Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo tease 'Wicked' musical numbers as new photos drop
Rejoice, musical fans, because new images from the forthcoming "Wicked" movie have been released.
Vanity Fair debuted the photos on Thursday, with one showing Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba in their room at Shiz University.
Another image shows Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard -- the titular one from "The Wizard of Oz" -- and Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, headmistress of Shiz University.
In addition to those photos -- and others -- in the Vanity Fair piece, Grande and Erivo also teased what some of their big musical numbers will look like, with director Jon M. Chu confirming they sang live.
Erivo recalled Grande doing a stunt during one of her numbers, saying, "I'm literally never going to forget you jumping on a chandelier over my head whilst singing."
Grande laughed, replying, "She was just so excited to perform for her new friend. She wanted to do a trick."
As for Erivo's show-stopping number "Defying Gravity," Grande recalled her co-star having "a harness pulling and pushing and yanking and tugging on every nook and cranny that there is" while taking flight as she sang.
Chu said of their casting that Grande -- who jokingly admitted to "stalking" Marc Platt, who produced the Broadway show and the movies, for the role of Glinda -- showed up to all her auditions early.
While Erivo said she initially didn't believe she'd be seen for Elphaba and was "one of the last people brought in" for it, Chu said once he and Platt saw her they knew instantly she was the one.
The friendship between the two stars is very real as well.
"I don't think people realize how brilliant this person's brain and voice and talent is," Erivo said, referring to Grande.
Grande, when speaking of Erivo, called her co-star her "favorite female voice."
"Wicked" hits theaters Nov. 27, with the second part arriving a year later.
