"No One Mourns The Wicked," but everyone loves to see the brilliant get their flowers in real-time. Both Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo got theirs — from each other. The multifaceted women each took to their Instagram accounts to congratulate one another on securing roles in the upcoming big-screen adaptation of "Wicked," Stephen Schwartz' hit Broadway musical.
Universal will be backing the adaptation of the Tony-nabbing musical, based on the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel, "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West." It all stretches further back to Frank L. Baum's original 1900 novel, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," which got a 1939 feature adaptation — you know the one — from MGM.
In the "Wicked" iteration of the Oz-verse, the witches of Oz take center stage, with the story focusing less on Dorothy Gale and more on the connection between Galinda (whose name later changes to Glinda, aka the Good Witch) and Elphaba (who becomes known as the Wicked Witch of the West). Pop singer Grande will portray Glinda, while the Tony award-winning Erivo will step into Elphaba's boots. "In the Heights" director Jon M. Chu is set to helm the film, replacing Stephen Daldry who dropped out of production due to scheduling conflicts.
The stage version of "Wicked" also got a book, written by Winnie Holzman, who is collaborating with original "Wicked" lyricist Schwartz for the big screen adaptation. "In the Heights" cinematographer Alice Brooks has joined the production to round out the return collaborations.
Pink Goes Good With Green
Both leads are thrilled to be collaborating and sent each other beautiful bouquets of flowers to mark the casting announcements. On her IG account, @cynthiaerivo, the "Color Purple" stage actor posted a photo of a bright and full floral arrangement, along with the caption, "Pink goes good with Green," a reference to the musical and the color scheme between the two witches.
"Dear Cynthia, honored doesn't even begin to cover it. I cannot wait to hug you. See you in Oz," Grande wrote in a message to her new co-star. Likewise, Erivo had an arrangement sent to the recording artist with a note: "Congratulations Miss A, the part was made for you, I look forward to sharing this musical journey with you. Love, Cynthia."
There's plenty of respect to go around. Grande had gotten her start on the stage, letting her four-octave vocals shine in Broadway musical "13" at age 15. With Mariah Carey-level runs and an incredible whistle register (also a strength of Carey's), Grande is a fine counterpart to Erivo, who lives at the edge of EGOT town with a Tony, a Grammy, and a daytime Emmy award testifying to the actor-singer's power. If that's not enough, just watch her steal the show in "Bad Times at the El Royale" — acapella, too.
Erivo will be playing a fairy this year, as well; she has been cast as The Blue Fairy in Disney's upcoming live-action "Pinocchio" adaptation.
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The post Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo Have Been Cast as Glinda and Elphaba in Jon Chu's Wicked Adaptation appeared first on /Film.