Ariana Grande has debuted a brand new look on her Instagram to mark the beginning of rehearsals for WICKED the movie.
The 29-year-old pop star and actress was cast in the iconic role of Galinda in November 2021, fulfilling a long-time wish to star in the production.
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In 2011, after watching a Broadway production of the hit musical, the Positions singer even tweeted: “Loved seeing Wicked again, amazing production! Made me realize again how badly I want 2 play Galinda at some point in my life #DreamRole.”
And now, as rehearsals begin for the stage musical to movie adaptation, Ariana has swapped out her usual brunette locks for blonde as she transitions into her role as Galinda the Good Witch.
Crazy Rich Asians and In The Heights director John M.Chu is directing the musical adaptation and said that Grande and her Tony award-winning counterparty Cynthia Erivo who is playing Elphaba, were “otherworldly” when auditioning for their roles.
“These two witches!!,” he captioned an Instagram post sharing the casting news in November 2021.
“The emotional moment I got to tell @cynthiaerivo and @arianagrande that they were our Elphaba and Galinda in the @wickedmovie for @unistudios 😭😭😭 wait until you see what they bring!!”
The viral casting news soon gained the attention of the OG Elphaba, Idina Menzel, who wrote via Instagram, “Congrats to two amazing women. May it change your lives for the better forever and ever as it has for us. So much love. @cynthiaerivo @arianagrande 💚💖.”
The Rent actress, who starred opposite Kristin Chenoweth during the original Broadway run, reunited with the Oklahoma native during the 2021 Tony Awards that September, where they sang an emotional rendition of For Good from the production.
Whilst it is exciting to see production get underway in what has been a decade-long effort to bring WICKED to life on screens across the globe, eager fans have been asked to exercise patience.
“As we prepared the production over the last year, it became impossible to wrestle the story of WICKED into a single film without doing some real damage to it,” director John Chu said via Twitter.
“As we tried to cut songs or trim characters, those decisions began to feel like fatal compromises to the source material that has entertained us all for so many years.
“We decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one WICKED movie but TWO!!! With more space, we can tell the story of WICKED as it was meant to be told while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys for these beloved characters”.
WICKED Part One will hit theaters in December 2024 and WICKED Part Two will premiere in December 2025.
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