Wicked fans are weeping over secret cameo that pays homage to original Broadway show
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in Wicked. (Universal Pictures)
Wicked fans are weeping, again, but this time over a secret cameo that pays homage to the original Broadway show.
(Warning: Spoilers for Wicked follow)
The making of the movie musical and the interviews that have followed have seen protagonists Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, who play Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West respectively, cry aplenty.
Even PinkNews’ Marcus Wratten writes that their performance could fill a Shiz University classroom with the tears they’ve shed over their time working together.
But the tears are yet to stop as cameos with the stars of the original Broadway Show have been discovered by elated fans.
Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, the original Broadway Elphaba and Glinda, both have short cameos in the movie, with the pair popping up in the song “One Short Day”, which sees Ephaba and Glinda arrive in the Emerald City for the first time.
On X, fans of Wicked have screamed over Chenoweth and Menzel’s cameo’s with one writing, “I think my jaw is still at the theatre”. Another simply, and understandably, screamed, “YAAAASSSSSSSSSSS”.
YAAAASSSSSSSSSSS
— Charlie 🎗️ (@charlwynmcr) November 21, 2024
OMG CAMEOS FROM THE OGs #Wicked pic.twitter.com/vEqznVSAQO
Elsewhere, the original protagonists are given well-deserved screen time when they play the Wise Ones of Oz, who wrote a book called Grimmerie, in a scene that is newly added.
Speaking about the new addition to the Wizomania section, which sees Menzel and Chenoweth share their wisdom, Wicked composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz shared that it offered the opportunity to show “more of the Wizard’s propaganda”.
He said: ”[With Wizomania], we have time to show more of the Wizard’s propaganda, how he’s getting this fake story out into the world and persuading all of Oz that he has talents that he doesn’t.
“Also, we wanted to explain more about what this mysterious book, the Grimmerie, is, because it figures importantly not just in this movie, but extremely importantly in movie two.
‘We basically just shot it, but cried mostly’
Wicked director Jon M. Chu suggested that the Wise Ones would be portrayed by Menzel and Chenoweth and that their appearances feature some fun connections to their original roles.
Schwartz also bagged himself a feature and at the end of “One Short Day” he pops up to declare to Elphaba and Glinda that “the Wizard will see you now!”
He said of filming with the two former witches and present, “We basically just shot it, but cried mostly.”
Wicked is in cinemas now.
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