Wicked: For Good has arrived with all the magic and musical splendour of its predecessor - but with a darker feel.
Ariana Grande is terrific as Glinda, the good witch who buys into her own PR. With her eye on the goal of making people happy, she never stops to consider the cost of being a distraction to the masses, nor does she fully comprehend the manipulation of why she’s needed. She lives in the moment: smiles, pinks and perfection. She has the man of her dreams, Prince Fiyero (sexiest man alive, Jonathan Bailey), and if things seem to be cracking a little, what harm can a smile and a pretty pink bubble do if they make people feel good?
Her best friend Elphaba (a mesmerising Cynthia Erivo), is being framed for the shortcomings of the Emerald City. Glinda is aware that it’s wrong, but as long as she’s part of the spectacle and celebration, she can brush aside confronting the false framing of her friend.
When her wedding to Prince Fiyero is cancelled and he confesses his love for Elphaba, the monkeys are literally let out their cages. Glinda’s broken heart requires retribution, which comes with spectacle, a nod to the original Wizard of Oz, and songs that make your heart soar.
At the premiere in New York, an audience member sobbed when a heart-breaking plot point played out. With its themes of inclusion and animal rights, people are invested in Wicked: For Good. Its global weekend box office raked in $223m (R3.8bn), the biggest global opening for a Broadway musical adaptation ever.
Grande spoke to me about how her personality overlaps with her character, Glinda. I was struck by the warmth and sweetness of the pop princess. She has enormous doe eyes paired with massive dimples and a soft lilting voice that belies the powerful notes she hits. She delved into the light and darkness connecting the two unlikely friends in Wicked, which comes to fruition in Wicked: For Good.
“They’re both lonely,” says the diminutive star who got her start as Cat Valentine on Nickelodeon television shows (2010 - 2014) and is known for her four-octave vocal range.
“At the start of Wicked: For Good, Elphaba is alone in the woods while Glinda is surrounded by admiring people who reassure her that she’s doing good. She’s convinced herself that’s true, but she’s also lonely. Glinda realises she’s complicit in the regime. The Wizard and Madame Morrible have created a false narrative about her best friend, Elphaba. She finally has to confront that. Glinda’s need of external validation is strong. She’s proud of her façade: people love her bubbly exterior, but it’s been warped and turned into a devastating presence. Her light isn’t being used for good,” says Grande.
“She’s under the spell of her parents’ projections and society’s beliefs that have pressured her to conform. They didn’t believe in her. Like Elphaba, she was convinced that she wasn’t enough. They recognise that in each other when they first meet. She feels, ‘Am I looking in the mirror?’”
The 32-year-old has Granda had to overcome her own trauma: 22 innocent people were killed and more than 500 injured by a bomber at her concert in Manchester, England in 2017. Two weeks later, prefiguring Glinda’s determination, she did a benefit concert in Manchester that raised $23m (R392m) for charity.
“Glinda does the shadow work of dark and light, which is a response to the heartbreak that happened to her,” she says, eye’s filling with emotion she doesn’t name. “It’s beautiful to play someone with intense light and dark sides. It rewired me from the inside out, changing my relationship to creating.”
This is a story about transformation and understanding that light and shadow can co-exist within us. “I fell back in love with creating, in a way I haven’t felt before. My celebrity was maybe louder than my work or my dedication to my craft. I love acting. I’ve always been a creative,” she says.
“The music is written for a coloratura soprano. It’s an operatic role that required retraining my voice and establishing a different character voice. It felt healing to be seen in a new way, which reignited a spark enabling me to fall in love with performing again.”
Grande, who was inspired to become a performer by Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, and Audrey Hepburn can next be seen in Meet The Parents 4, official titled Focker-In-Law.
