In this video, step into the world of 'Wicked' with Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Idina Menzel, and Kristin Chenoweth as they open up about their iconic roles in the beloved musical. From their personal connections to the story of Elphaba and Glinda to the impact of 'Wicked' on pop culture, these stars reflect on the legacy of the show that defied gravity and became a Broadway phenomenon.
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00:00You just, it's a beautiful tribute, not to make it about us in any way.
00:04It's just you found your own light.
00:07It's gone, it's gone.
00:09Put the glasses on.
00:10How did we get here? We're already starting.
00:13I knew I'd need these.
00:14Oh my God.
00:21I'm Kristen Chenoweth.
00:22I'm Ariana Grande.
00:24I'm Cynthia Erivo.
00:25I'm Idina Menzoff.
00:26How did you all kind of arrive at what your cameo and your role in the film would be?
00:32Stephen Schwartz wrote it.
00:34Yeah, they just asked us.
00:35And I said, just make us look pretty.
00:38What was the original?
00:39We both texted and she said, have you seen the description of us in the movie?
00:44And it was like, it didn't say old decrepit.
00:46Oh, it wasn't going to go there.
00:48It said something like that, but then it said, then we changed it and we said, no, we're not going to be those wise women.
00:54It wasn't going to go there.
00:54Can't we just be beautiful, fairy goddesses?
00:56Goddesses.
00:58Goddesses.
00:58So we might have had that one part changed.
01:00Just that one.
01:01And fabulous.
01:02We needed it.
01:03Fantastic.
01:04Also, we insisted.
01:06We were like, this is not happening without that.
01:08Yes.
01:09So where is it?
01:10And we had the best day rehearsing.
01:13We sure did.
01:14It was almost like Glendon Elphaba grew up.
01:17Yes.
01:17You know what I mean?
01:19It was so fun.
01:21It was really fun.
01:21It was really fun.
01:22You do your vocal riff, which I love.
01:24Was that part of the script or did you throw that in there?
01:27Of course she threw it in there.
01:28Well, you didn't.
01:29That's like so.
01:31No, Stephen wrote that in.
01:32I'm going.
01:34No, we just showed up.
01:35Right?
01:36Yeah.
01:36And it was Stephen Schwartz.
01:38Yeah.
01:39Figured out how to put all the singing into one key and arrange it.
01:44Yeah.
01:45Yeah.
01:45Yeah.
01:45Yeah.
01:46Yeah.
01:47Yeah.
01:49Yeah.
01:49Yeah.
01:50Yeah.
01:51Yeah.
01:52You really put your own stamp on the end of Divine Gravity.
01:55Were there a lot of conversations around that?
01:58Stephen Schwartz was in the, whilst we were doing the comps for the rehearsal tracks, he
02:05said he trusted me with the story.
02:08I did it by the book first.
02:10And he was like, and?
02:12I trust you with the story.
02:15So what's your, what's your war cry?
02:17And I tried a couple of things and then I did the one that I, that stuck because it felt
02:24good.
02:24It felt right.
02:25And that's the one that stuck.
02:27It's so good.
02:28It is so good.
02:29It is so good.
02:30It is so good.
02:30I read the Wicked novel by Breger and Glyer.
02:44Um, so I had a lot of that to draw from, um, although the novel is much darker and different
02:53than the show.
02:55But I watched Margaret Hamilton a lot and hoped that it would just kind of infuse.
03:01And I think the time where it connected for me was in her cackle and finding that in our
03:06scenes and stuff like that.
03:07Margaret Hamilton was definitely like a, a touchstone for me, but looking at the image
03:12of her, I always go back to this image of, you know, like the Beckham White where she's
03:17got her core seems like it's the first time I realized what she has in her.
03:21That's something that can, can pull in the look of her as well.
03:25But then I'd obviously seen this show a couple of times and I had listened to both of you often.
03:34So I had your voices in my head and I had her sort of imagery.
03:39So it's really nice to sort of find pieces of those things to create something and then
03:44add my own thing to it.
03:47You did.
03:48Yes, you did.
03:49Yes.
03:50You both did.
03:51The original Broadway cast recording was of course my lifeline growing up.
03:56It was always something that brought me great comfort and happiness.
03:58And I would listen to it when I was nervous for something or sad about something.
04:03And it was always a safe space for me.
04:05I also read the original L. Frank Baum books and there are so many, and there's so many
04:09insane characters that like, we just haven't even touched upon.
04:13Yeah.
04:13I know.
04:13It's really incredible.
