Cynthia Erivo (left) and Ariana Grande are set to star in the film adaptation of “Wicked.” | Getty Images
Film actress and pop star land the lead witch roles in adaptation of the smash Broadway musical.
The long-awaited movie version of “Wicked” has its stars, and they’re both singers who have reached gravity-defying heights.
Pop star Ariana Grande and actor-singer Cynthia Erivo posted on their Instagram accounts that they have landed roles in the hugely successful “Wizard of Oz” prequel, along with photos of them celebrating online with one another and “Wicked” director Jon M. Chu.
Grande will play Galinda, the university student destined to become Glinda the Good Witch, and Erivo will be her roommate Elphaba, a green-skinned nerd and future Wicked Witch of the West.
It’s an adaptation of the Broadway smash that opened in 2003 with Kristin Chenoweth as Galinda and Idina Menzel as Elphaba and continues to play today. A sit-down production in Chicago ran from 2005 to 2009 at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre.
Grande, currently a coach on “The Voice,” is known for hit singles including “Thank U, Next” and “Rain on Me.”
Erivo won a Tony for the Broadway revival of “The Color Purple” and was Oscar-nominated for her portrayal of Harriet Tubman in “Harriet.” This year she was up for an Emmy for playing Aretha Franklin on the Nat Geo series “Genius: Aretha.”
