‘Wicked’ Stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo Say They’d Love to Reunite on Broadway
Wicked stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo say they’re ready to take on another musical project together.
While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about their forthcoming film, the actresses who play Glinda and Elphaba, respectively, in Jon M. Chu’s big-screen adaptation of the popular musical say they would both love to return to the Broadway stage, ideally together.
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Grande made her Broadway debut in 2008 in the Jason Robert Brown musical 13, while Erivo made her debut in the 2015 revival of The Color Purple.
“I think I’m ready to try something new,” said Erivo when asked about her dream Broadway role. “I think I’m ready to try something that hasn’t been written yet, something original. I’ve done a lot of material that exists, revivals, and I think now is probably the time where we can find something that I can originate.”
“That’s thrilling. I love that,” replied Grande. “I’ll do anything. I’m around, and I’ll send a tape. I’m kidding. No, I’m kidding. I would love to be onstage again. I would love to be onstage with [Erivo] again.”
“I mean we could do Aida together,” said Erivo. “That would be fun.”
“I would fall out,” Grande replied with glee. “I would die.”
Elton John and Tim Rice’s musical Aida together originally ran on Broadway from 2000 to 2004.
Elsewhere in the interview, Erivo opened up about the importance of self-confidence.
When the Oscar nominee appeared on THR‘s songwriters roundtable last year alongside Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Jon Batiste and Julia Michaels, she and Michaels shared a special moment during the conversation where the Elphaba actress encouraged the artist to “own” her power and talent as a songwriter.
The idea of owning one’s power seems especially relevant to Universal’s Wicked, which tells the story of a young witch who masters her magic to “defy gravity.”
“I think I kind of had to do it sort of early on,” Erivo said when asked about when and how she started owning her power in her career. “I haven’t really had the choice to do either, because I think whatever room I step into, I come in looking like this … You’ve got a queer, Black woman walking into the room. And you are always met with a little bit of resistance any way. And I think that when you’re met with resistance, you kind of have to find your way around it. And the only way around it is to be comfortable in yourself so that you don’t end up swaying from it. That doesn’t necessarily open all the doors, but it does still you a little bit. And at some point, the doors will open.”
“The right ones will,” Grande added.
While the musical encourages viewers to believe in themselves and own what makes them unique, it also has strong messages about empathy, standing up for what’s right and empowering those who are disenfranchised by society, among others. The actresses shared what messages they hope audiences take away from the film.
“I mean, to me, one of the most important themes, I think is empathy, having the ability to change,” said Grande. “I hope that people will see it and be forced to look outside themselves and maybe look at how they can have their — I say this all the time — but have their ‘bubble popped’ by the people in their lives and how they can become better. I think you can always become more and more good, and empathy is one of the themes that I think is most important.”
“And I think that for those who feel othered, feel different, don’t feel like they fit, hopefully, this movie tells them that they do belong, that their difference is what makes them special,” added Erivo. “And that for those who find it difficult to navigate those who are different, to find it difficult to connect, just to be open. And also hopefully people are empowered to do things that are outside of themselves that allow them to soar above people’s expectations.”
Watch the video above for more. Wicked flies into theaters Nov. 22.
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