SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “Wicked,” now playing in theaters.
Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth have found their way back to Oz. Broadway’s original witches make a surprise appearance in director Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked,” but not as Elphaba and Glinda.
The duo, who originated the leading roles in 2003, sing a new verse in “One Short Day,” telling the story behind the wonderful Wizard of Oz. Their characters fight for the spotlight in the Emerald City, prompting Menzel’s character to shut down the competition by belting out her famous “Defying Gravity” riff.
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Composer Stephen Schwartz also cameos as the Oz soldier who allows Elphaba and Glinda into the Wizard’s palace, while the musical’s book writer Winnie Holzman similarly appears in the Emerald City, touting the Wizard’s ability to read the Grimmerie.
Clad in over-the-top pink and purple poofy dresses, Menzel and Chenoweth each share a sweet moment with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, who take on the roles they made famous.
“It was so surreal. It was really extraordinary,” Grande tells Variety of sharing the screen with the Broadway legends. “I mean, to have the women who helped write and create and birth these characters embrace us and embrace our versions of them, was just so incredibly surreal. I mean, they had been texting us, and they had been supportive of us beforehand, but I don’t think they ever got to see or hear our versions of the characters until on set. So it was really emotional.”
Grande previously starred in NBC’s 2016 “Hairspray Live!” with Chenoweth, who has praised her casting as Glinda the Good in numerous interviews. “I’m not sure if I’ve ever been this proud,” Chenoweth posted on social media at the time of Grande’s casting in 2021. “From the very first day I met you … you were destined for this role.”
Menzel has been similarly effusive of Erivo, telling ET, “She’s just incredible. I feel like she’s the one to hand the torch off to. You’re gonna love her.” Menzel and Erivo also presented an award together at the 2024 Tony Awards earlier this year. “I’m just gonna go off script real quick to say how excited I am to see what I know is going to be an amazing performance in that movie you’re doing,” Menzel said on stage. “Green girl power!”
Marc Platt, who produced both stage musical and the film adaptations, says he’ll never forget the day the duo filmed their cameos. “I think when Kristin and Idina came onto the set, there was so much love and respect from the movie cast, particularly Ari and Cynthia and Jon Chu — almost like they were royalty! They had grown up listening to these two women sing, and you felt that sense of awe, and also legacy,” he says. “And then Kristin and Idina, where equally, in awe of these two younger women making these roles their own.”
“There’s a moment where Idina fixes my hat and sends me on my way. Trying not to be cliche, it was like the passing of the broom almost,” Erivo says. “So to have almost like the blessing from the queen herself, felt really, really beautiful.”
Platt says that Menzel and Chenoweth initially had reservations about appearing in the movie for fear of stealing Grande and Erivo’s thunder. “Both the girls, Kristin and Idina, were a little bit nervous about it. Kristin jumped in pretty quick, because she and Ari had had a relationship and she was excited,” he says, adding that Menzel “didn’t want to rain on anything that had to do with Cynthia. She thought, ‘This is her moment. I want her to have her moment.'”
A little convincing from Platt was all it took to change their minds, though. “I said, ‘Both of you are going to want to touch the film. You’re part of the “Wicked” lore forever.’ And because we found an organic way which Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman wrote to have them in the film as part of the storytelling, ‘You’re going to want to be part of something that’s bigger than you, and so for the rest of your lives, you’ll always be part of “Wicked,” even in the film.’ And they both said, ‘Okay, you’re right.'”
“I was so honored that they wanted to include us,” Chenoweth tells Variety. “I thought, ‘Should we? Is i it weird, because it’s [Ariana and Cynthia’s] now?’ And Mark Platt said, ‘You have to. What do you mean? It wouldn’t happen without you!'”
“Idina and I had so much fun,” she adds about the emotional day she and Menzel filmed their cameos. “Our costumes were amazing, and we just made up our thing. We just had the best time ever. We did it in one day, and to be reunited with my with my sister was very, very special.” Chenoweth says she and Menzel arrived to the set early and got dinner to catch up: “We had a good time there. Elphie and Glinda grew up!”
Chenoweth also says she’s thrilled the venerated musical has finally made its way to the big screen so a broader audience can discover the magical story. “I’m so happy they made the movie, because I grew up in Oklahoma, and it wasn’t like we could have afforded to go see a Broadway show: dinner, hotel, all that stuff. And now we have the movie, and it will be brought to new generations of people that maybe are in the same boat as I was. I’m really proud.”
“Kristin and I have seen each other many times in the last 20 years, but it was wonderful,” Menzel says of the reunion. “It was wonderful to be there, to get all the feels, to rehearse together, to somewhat echo our characters a little bit, to be with Cynthia and Ari and just kind of enjoy the set in a totally different way. It was everything.”
For Erivo, Menzel and Chenoweth’s support (on and off set) has been a source of comfort and inspiration as she’s put her own spin on the iconic role of Elphaba. “They’ve been really wonderful with us, and we’ve had the most incredible words of encouragement from both of them,” she says. “Those things really mean a lot to us, because they don’t have to. It’s theirs from all this time, but for them to spare those good words and to give us the space to also do what we want to do with them as well, is really meaningful, really touching.”
Platt hopes that Menzel and Chenoweth’s involvement speaks to the enduring legacy of “Wicked” as a new fanbase discovers the beloved musical. “I think all of us joining arms felt like there’s something bigger than all of us, and that we are part of something that may live on beyond all of us,” he says. “The ability to join those two worlds, the stage world of the original and the film world, particularly for those four girls, was something no one will ever forget who witnessed that night of shooting. It was really beautiful.”