04:15Every single person, our props department, our costume designer, Paul, our, our set designer,
04:19Nathan Crowley, every single thing was a piece of Ozzie and history from the books
04:24and what's been before us, the Wizard of Oz and Wicked, your Wicked.
04:29Want to wear?
04:30Try them on.
04:30No, yes.
04:31Come on with us.
04:31I mean, including my glasses I brought today.
04:33Oh, yeah.
04:34Those were very awesome.
04:35Those were wonderful.
04:36I remember when we got the news FaceTiming you and both of us just being sopping, sobbing,
04:43snotty dolphins.
04:45It was like, who can speak higher?
04:47It's still good.
04:49We couldn't hear where.
04:50There was a white noise and pink.
04:52Snot.
04:52Snot glitter.
04:53Snot glitter.
04:55Snot glitter.
04:56I think you faced her.
04:57We did, yeah.
04:58We faced her.
04:59We were like sunny and beautiful and I remember you were in blue.
05:02It was like the sun was on you.
05:04I remember this.
05:04Yeah, yeah.
05:05You're so sweet.
05:06I think she was so, she was so respectful.
05:11Thank you, brother.
05:11Yeah, thank you.
05:12I felt very, very supported by both of you, actually.
05:15I felt really, really supported and like given the room and space and just like lots of encouragement.
05:22After you seeing the film, that voice note, I still play it sometimes.
05:26Oh, you saved mine too.
05:27I saved the voice notes and I played them.
05:29I play them a lot.
05:30I meant it.
05:30I know.
05:31I think it meant a lot.
05:33Why are you getting teary eyes?
05:35I just, I meant it.
05:36I don't know.
05:37I saw very emotional and I just felt like you both did such justice.
05:42Yes.
05:43To the story.
05:45Oh, we're welcome.
05:46Yeah.
05:47You just, it's a beautiful tribute, not to make it about us in any way.
05:52A little bit.
05:52It's just, you found your own light.
05:55It's gone.
05:56It's gone.
05:57The glasses are.
05:58How did we get here?
05:59We already started.
06:01I knew I'd need these.
06:02Oh my God.
06:03I know I should have brought mine too.
06:05F*** it.
06:05Oh no.
06:06I was called in to just sing for Alphabet.
06:18I was given a wisdom and I, Defying Gravity and For Good to Sing.
06:23Just those little days.
06:24Just tiny, tiny songs.
06:26Mine was a camera test, so my audition was like three hours.
06:30So I sang those songs, but did the scenes and the scene work and for good.
06:35How close was the camera?
06:37Because I find that doing musicals on film is very tricky because what it takes for us
06:41to sing for real, it makes really ugly.
06:45Faces.
06:46Like your own souls.
06:47And so sometimes you have to sing.
06:49I don't say that all the time.
06:50If the mouth has to be open, the mouth has to be open.
06:52Exactly.
06:53But it's real because you have to see the names.
06:55But sometimes I say like, is this horrible singing?
06:58Yeah, back up.
06:59Back, back, back up.
07:01Before this, publicly, we had only ever sung the opposite.
07:05Of course the songs.
07:06I had only ever sung The Wizard and I, and she had only ever sung Thank Goodness.
07:08That's right.
07:09I had no idea.
07:10Mm-hmm.
07:10Mm-hmm.
07:11Did you know that?
07:12I remember you doing it.
07:13She did it at the 15th anniversary with her hair and lips and everything.
07:18That was crazy.
07:20Not crazy.
07:20It was amazing.
07:22It was amazing.
07:23But I'm so glad you sang Thank Goodness.
07:25It was my favorite song.
07:26I loved it.
07:27That's my favorite song.
07:28Don't tell anybody.
07:30You know it is.
07:30I do know what to do with it.
07:31I mean, I love all the Elphabuzz songs.
07:33Of course.
07:34But you know, when you're doing it each day's a week, you...
07:36It's not too low.
07:37Yes.
07:38And I always just love that.
07:40You always said that.
07:41Yeah.
07:42And I love I'm Not That Girl.
07:43Oh, no.
07:44That's what she...
07:45What?
07:45Her, I'm Not That Girl is my favorite.
07:47Did they test you to see if you could hit that, I'm not that girl.
07:52Yes.
07:53No, they just made me do it in front of a live audience.
07:56After she leaves, you know, I have like two verses of it.
08:00Oh, right.
08:01You have it at the end.
08:01While the set changed.
08:03Yeah.
08:03So I could hear a clunk, clunk, clunk in the background.
08:05And I was like, I'm not that.
08:08I'm not that.
08:10It was fine.
08:11It was just fine.
08:13It was perfect.
08:14Go ahead.
