Many years we have waited for…a WICKED movie! WICKED was officially released in theaters on November 22, more than 21 years after the Broadway musical opened at the Gershwin Theatre. As we all know, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande have stepped into the shoes of Elphaba and Glinda but I know I wasn’t alone in hoping for a cameo from our original leading ladies.
So, do Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth have a cameo? The answer is:
YES! And it’s even better than I could’ve imagined! They appear as Wiz-O-Mania superstars in Emerald City and sing in an extended version of “One Short Day”. Their appearance is chock-full of Easter eggs long-time fans will recognize and Idina even got to recreate her famous Elphaba battle cry! It ends with an incredibly sweet moment where they each interact with their counterparts.
Listen to “One Short Day” here:
How did it all come together? Everyone told part of the story in various interviews, so I’ve outlined them here:
Jon M. Chu, the film’s director told The Hollywood Reporter:
“There was no world where we wouldn’t invite them to come be a part of this. The question for us was, how, and how much are they willing to do in it, and how much can the story itself handle it? Because they’re such iconic people and especially to these roles. It was like a mania.”
“We had one night in the middle of the night, from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m, on a rainy night. … the moment they sang the songs and got their iconic moments in that, it was beautiful. And what was cool about the day was, I think it was really healing for everybody. … I said, ‘This is in honor of you. This whole us making this movie is an honor of you because we want you to experience what we got to experience when we first saw it, when I went to the theater before it went into Broadway, what it felt like to watch Elphaba and Glinda steal our hearts, you have never got to experience that. And now we get to do that for you.’ Ari is crying the whole time. Cynthia was crying the whole time. There was a lot of love on that set that day. And so I’m so grateful for them to come out there. I was not involved with the deal-making. I have no idea what it took to get them there. All I knew is they were down and willing. We just had one day to do it.”
In a separate interview, Chu revealed:
They weren’t just going to come to do whatever. Our inner circle thought of all sorts of things to present to them. Does Kristin play Glinda’s mom? Are they one of the people who says “The Wizard will see you now”? It always felt underwhelming. We had to give them something big. We had this section in “Wizomania” that needed backstory that we didn’t need in the show: What is the Grimmerie? And an understanding of how the Wizard came to Oz. I was like, ‘What if we do this section as a play? It was supposed to be an amusement park ride like “It’s a Small World,” which was a fun concept. But if it’s a show, then it’s sort of meta. Idina and Kristin play the two most famous actors in Oz. They get to be glamorous and people get to applaud them. Stephen Schwartz immediately knew what to do and added Idina’s Elphaba war cry and interplay of pushing each other out of the way. It’s fun playing off the lore of two mega stars in the show.
“I told them, ‘I want you to experience for the first time what you gave us.’ I saw Idina and Kristin as they were workshopping the show at the Curran Theatre [in 2003]. I’ll never forget being blown away by their performances. When they were on set, I think reality hit them and it was very full circle for them.”
He also elaborated on Idina’s “battle cry” reenactment in an interview with IndieWire:
“[It was] all Stephen Schwartz. Stephen is like, ‘Guys, I don’t know if this is too far, but I had to give [her] the thing. We’re like, ‘No, that’s the dream.’ Of course!”
Stephen Schwartz, the composer, told USA Today:
“As we were writing this portion of ‘One Short Day’ about the story of the Grimmerie, our brilliant director, Jon Chu, had this idea. He was like, ‘You’re talking about these ancient, wise people. Why don’t you just have Kristin and Idina come and be the wise women of Oz?’ We were like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s brilliant.’ And then, of course, he did it in a wonderful way that was a tribute to how each of them were in the show. ‘One Short Day’ is just one big Easter egg after another.”
“We cried through the whole night. First of all, Ariana and Kristin are very close and then to see Idina and Cynthia together was very sentimental. It was beautiful.”
Idina told Variety:
“Kristin and I have seen each other many times in the last 20 years, but it was wonderful. 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.”
Kristin Chenoweth told Variety:
“I was so honored that they wanted to include us. 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. 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!”
Cynthia Erivo told Variety:
“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. So to have almost like the blessing from the queen herself, felt really, really beautiful. They’ve been really wonderful with us, and we’ve had the most incredible words of encouragement from both of them. 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.”
Cynthia also told Elle:
“It was [Menzel’s] idea to adjust my hat. I’m feeling choked up talking about it, because that’s the iconography, the hat. For Idina to be like, ‘I’m going to fix this hat. I’m going to send you away,’ was one of the most wonderful moments ever, because it really is a nod. It’s yours, go ahead, do it.”
Ariana Grande told Variety:
“It was so surreal. It was really extraordinary. 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.”
Marc Platt, the producer of the stage show and the movie, told Variety:
“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. And then Kristin and Idina, where equally, in awe of these two younger women making these roles their own.”
“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.’ 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.’”
Paul Tazewell, the film’s costume designer, shared with Playbill:
“Those looks were to make them into goddesses. And indeed, they are goddesses in the Wicked universe. They’ve become that. I was using the same textures I was using on Elphaba and Glinda, with all of the micro pleating and the wave pattern, but blowing it up into a scale that becomes theatrical for the world of Oz. Everything was in service of raising them up and honoring who they are within this IP.”