Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have been defying gravity since they wrapped Wicked. Two months ahead of its highly anticipated premiere, Ariana, 31, shared a behind-the-scenes image of her and Cynthia, 37, to Instagram. In her caption, the “Thank U, Next” hitmaker teased fans that they’re only “80 days” away from seeing part 1 of the film adaptation.
In the image, Ariana and Cynthia were dressed in their respective costumes as Galinda (known as Glinda from the original Wizard of Oz) and Elphaba, who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. The Nickelodeon alum appeared to have taken the selfie, and she made sure to capture her tall silver crown in addition to Cynthia’s green makeup.
The dynamic duo have been teasing fans with their upcoming movie, which is based on the original Broadway musical. Earlier this summer, Ariana and Cynthia attended the 2024 Paris Olympics. They posed in front of the Eiffel Tower in full Wicked-themed outfits, as the “Break Free” singer wore a pale pink dress with white gloves, and the Color Purple alum donned a green strapless dress with a matching hat.
The fellow theatre girls also celebrated their Wicked character dolls in July, which Cynthia revealed in an Instagram video.
“What a dream come true to be realized as Elphaba and Glinda in the form of Sweet Little dolls,” Cynthia captioned her post, adding, “Little Cynthia and little Ari are pleased.”
In April, Ariana and Cynthia promoted their movie at CinemaCon, both wearing pink and green outfits that were emblematic of their characters.
Since the musical calls for strong vocals, both Ariana and Cynthia had to prepare to sing on set. And sometimes, vocal training can impact the singer, even someone like Ariana. A recent video interview surfaced of the pop singer’s tone fluctuating, and fans initially criticized Ariana for sounding different. However, the Victorious alum defended her vocal change during an interview on the “Shut Up Evan” podcast.
“I did just spend a long time playing a character every single day and training my voice to do different things,” Ariana explained. “The voice is in the body, it’s an instrument, and muscle memory is a real thing. That’s a normal thing for people who[se] job [is] to transform. … God forbid I sneeze like Glinda. I had a job to do. People change, and habits happen. It’s a strange thing to be under such a microscope.”
The Grammy Award winner further pointed out that male performers don’t receive the same scrutiny that a woman does. She noted, “Sure, people make jokes here and there as well about everybody who experiences something like this — but it’s always after the fact that they’re like, ‘Oh, wow, how dedicated to his craft. What an amazing transformation! He’s a brilliant performer!’”
