To promote the new Wicked movie, Cynthia Erivo visited The Tonight Show for a special appearance on Wednesday evening. On the late-night show, the performer showcased her many talents including her incredible whistling skills which she put to good use with a rendition of Over the Rainbow.
She also took part in a Broadway edition of Musical Genre Challenge, which saw the Wicked star blend Broadway staples from The Sound of Music and Dreamgirls into R&B pop, country, and more.
During the interview portion, Erivo recalled her “crazy” Wicked audition where she worked with two performers going out for the role of Glinda, neither of which was Ariana Grande. “[The audition] was three hours. It was the only audition I had. It was a camera test…and I learnt the songs,” she explained. “I was in bed for the next week for like four days with 104 fever,” Ervio added.
She also went on to do the iconic Defying Gravity battle cry and shared some behind-the-scenes stories from her experience on the film. Watch her appearance now!
The Wicked film adaptation stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Ariana Grande as Glinda, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Ethan Slater as Boq, and Marissa Bode as Nessarose. The first part will be released on November 22, 2024, with Part Two hitting theaters on November 21, 2025.
Photo credit: Todd Owyoung/NBC