Director Jon M. Chu promises that the music in Wicked will astound. In a preview of the two-part film in Vanity Fair, Chu revealed that stars Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba) and Ariana Grande (Glinda) demanded to sing live on set.
“When we were shooting it, those girls were like, ‘Fuck the pre-records. We’re going live,’ ” said Chu. The director was worried about the women’s voices, warning that “there’s going to be a lot of wind in your air pipes,” but they “didn’t miss a beat.” Performing even the most demanding songs live.
During “Defying Gravity,” the original stage show’s most iconic and defining song, Erivo “had a harness pulling and pushing and yanking and tugging on every nook and cranny that there is,” according to Grande. Erivo also recalled one of her favorite moments on set “I’m literally never going to forget you [Grande] jumping on a chandelier over my head whilst singing.” Grande said this was a key scene for Glinda “She was just so excited to perform for her new friend…She wanted to do a trick.”
Wicked also stars Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Keala Settle, Bronwyn James, Adam James, and Bowen Yang. The first part is set to release on November 27, 2024. Wicked: Part Two is expected to come out in 2025.
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