SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “Wicked,” in theaters now.

Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth have found their way back to Oz. Broadway’s original witches make a surprise appearance in director Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked,” but not as Elphaba and Glinda.

The duo, who played the lead roles in 2003, sing a new verse in ‘One Short Day’ and tell the story behind the wonderful Wizard of Oz. Their characters battle for the spotlight in the Emerald City, prompting Menzel’s character to close out the competition by belting out her famous “Defying Gravity” riff.

Composer Stephen Schwartz also made a cameo as the Oz soldier who allows Elphaba and Glinda into the Wizard’s palace, while the musical’s book writer Winnie Holzman similarly appears in the Emerald City and explores the Wizard’s ability to conquer the Grimmerie recommends reading. The ‘evil’ novelist Gregory Maguire also collects Elphaba’s invitation from the gate and hands it to Schwartz.

Dressed in over-the-top pink and purple poofy dresses, Menzel and Chenoweth each share a sweet moment with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, who take on the roles they made famous.

“It was so surreal. It was really extraordinary,” says Grande Variety of sharing the screen with the Broadway legends. “I mean, to have the women who helped write, create, and birth these characters embrace us and embrace our versions of them was just so incredibly surreal. I mean, they had texted us and they had supported us beforehand, but I don’t think they ever saw or heard our versions of the characters until on set. So it was very emotional.”

Grande previously starred in NBC’s 2016 “Hairspray Live!” starring Chenoweth, who has praised her casting as Glinda the Good in numerous interviews. “I’m not sure I’ve ever been so proud,” Chenoweth posted on social media at the time of Grande’s casting in 2021. “From the very first day I met you… you were meant for this role.”

Menzel was similarly effusive about Erivo, telling ET, “She’s just incredible. I feel like she’s the one to pass the torch to. You will love her.” Menzel and Erivo also co-presented an award earlier this year at the 2024 Tony Awards. “I’m going to go off script very quickly to say how excited I am to see what I know will be an amazing achievement in the film that you create,” Menzel said on stage. “Green girl power!”

Marc Platt, who produced both the musical and the film adaptations, says he will never forget the day the duo filmed their cameos. “I think when Kristin and Idina came on set, there was so much love and respect from the film cast, especially Ari, Cynthia and Jon Chu – almost like they were royalty! They had grown up hearing these two women sing, and you felt that sense of awe, and also of a legacy,” he says. “And then Kristin and Idina were equally impressed with these two younger women making these roles their own.”

“There is a moment when Idina fixes my hat and sends me on my way. I wasn’t trying to be a cliché, it was almost like passing the broom,” says Erivo. “So it felt really nice to almost get the blessing from the Queen herself.”

Platt says Menzel and Chenoweth initially had reservations about appearing in the film for fear of stealing Grande and Erivo’s thunder. “Both girls, Kristin and Idina, were a little nervous about it. Kristin stepped in pretty quickly because she and Ari had been dating and she was excited,” he says, adding that Menzel “didn’t want to rain on anything having to do with Cynthia. She thought: this is her moment. I want her to have her moment. ”

However, a little persuasion from Platt was enough to change their minds. ‘I said, ‘You both want to touch the film. You will forever be a part of ‘Wicked’ lore.” And because we found an organic way that Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman wrote to work them into the film as part of the storytelling: ‘You’re going to want to be part of something bigger than you, and so for the rest of your life. lifetimes you will always be a part of ‘Wicked,’ even in the movies.” And they both said, ‘Okay, you’re right.’

“I was so honored that they wanted to involve us,” says Chenoweth Variety. “I thought, ‘Should we? Is it weird because it’s (Ariana and Cynthia’s) now?’ And Mark Platt said, ‘You have to. What do you mean? Without you it wouldn’t happen! ”

“Idina and I had so much fun,” she adds of the emotional day she and Menzel filmed their cameos. “Our costumes were great, and we just made our thing up. We simply had the best time ever. We did it in one day, and to be reunited with my sister was very, very special.” Chenoweth says she and Menzel arrived on set early and went to dinner to catch up: “We had a good time there. Elphie and Glinda have grown up!”

Chenoweth also says she’s glad the revered musical has finally made its way to the big screen so a wider audience can discover the magical story. “I’m so glad they made the movie because I grew up in Oklahoma, and it wasn’t like we could have afforded to go to a Broadway show: dinner, hotel, all that stuff. And now we have the film, and it will be brought to new generations of people who might be in the same boat as me. I am really proud.”

“Kristin and I have seen each other many times over the past 20 years, but it was great,” Menzel says of the reunion. “It was great to be there, to get all the feels, to rehearse together, to kind of echo our characters, to be with Cynthia and Ari and just enjoy the set in a completely different way. It was everything.”

For Erivo, Menzel and Chenoweth’s support (both on and off set) has been a source of comfort and inspiration as she puts her own spin on the iconic role of Elphaba. “They were really great with us, and we had the most incredible words of encouragement from both of them,” she says. “Those things mean a lot to us, because they don’t have to. It has been theirs all along, but the fact that they spare those good words and give us the space to do what we want to do with them is very meaningful, very moving.”

Platt hopes Menzel and Chenoweth’s involvement adds to the lasting legacy of “Wicked” as a new fan base discovers the beloved musical. “I think we all came together and felt like there’s something bigger than all of us, and that we’re part of something that can live on beyond all of us,” he says. “The ability to connect those two worlds, the stage world of the original and the film world, especially for those four girls, was something no one will ever forget witnessing that night of shooting. It was really beautiful.”