SPOILER ALERT: This story incorporates spoilers for “Depraved,” out Nov. 22.
Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth have discovered their manner again to Oz. Broadway’s unique witches make a shock look in director Jon M. Chu’s “Depraved,” however not as Elphaba and Glinda.
The duo, who originated the main roles in 2003, sing a brand new verse in “One Quick Day,” telling the story behind the great Wizard of Oz. Their characters struggle for the highlight within the Emerald Metropolis, prompting Menzel’s character to close down the competitors by belting out her well-known “Defying Gravity” riff.
Composer Stephen Schwartz additionally cameos because the Ouncessoldier who permits Elphaba and Glinda into the Wizard’s palace, whereas the musical’s guide author Winnie Holzman equally seems within the Emerald Metropolis, touting the Wizard’s capability to learn the Grimmerie.
Clad in over-the-top pink and purple poofy clothes, Menzel and Chenoweth every share a candy second with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, who tackle the roles they made well-known.
“It was so surreal. It was actually extraordinary,” Grande tells Selection of sharing the display screen with the Broadway legends. “I imply, to have the ladies who helped write and create and start these characters embrace us and embrace our variations of them, was simply so extremely surreal. I imply, that they had been texting us, and so they had been supportive of us beforehand, however I don’t assume they ever bought to see or hear our variations of the characters till on set. So it was actually emotional.”
Grande beforehand starred in NBC’s 2016 “Hairspray Stay!” with Chenoweth, who has praised her casting as Glinda the Good in quite a few interviews. “I’m unsure if I’ve ever been this proud,” Chenoweth posted on social media on the time of Grande’s casting in 2021. “From the very first day I met you … you have been destined for this position.”
Idina Menzel, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and Kristin Chenoweth attend the Los Angeles premiere of Common Photos “Depraved” at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Nov. 09, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Amy Sussman / Getty Pictures
Menzel has been equally effusive of Erivo, telling ET, “She’s simply unimaginable. I really feel like she’s the one at hand the torch off to. You’re gonna love her.” Menzel and Erivo additionally introduced an award collectively on the 2024 Tony Awards earlier this yr. “I’m simply gonna go off script actual fast to say how excited I’m to see what I do know goes to be a tremendous efficiency in that film you’re doing,” Menzel mentioned on stage. “Inexperienced lady energy!”
Marc Platt, who produced each stage musical and the movie variations, says he’ll always remember the day the duo filmed their cameos. “I believe when Kristin and Idina got here onto the set, there was a lot love and respect from the film solid, significantly Ari and Cynthia and Jon Chu — virtually like they have been royalty! That they had grown up listening to those two ladies sing, and also you felt that sense of awe, and likewise legacy,” he says. “After which Kristin and Idina, the place equally, in awe of those two youthful ladies making these roles their very own.”
“There’s a second the place Idina fixes my hat and sends me on my manner. Making an attempt to not be cliche, it was just like the passing of the broom virtually,” Erivo says. “So to have virtually just like the blessing from the queen herself, felt actually, actually stunning.”
Platt says that Menzel and Chenoweth initially had reservations about showing within the film for concern of stealing Grande and Erivo’s thunder. “Each the ladies, Kristin and Idina, have been somewhat bit nervous about it. Kristin jumped in fairly fast, as a result of she and Ari had had a relationship and he or she was excited,” he says, including that Menzel “didn’t wish to rain on something that needed to do with Cynthia. She thought, ‘That is her second. I would like her to have her second.’”
Just a little convincing from Platt was all it took to alter their minds, although. “I mentioned, ‘Each of you’re going to wish to contact the movie. You’re a part of the “Depraved” lore perpetually.’ And since we discovered an natural manner which Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman wrote to have them within the movie as a part of the storytelling, ‘You’re going to wish to be a part of one thing that’s greater than you, and so for the remainder of your lives, you’ll all the time be a part of “Depraved,” even within the movie.’ And so they each mentioned, ‘Okay, you’re proper.’”
Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth of performing “Defying Gravity” through the “58th Annual Tony Awards” at Radio Metropolis Music Corridor on June 6, 2004 in New York Metropolis.
Frank Micelotta / Getty Pictures
“I used to be so honored that they wished to incorporate us,” Chenoweth tells Selection. “I believed, ‘Ought to we? Is i it bizarre, as a result of it’s [Ariana and Cynthia’s] now?’ And Mark Platt mentioned, ‘It’s important to. What do you imply? It wouldn’t occur with out you!’”
“Idina and I had a lot enjoyable,” she provides concerning the emotional day she and Menzel filmed their cameos. “Our costumes have been wonderful, and we simply made up our factor. We simply had the most effective time ever. We did it in sooner or later, and to be reunited with my with my sister was very, very particular.” Chenoweth says she and Menzel arrived to the set early and bought dinner to catch up: “We had fun there. Elphie and Glinda grew up!”
Chenoweth additionally says she’s thrilled the commemorated musical has lastly made its solution to the massive display screen so a broader viewers can uncover the magical story. “I’m so comfortable they made the film, as a result of I grew up in Oklahoma, and it wasn’t like we might have afforded to go see a Broadway present: dinner, lodge, all that stuff. And now we have now the film, and it is going to be delivered to new generations of folks that perhaps are in the identical boat as I used to be. I’m actually proud.”
“Kristin and I’ve seen one another many instances within the final 20 years, but it surely was great,” Menzel says of the reunion. “It was great to be there, to get all of the feels, to rehearse collectively, to considerably echo our characters somewhat bit, to be with Cynthia and Ari and simply form of benefit from the set in a very totally different manner. It was all the things.”
For Erivo, Menzel and Chenoweth’s help (on and off set) has been a supply of consolation and inspiration as she’s put her personal spin on the long-lasting position of Elphaba. “They’ve been actually great with us, and we’ve had essentially the most unimaginable phrases of encouragement from each of them,” she says. “These issues actually imply quite a bit to us, as a result of they don’t need to. It’s theirs from all this time, however for them to spare these good phrases and to offer us the area to additionally do what we wish to do with them as properly, is actually significant, actually touching.”
Platt hopes that Menzel and Chenoweth’s involvement speaks to the enduring legacy of “Depraved” as a brand new fanbase discovers the beloved musical. “I believe all of us becoming a member of becoming a member of arms felt like there’s one thing greater than all of us, and that we’re a part of one thing that will stay on past all of us,” he says. “The flexibility to affix these two worlds, the stage world of the unique and the movie world, significantly for these 4 women, was one thing nobody will ever neglect who witnessed that night time of taking pictures. It was actually stunning.”
