Wicked
Another green, not-so-wicked musical icon is coming to steal Christmas back from the Grinch — but she prefers a broomstick over a sleigh.
As reported by Variety on Monday (Nov. 18), fans will have the ability to belt out “Defying Gravity,” “The Wizard & I” and more tunes from Wicked‘s soundtrack alongside the Witch of the West herself starting Dec. 25, when sing-along versions of the Jon M. Chu-directed flick are slated to hit roughly 1,000 theaters across North America. Exact locations and showtimes have yet to be finalized.
The interactive screenings — which model similar sing-alongs hosted for movie musicals such as The Greatest Showman — will arrive just over a month after Wicked initially premieres in theaters Nov. 22 after more than three years in the making. That’s just Part 1, though; a second Wicked film is also in the works for a November 2025 release.
Both projects star Cynthia Erivo as the greenified Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, with Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Peter Dinklage and Marissa Bode rounding out the cast. The films — which are inspired by the Broadway musical and Gregory Maguire novel of the same name — started production in 2021 and feature live onscreen vocal takes of Stephen Schwartz’s famous score, including “Popular,” “What Is This Feeling?” and “Dancing Through Life.”
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Leading up to Wicked‘s premiere, the cast has been busy attending various premieres all over the world: Sydney, Los Angeles, New York City, Mexico City and, most recently, London. The project has also had one of the most active press cycles in recent history, with behind-the-scenes footage, lyric videos, numerous interviews, a new Xfinity commercial and more all rolling out in the past week alone. Wicked has also partnered this year with everything from the 2024 Olympics to the “Yes, And?” singer’s R.E.M. Beauty line, Mattel and Crocs.
Premiere week also featured a Tonight Show appearance from Grande, who recalled to host Jimmy Fallon, “When they called me to tell me I had the part, I had one heart attack. That was the first one. And then they told me I was going to be playing opposite Cynthia Erivo, that was the second heart attack. And then I died and I’m dead. And I’m dead here. And I’m still dead.”
She’ll show you what shoes to wear, how to fix your hair — and while she’s at it, Ariana Grande will also tell you the correct lyrics to her character Glinda’s signature song in Wicked. Shortly after the fast-approaching musical film shared extended looks at a few of its featured songs on Instagram Wednesday (Nov. […]
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Cynthia Erivo’s exquisite nail art is inspired by Wicked. The Oscar-nominated actress, incorporates polishes from the OPI x Wicked collection to create her red-carpet nails.
Mycah Dior, Erivo’s nail artist, shared a breakdown of how she creates the showstopping, nail designs, which took four hours to create. “This whimsical set is inspired by Wicked of course. It brings Elphaba and Glinda’s worlds to life,” Dior explains of Erivo’s nails for the New York City premiere of Wicked, held at the Museum of Modern Art on Thursday (Nov. 14).
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“Green and pink colors embody their contrasting personalities, with Elphaba’s vivid green skin and Glinda’s soft, light-hearted aura. Hand-sculpted, painted 3D eyes add a bold, mysterious element, while a hand-drawn clock captures the timeless magic of the story,” Dior continued. “Every detail adds to the enchanting, whimsical feel of this set.”
To bring the look to life, Dior used several colors from the Wicked collection including Witch O’Clock, Ozitively Elphaba, Let’s Rejoicify along with a few other OPI polishes: Mod About You, Alpine Snow and Black Onyx.
Nail art isn’t the only way the Tony-winning actress has paid homage to film’s pink and green theme. Erivo and co-star Ariana Grande have been wearing green and pink to represent their characters Elphaba and Glinda (Grande also uses products from her r.e.m. beauty x Wicked collection for her red-carpet glam).
The musical adaptation starring Erivo, Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, Marissa Bode and Jeff Goldblum, hits theaters on Friday (Nov. 22).
The Wicked x OPI collection is available at retailers such as Walmart, Amazon and Ulta Beauty.
Shop the collection below.
Walmart
OPI Nail Lacquer, Wicked Nail Polish Duo Pack, 0.5 fl oz, 2 Pack
Walmart
OPI Holiday 2024 Wicked Collection Nail Lacquer 0.50 oz – Let’s Rejoicify
OPI Holiday 2024 Wicked Collection Nail Lacquer 0.50 oz – Deflying Gravity
Walmart
Opi x Wicked Mini Advent Calendar Nail Polish Set
Fans just got their longest tastes yet of two highly anticipated Wicked performances from stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, with the film sharing extended looks at the former’s “Popular” and the latter’s “The Wizard & I” Wednesday (Nov. 13).
