cynthia Erivo will also make history as only the 5th black woman to play the role of Elphaba. She came to fame from her amazing performance in The Color Purple and later in the historical film Harriett, depicting the life of Harriett Tubman. This is such a monumental moment because the story of Wicked has major undertones of the issue of racism, making this resonate especially with the African-American community.
Today, the November 22nd release of the live-action movie adaptation of Wicked starring Grammy winner Ariana Grande and Tony winner Cynthia Erivo expects the same success. These women are sure to live up to, and possibly exceed, the powerful voices that have been associated with Elphaba and Glinda throughout the years.
