The Los Angeles red carpet premiere of Wicked was held last night, Saturday, November 9, and stars of the film including Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, original stars Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenoweth, and more turned out to celebrate.
During the live-stream of the event, hosts Justin Sylvester and Zuri Hall spoke to the cast about their roles and experiences filming the movie musical. Watch in the video here!
“I think Fiyero is far more complicated than it seems, and I think anyone who identifies themselves as deeply shallow shows a lot of self-awareness, and I think the scene with Cynthia and the lion cub is memorable to me, but also ‘Dancing through Life’ and Chris Scott’s choreography,” said Jonathan Bailey.
“This is really awesome, it’s really overwhelming to be here,” expressed Cynthia Erivo.
When asked about singing live, Grande and Erivo say that they knew they had to do it. “We knew we wanted to sing live immediately. It’s what we do and who we are. The Broadway ladies are doing this 8 times a week–we know what that’s like to have to sing 8 times a week,” said Erivo.
“We had to do it because the content demands it. The spontaneity, the emotional integrity of what we’re singing about demands it,” said Grande.
The Wicked film adaptation stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, along with Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard, Ethan Slater as Boq, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, and Marissa Bode as Nessarose. The first part will be released on November 22, 2024, with Part Two hitting theaters on November 21, 2025.