Accompanied by a visual lyric display, the “Popular” video finds the pop star as Glinda, frenziedly dressing up the Pinocchio actress’ perplexed Elphaba in pink accessories. “Don’t be offended by my frank analysis/ Think of it as personality dialysis,” she sings on the signature track, originally performed by Kristin Chenoweth on Broadway. “Now that I’ve chosen to become a pal/ A sister and adviser, there’s nobody wiser/ Not when it comes to popular.”
In the “Wizard & I” video, Erivo roams the campus of Shiz University and explores the Ozian outdoors while belting out the hopeful ballad, adding her own custom riffs. (Sorry, Wicked superfans, it looks like you’ll have to wait for the full movie to hear her take on the track’s famous final high note.)
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“When I meet the Wizard/ Once I prove my worth/ And then I meet the Wizard/ What I’ve waited for since, since birth,” she sings, making the Idina Menzel-originated song her own. “He’ll say to me I see who you truly are/ A girl on whom I can rely/ And that’s how we’ll begin/ The Wizard and I.”
The new videos come just nine days ahead of the premiere of Wicked Part 1, which hits theaters Nov. 22. Part 2 will arrive one year later. Leading up to the movie’s theatrical release worldwide, the two stars — and the rest of the Wicked cast — have been traveling to various premieres, most recently greeting fans on the red carpet in Mexico City Monday (Nov. 11).
As sampled in the newly released performance videos, both Grande and Erivo sang live vocals on the set of Wicked. “When we were shooting it, those girls were like, ‘F–k the pre-records,” Chu recalled in a March Vanity Fair interview. “We’re going live.’”
Watch Grande sing “Popular” above, and see Erivo perform “The Wizard and I” below.
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo might be powerful witches now, but years ago, they were simply munchkins with big dreams. And in a new Xfinity commercial that premiered Tuesday (Nov. 12), fans are reminded of the long yellow brick road both women took to make their dreams come true through being cast in Wicked, which […]
At the Los Angeles premiere of Wicked, Harry Daniels made the gutsy decision to serenade Ariana Grande with her debut single “Put Your Hearts Up” — a song she isn’t exactly fond of.
But luckily, it paid off. In a video posted to the influencer’s TikTok over the weekend, the pop star spotted Daniels in the crowd as she was greeting Wicked fans and immediately recognized him, cheering, “Oh my god it’s Harry Daniels!”
After feigning running away from his inevitable performance — the social media star has built a platform off forcing celebrities to watch him sing — Grande listened intently as he sang a few bars from the 2011 bubblegum single. “Oh my god, I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life,” the Grammy winner said sweetly after it was over, hugging Daniels. “It’s so nice to see you, thank you for being here.”
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“THIS IS MY GLINDA YALL IDCCCC,” Daniels, who also shared a photo with Grande on Instagram, captioned the clip.
Of all the songs in Grande’s multiplatinum discography, “Put Your Hearts Up” is on the record as one of the singer’s least favorites. In a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, she called it “geared toward kids” and “so inauthentic and fake,” adding, “That was the worst moment of my life. For the video, they gave me a bad spray tan and put me in a princess dress and had me frolic around the street. The whole thing was straight out of hell. I still have nightmares about it, and I made them hide it on my Vevo page.”
Since then, Grande has released seven studio albums, six of which have topped the Billboard 200, most recently 2024’s Eternal Sunshine. However, the vocalist has revealed that she now plans on focusing more on acting and musical theater after falling back in love with both while working on the Wicked films, a far cry from her mindset at the time of that same 2014 Rolling Stone interview (“I hate acting,” a then 20-year-old Grande said. “It’s fun, but music has always been first and foremost with me.”)
“I’m always going to make music, I’m always going to go on stage, I’m always going to do pop stuff, I pinky promise,” she said on the Nov. 6 episode of Las Culturistas. “But I don’t think doing it at the rate I’ve been doing it for the past 10 years is where I see the next 10 years … Whatever makes sense, or whatever roles we see fit, or where I could really do a good job or honor the material, I would really love to. I think it’s a lot better for me.”
The first Wicked film hits theaters Nov. 22. Watch Daniels serenade Grande below.
Cynthia Erivo has said that she was definitely changed for the better after working with Ariana Grande on Wicked, and in a new interview, the Tony winner hinted that she wouldn’t have necessarily felt the same if anyone else had gotten the pop star’s role in the films.
When the two costars — who play Elphaba and Glinda in Jon M. Chu’s upcoming film adaptations of the Broadway musical, which was based on Gregory Maguire’s novel of the same name — were asked by The New York Times to share their initial reactions to each other’s casting in the project, Erivo was frank.
“Absolutely no surprise whatsoever,” the Harriet star recalled of learning Grande had nabbed the part of Glinda in the joint interview published Wednesday (Nov. 6). “Thank goodness, because it was not the two ladies that I was auditioning with.”
