Last month , a few photos from the set of Wicked with Ariana Grande as Glinda leaked , but now we get to see the actress and pop star for the first time alongside Jonathan Bailey , who plays Prince Fiyero .
The shots published by the Daily Mail show the filming of a scene in Ivinghoe, in the county of Buckinghamshire, in England. Ariana Grande wears her lavender, blue and lilac costume with crown and wand. Jonathan Bailey instead sports the uniform of captain of the Wizard of Oz guards , in the period in which he is engaged to Glinda .
In April, director Jon M. Chu shared two official images with the leads, also featuring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba . The transposition will be divided into two parts, and the first was recently brought forward to November 27, 2024 ; the second will be released on December 25, 2025 instead .
You can see the photos below.
The photos
Ariana Grande is seen getting cozy with love interest Jonathan Bailey for first time on the set of Wicked https://t.co/V6u5hodb7a
— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) May 15, 2023
The work
Wicked is based on the musical of the same name byWinnie Holzman, which in turn is based on the novel Witch: Chronicles of the Rebellion of Oz byGregory Maguire(a sort of reinterpretation of The Wizard of Oz from the perspective of the witches). The screenplay is written by HolzmanhimselfandStephen Schwartz, the opera’s composer/librettist. The film will include four new songs: three written specifically for this adaptation, and one that was scrapped from the stage musical.
An extraordinary success
The imagery of The Wizard of Oz is still very popular, and the musical has also had incredible success: it has been seen by more than 50 million spectators worldwide, and in March 2016 it exceeded the mark of 1 billion box office dollars on Broadway. Worldwide, it has sold tickets worth a whopping $4 billion.
The plot
The story revolves around the friendship between the two witches. Elphaba , unjustly nicknamed Wicked Witch of the West , is actually a revolutionary and nonconformist woman with green skin who challenges the excessive power of the Wizard of Oz , a trickster with imperialist aims. Glinda is instead the Good Witch of the North , a friend of Elphaba from the days of the University of Shiz.
The cast
Cynthia Erivo ( 7 Strangers at El Royale, Harriet, Genius ) and Ariana Grande ( Scream Queens, Zoolander 2, Kidding ) will play Elphaba and Glinda , respectively . Michelle Yeoh will play Madame Morrible , while Jonathan Bailey will play Prince Fiyero . The rest of the cast includes Jeff Goldblum (The Wizard of Oz ), Marissa Bode ( Nessarose ), Bowen Yang ( Pfannee ), Bronwyn James ( ShenShen), Keala Settle ( Miss Coddle ), Aaron Teoh ( Avaric ), Ethan Slater ( Boq ) and Colin Michael Carmichael ( Professor Nikidik ).