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Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, the original stars of Broadway’s Wicked, do not appear in Wicked: For Good, though they had cameo’s in last year’s Wicked: Part One
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“We had our moment and we were very honored they included us, but it’s their turn,” Chenoweth said about the film’s stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo
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Wicked: For Good is now playing in theaters everywhere
Wicked fans may find it horrendible (to borrow a bit of Ozian speak) to learn that Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel don’t have cameos in Wicked: For Good despite appearing in last year’s hit.
But Chenoweth, 57, and Menzel, 54, who originated the roles of Glinda and Elphaba in the Broadway musical in 2003, is fine to let the film’s stars, Ariana Grande, 32, and Cynthia Erivo, 38, take the full spotlight this time around.
“Idina and I feel really good about it. It’s their time,” Chenoweth told Extra in June. “We had our moment and we were very honored they included us, but it’s their turn.”
She reiterated that sentiment in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter: “I think we kind of did our thing and passed the broom and wand, so to speak. But I can’t wait to see it. I kind of know a lot about it from my girl [Grande], so I just can’t wait.”
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Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth as Elphaba and Glinda in 2004.
Broadway originals Chenoweth and Menzel popped up in a scene in part one of the Wizard of Oz prequel, an origin story of the fantasy tale’s Good Witch, Glinda (Grande) and Wicked Witch of the West, then known as Elphaba (Erivo).
After the two young Shiz University classmates arrive in the Emerald City to see the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum), they encounter the Wizomania Choir, who perform the song “One Short Day.” Chenoweth and Menzel play members of the singing troupe.
Universal Studios
Ariana Grande, Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel and Cynthia Erivo in ‘Wicked.’
Grande told PEOPLE last year “it was just such a surreal honor” to film with her and Erivo’s stage counterparts since she had been a fan for years.
“To be coming up with bits together with them and to watch them sing and to do their shtick [was an] out-of-body experience, truly,” she continued.
Director Jon M. Chu previously told CinemaBlend it was important to have the two Tony winners sing during their cameos in Wicked. “[If] they are there, you want them to do their thing, and I always felt like as a fan myself, if I see them in this movie, I’m going to want them to do their thing,” he said.
Though they don’t appear in For Good, Chenoweth and Menzel got to share the stage with Grande and Erivo at NBC’s Wicked special One Wonderful Night, which aired on Thursday, Nov. 6. (It was taped on Sept. 24 at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.)
VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty
Idina Menzel, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and Kristin Chenoweth on Nov. 9.
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The foursome performed “For Good,” the emotional duet that Glinda and Elphaba sing towards the end of the musical. The song sums up the characters’ complicated friendship and the profound impact they had on each other.
In a video of a recent cast Q&A she shared to Instagram on Sunday, Nov. 16, Grande left the door open for a potential third Wicked movie.
“You mentioned ‘farewell tour.’ If we’ve learned anything from Cher, we can count on there always being another farewell tour,” she quipped. “So I don’t think anyone’s going anywhere.”
Wicked: For Good is in theaters now.
Read the original article on People