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In reaction to Erivo’s subtle shade, the “We Can’t Be Friends” musician replied, “Oh my God!”
Grande also shared her reaction to the “I Might Be in Love With You” artist landing Elphaba in the films, the first of which arrives Nov. 22. “I said, ‘Thank God,’” she revealed.
News that Erivo and the two-time Grammy winner had been cast in Wicked arrived in November 2021. At the time, the duo sent each other congratulatory flowers, with the Pinocchio star writing in a note to Grande, “Congratulations Miss A, The Part Was Made For You, I Look Forward To Sharing This Musical Journey With You.”
The leading ladies went on to work on the duology for two years in London alongside cast members Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang and Marissa Bode. A year after Wicked part one arrives at the end of the month, the second installment will hit theaters in November 2025.
Grande has previously been open about the intensive audition process for Wicked, for which she recently said she had to “erase” her public persona in a recent interview on the Sentimental Men podcast. “People sometimes say to me, ‘You had to audition?’ Of course, are you out of your gourd?” she continued on the Nov. 1 episode. “It’s Wicked! And it requires a totally different skill set than people know me for and have ever seen me do anything like.”
While speaking to NYT, Grande echoed those remarks. “Some members of my team at the time were like, ‘You shouldn’t even have to audition,’ and I was like, ‘You don’t understand, of course I have to. This is something that has to be earned,’” she told the paper. “I have so much to prove, and I threw myself at it in every way that I could.”
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Ariana Grande and Swarovski are ringing in the holiday season with a dose of glitz, and a dash of glam.
On Monday (Nov. 4), Swarovski shared new photos of the Wicked star in the dazzling, holiday campaign released last week. “Lighting up the party with pure joy and festive spirit, @ArianaGrande serves an unforgettable holiday look in Swarovski Matrix jewelry,” reads the Instagram caption.
“The Party of Dream” takes viewers inside a mesmerizing, modern but retro holiday bash channeling Great Gastby-era shine with big-band style music, flowing champagne and Swarosvski crystals. Grande hits the dance floor in a sparkling Swarovski Couture dress and long black gloves accessorized with bracelets, earrings and a choker from Swarovski’s Millenia collection.
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The glittery ad was helmed by Christian Breslauer, a music video director, producer and cinematographer who has worked with other recording artists such as Doja Cat, Lizzo, SZA and Lil Nas X.
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Giovanna Engelbert is creative director of the campaign shot by fashion photographers Mert Alas and Mac Piggot. Swarovski’s holiday collection includes new releases such as the Matrix bracelet ($300), cocktail ring ($129), cuff ($400), open necklace ($700) and tennis bracelet ($280).
Grande was named Swarovski brand ambassador earlier this year. “I am thrilled to be Swarovski’s Brand Ambassador. It’s an honor to represent a House that shares my passion for creativity, pushes the boundaries beyond the world of jewelry, and promotes values of unapologetic self-expression,” Grande said in a statement. “I cannot wait to embark on this journey and to inspire others to embrace their own unique sparkle.”
“Ariana’s charisma and positive energy resonate with Swarovski’s essence of bringing joy to the world, and I am thrilled that she is joining us as Brand Ambassador,” noted Giovanna Engelbert, Swarovski’s Global Creative Director. “Ariana is a brilliant artist whose creativity shines through her songwriting and vocal performances as well as her personal style. I look forward to engaging in inspiring creative dialogues together.”
The pop star wore a choker, necklace bracelet and earrings from Swarovski’s Millenia collection to the 2024 Wall Street Journal Innovator Awards at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art on Oct. 29.
Grande has been out and about promoting Wicked, and with less than a month before the musical movie hits theaters, her schedule is about to get even busier. Over the weekend, Grande jetted to Australia over the weekend to premiere Wicked down under. The heavily anticipated musical starring Grande and Cynthia Erivo hits theaters on Nov. 22.
Watch Grande light up the dance floor in Swarovski’s “The Party of Dreams” ad below.
Ariana Grande is paying homage to her younger self. In an interview with Australia’s Hit 104.7 Canberra, the “We Can’t Be Friends” singer was asked why she chose to use her “grown-up name,” a.k.a. her birth name Ariana Grande-Butera, in the credits of Wicked. “Technically, it’s my little girl name! It’s technically little Ari’s name,” […]
Ariana Grande followed the yellow brick carpet, instead of the red carpet, on the way to the Nov. 3 premiere of Wicked in Sydney, Australia. Celebrating her role of Glinda, the pop star and actress aptly dressed in a pink gown that looks straight out of Oz — though it’s actually custom Vivienne Westwood. With […]