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    Breaking down those ‘sentimental’ cameos

    Vaseline Posted on

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    Spoiler alert! We discuss important details about the new ‘Wicked’ movie (in theaters now).

    They can’t all come and go in a bubble.

    Ever since rumors of a “Wicked” movie began circulating more than a decade ago, fans have wondered how the show’s original Broadway stars, Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, would feature in the film. Would they reprise their roles as Elphaba and Glinda? Could they be background actors? Or even the voice of the hoofed professor Dr. Voice Dillamond?

    The answer is so much better than all of the above. At the end of the film, sorcery students Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) are invited to the Emerald City, where they are drawn into the hoi polloi of the all-green metropolis. Halfway through the song ‘One Short Day’, the wide-eyed witches buy tickets for the show ‘Wizomania’, a kind of propaganda musical for the great and powerful wizard (Jeff Goldblum).

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    Who plays Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth in the movie ‘Wicked’?

    ‘One Short Day’ is significantly expanded for the film version, as the Ozians perform an exuberant song about the origins of a sacred text called the Grimmerie. According to an ancient prophecy, whoever can decipher the book’s magical spells will be the one to save Oz during his darkest hour. As ‘Wicked’ fans already know, Elphaba is the only one who can actually read the spells and not the Wizard.

    All of this information is delivered melodically by Menzel and Chenoweth, who appear as the fantastic leading ladies of “Wizomania.” Initially, “Wicked” composer Stephen Schwartz and screenwriter Winnie Holzman considered giving the actresses a cameo as Elphaba or Glinda’s mothers.

    But then, “when we were writing this part of ‘One Short Day’ about the story of the Grimmerie, our brilliant director, Jon Chu, had this idea,” Schwartz recalls. “He said, ‘You’re talking about these old, wise people. Why don’t you just let Kristin and Idina come and be the wise women of Oz?’ We were like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s brilliant.’ And then of course he did it in a beautiful way, a tribute to what each of them was like on the show.

    Midway through the song, Menzel works in Elphaba’s famous “Defying Gravity” riff, while Chenoweth hits one of Glinda’s iconic high notes. “’One Short Day’ is one big Easter egg after another,” says Schwartz.

    Who else is making ‘Wicked’ cameos with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande?

    In addition to Menzel and Chenoweth, theater fans can also spot other beloved “Wicked” stage alumni, including Kerry Ellis and Dianne Pilkington. “There are a lot of Elphabas and Glindas in there from the past, although you have to look for them,” Chu teases.

    Schwartz appears as an Emerald City guardian who proclaims, “The Wizard will see you now!” Holzman also pops in during a crowd scene wearing a giant wig and says, “He must be a magician!”

    “You’re such a good actress that you’re unrecognizable,” Schwartz jokes. “And I’m such a bad actor that even if you put a big mustache on my face, everyone still knows it’s me.”

    Holzman says it was “a small miracle” to get both Chenoweth and Menzel to the London set on the same day as they prepared for the upcoming Broadway productions of “The Queen of Versailles” and “Redwood,” respectively. But it ultimately proved extremely emotional for everyone involved, as they watched the “Wicked” veterans dance and sing alongside the next generation of witches.

    “We cried all night,” Schwartz says. “First of all, Ariana and Kristin are very close,” after meeting backstage at “Wicked” when Grande was just 10. “And seeing Idina and Cynthia together was very sentimental. It was beautiful.”

    Vaseline
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