Director Jon M. Chu recently revealed that Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s auditions
for the upcoming Wicked movie left the whole room in TEARS, and yep, we cannot wait to
see this!
Let’s get into it.
Wicked is easily one of the most iconic musicals of all time, originally brought to life by
Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth.
And who better to lead the much-anticipated film adaptation than powerhouse performers
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo?
In case you’re unfamiliar with the show, Wicked acts as a prequel to The Wizard of
Oz.
The story focuses on the unlikely friendship between Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba,
the notorious Wicked Witch of the West, and tells an alternative version of what really
happened in Oz before Dorothy's arrival.
“Are you a good witch or a bad witch?”
So yep, I think we can all agree that the casting for this project was pretty spot-on,
with Ari set to play Glinda and Cynthia set to play Elphaba.
But it seems like the only person who’s perhaps even more obsessed with this casting
than fans is the film’s director, Jon M. Chu.
Jon recently took to social media to talk all things Wicked, and couldn’t help but
to gush over Ariana and Cynthia’s jaw-dropping auditions.
Jon responded to a Twitter user who begged him to, “leak glinda and elphaba auditions
footage,” and even revealed that their performances were so powerful, it brought the entire room
to TEARS!
“Can I hear it?”
Jon wrote, “It’s SO good.
The whole room was in tears,” before adding, “I think one of the most overlooked facts
of the #WickedMovie casting was that EVERYONE HAD to audition.
NO straight offers and they showed up!”
Jon went on to further praise the cast, adding, “it was incredibly humbling to witness these
actors spill their guts on the floor for this movie.”
T-B-H, we’re getting goosebumps already!
“We’re much too excited.”
On Instagram, Jon then took to his Stories to post a snap from the moment Ari and Cynthia
found out they landed the leading roles, to which Ari re-posted, with the two stars looking
seriously overjoyed as they shed tears of joy.
Jon captioned the super sweet pic, “so their emotions when they found out they got the
part are REAL here.
And raw.
I get teared up thinking about these moments of telling them.”
Ari and Cynthia both celebrated the news after their casting was confirmed back in November,
with each of the leading ladies taking to social media to post their reactions to being
cast in the film.
Ariana posted an adorable photo carousel to IG where she shared screenshots of her on
facetime with Cynthia and Jon, and even showed off a flower bouquet Cynthia sent her with
a message reading, “Pink goes good with green.
Congratulations Miss A, the part was made for you, I look forward to sharing this musical
journey with you."
Cynthia shared some seriously heartwarming pics of her own, including a bunch of flowers
from Ari with a note that read, "Dear Cynthia, honored doesn't even begin to cover it.
I cannot wait to hug you.
See you in Oz."
Ugh, their chemistry is going to be wicked good, and we cannot wait to see this!
For now, it seems like the entire cast is so on board with this project, with lots of
emotions, and yes, happy tears going on behind the scenes.
And hey, we still have yet to see Cynthia and Ariana’s audition tapes, so consider
this a formal petition to get them released!
The Wicked movie is bound to leave us all shook, and we’ll be eagerly awaiting any
future updates regarding BTS pics, release dates, and more.
Now go ahead and click right over here for another Clevver News video.
Then hop to the comments and let me know all your thoughts on Ari and Cynthia literally
bringing people to tears during their audition.
As always, I’m your girl Sussan Mourad, you can follow me on socials @sussan_mourad,
and I’ll see you next time!