Ariana Grande is paying homage to all the Glindas that came before her. Earlier this week, Grande and her Wicked co-star Cynthia Erivo mixed and mingled with a sea of actresses who had played Glinda and Elphaba, respectively, on stage prior to their turn on the silver screen.
Grande, wearing an all-white skirt set from Versace, mingled with Kirsten Chenoweth who famously originated the role of Glinda on Broadway in 2003. Following a screening of the upcoming live-action film, Chenoweth sung major praise for Grande and Erivo. “Oh my gosh I just saw the movie and I’m dying. I’m deceased, I’m actually dead, I’m not here,” she said on Instagram, adding the film “is so special.”
Joining Grande, Erivo, and Chenoweth on Monday, were a squad of previous Glindas and Elphabas, the current Wicked Broadway cast, and the film’s director John M. Chu.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in June, Grande remembered the first time she met Chenoweth (then in her Glinda peak) when she was just ten years old. “We got to Kristin’s dressing room, which was at the very end of the hall, and she invited me in and let me overstay my welcome,” she told Fallon, adding “Her dog peed on the couch. We cleaned it up together.” Grande recalled that Chenoweth gifted her a witch’s wand and “magical shower gel,” which she used “every single day, dipping a tiny little pinky in.” She added, “I really think it was magical now,”
Grande also recently opened up about her “dream role” in an interview with Vanity Fair. “This is something that Cynthia [Erivo] and I lived every single day,” the singer and actress explained. “It was ours for so long. It was just every single day for such a long time,” she explained. “And to share it with people, and to feel the love that we’ve received in response has been really overwhelming.”