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Hear the Magic: “Wicked” Debuts Iconic Songs in New Teaser

October 9, 2024
By The Credits

A new Wicked teaser has arrived on a pair of monkey wings and musical notes, boasting a bunch of the iconic songs that fans of the Broadway Musical adore and are clamoring to see on the biggest screen possible when director John M. Chu’s adaptation hits the big screen.

The new teaser dives right into the music, with Grammy-winning, multiple-platinum superstar Ariana Grande’s Glinda clapping her hands and calling out, “Everyone, I have an announcement!” That announcement, for Wicked fans that is, is that tickets are now on sale, and who better to get that message across than Grande and her equally award-laden, multitalented co-star Cynthia Erivo, playing Elphaba, the eventual Wicked Witch of the West. You want to get people excited for your movie? Unleash these two super-talents on some of Wicked’s most beloved musical numbers. 

In order of appearance, the tunes you’ll hear in the teaser are “Popular,” “Dancing Through Life,” “The Wizard and I, “What is this Feeling?” and “Defying Gravity.” Previous teasers and trailers have included “Popular” and “Defying Gravity,” but the rest are new.

It is no surprise that Erivo and Grande can sing, dance, and act, but so, too, can Jonathan Bailey. He plays Fiyero, a former Arjiki prince, and is both Glinda’s and Elphaba’s love interest in the story. The man has serious pipes.

Chu’s Wicked is the first big-screen adaptation of the juggernaut Broadway show, which was based on Gregory Maguire’s book and tells the story of what actually happened before Dorothy dropped into Oz and changed everything. As this teaser makes clear, Wicked won’t skimp on the power ballads that rocked the Broadway stage and will take us onto the campus of Shiz University, where Elphaba and Glinda cross paths and an unlikely but profound friendship blossoms. That eventually leasd to a life-changing encounter with Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum), which will set off a course of events that, as we know, will become the stuff of legend in The Wizard of Oz.

Joining Erivo, Grande, and Bailey are Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Ethan Slater as Boq, and Bowen Yang as Pfannee.

Wicked will enchant theaters on November 22. Check out the new teaser here:

For more on Universal Pictures, Peacock, and Focus Features projects, check out these stories:

Christopher Nolan’s Next Movie Set at Universal With Matt Damon as Potential Lead

“The Wild Robot” Writer/Director Chris Sanders on Kindness as a Survival Skill

“Wicked” Casts a Spell and Causes Commotion in a Brand New Trailer

Featured image: L to R: Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba and Ariana Grande is Glinda in WICKED, directed by Jon M. Chu

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The Credits

The Credits is an online magazine that tells the story behind the story to celebrate our large and diverse creative community. Focusing on profiles of below-the-line filmmakers, The Credits celebrates the often uncelebrated individuals who are indispensable to the films and TV shows we love.