08:14The show, for me, has always held the three themes I look for in any piece, really, which
08:20is friendship, love, you know, and forgiveness, which is hard to do with people that you have
08:27the most.
08:27That's what it's all in there.
08:29It's all in the tapestry of this piece.
08:31Even though there's a love story with a man, what we love is the true love stories between
08:35the women and the sisterhood.
08:38I was cast, it was very much a side character, and then it kind of developed into this love
08:43story between the two women.
08:44It wasn't always meant to be that, I think.
08:47Were you ever surprised by that?
08:48I mean, at first, I kind of was.
08:50I was like, wow, it's turning into, it's evolving into that.
08:53I think I was too self-absorbed and worrying about, yeah, if I was going to be fired all
08:58the time.
08:59I was just so happy to have someone that was always there to say, to see me and to support
09:05me.
09:06I remember we opened in San Francisco, and we were still very much working on the show,
09:10and I think it's okay and fair to say that we weren't there yet.
09:13I remember at intermission, after she defies gravity, I went to Adina's dressing room and
09:19I said, nothing's going to matter what anyone says, because, did you hear?
09:25I remember that.
09:26I remember that.
09:27That's so beautiful.
09:29It's not the truth.
09:31It is the truth.
09:32They went crazy when you flew, and when you defied gravity.
09:36Yes, they do, and they go crazy when she sings popular, and so she's just being nice.
09:42Or when she comes out in the bubble from right in the, what are you saying?
09:47It's just funny, because this is what we do.
09:49This is what we do.
09:51Really?
09:51Yeah.
09:52I mean, honestly, she says the whole audience just explodes when she comes out in the bubble,
09:58even though she was afraid that she was eating soap suds.
10:02Yes, I thought for sure I was going to get cancer, and it's crying.
10:06God, well, the bubble juice, you know.
10:09The bubble juice.
10:11It's okay, but we both did our part, and I just remember, well, you know, I ate so much
10:16of it.
10:16That's one thing they got to do in the movie, which she got to have a real bubble, and I
10:19was so happy about that.
10:21I mean, I loved our bubble, but, you know, and, you know, you really fly, and I love your
10:24flying, but, you know, you get to do things in a movie that we do differently on a play,
10:30and it's just nice to see in the film.
10:31I'm so glad that we're still alive, you see?
10:34Indeed, me too.
10:35Me too.
10:37You all share a legacy in culture with these characters, and you are kind of the only four
10:45to have this special legacy here together across time.
10:49How does that feel, and what do you hope that legacy is going forward?
10:52I think it's a good show.
10:54When we're older, we could do Vegas.
10:57I love it.
10:58Switch roles.
10:59I'll be Dylan.
11:00You'll be Dylan-man?
11:01I'll be Dylan.
11:02I'll be Fiora.
11:03Perfect.
11:03I'll be Fiora.
11:04I want to switch with...
11:05Can we please switch just one time?
11:07You've been working out.
11:09No, I'm sorry.
11:09I didn't mean a joke.
11:10I think the legacy...
11:11Theirs doesn't stop because that show is still going.
11:15You know, there are still young women who want to be on the stage and who want to be in
11:19that theatre to watch.
11:21The girls that can't get to the theatre and can't get on the stage can watch it from their
11:26homes or watch it from a cinema, go with their parents.
11:30And so actually what this means now is that more people can see, more people can share
11:36in it, more people can learn that difference is something to be celebrated, more people
11:41can learn that you can forgive, more people can learn that you can love, more people can
11:45learn about friendship and goats and goats and love and speaking and speaking, speaking
11:51their peace and their mind and what's on their heart and feeling safe.
11:54What I love so much about it is, especially in this time that we're living in, that women
12:02can be really powerful and unapologetic about it and more beautiful because they speak their
12:10mind and they're ferocious and powerful.
12:16I love that that's celebrated.
12:19Holy s**t.
12:21The legacy just continues.
12:25That's a big word.
12:26It will continue with this movie, it continues with our show, a once in a lifetime legacy.
12:32Yeah.
12:33Thank you for watching everybody.
12:34We know that when you see this movie, you too will be changed for good.
12:39Yes.
12:40Jesus!
12:41Snap!
12:42Perfect!
12:43Woo!
12:44Woo!
12:45Woo!
12:46Woo!
12:47Woo!
12:48Woo!
12:49Woo!
12:50Woo!
12:51Woo!
12:52Woo!
12:53Woo!
12:54Woo!
12:55Woo!
12:56Woo!
12:57Woo!
12:58Woo!
12:59Woo!
13:00Woo!
13:01Woo!
13:01Woo!