Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo to star in Universal's 'Wicked' musical

Los Angeles: Actor Cynthia Erivo and singer Ariana Grande are set to play the lead roles in Universal Pictures’ ”Wicked” musical. Grande and Erivo will portray Glinda and Elphaba, respectively, in the big-screen adaptation of the Tony-winning musical. ”In the Heights” helmer Jon M Chu will be directing the movie. The stars announced their casting on their respective Instagram accounts on Thursday evening.

“Dear Cynthia, honored doesn’t even begin to cover it. I cannot wait to hug you. See you in Oz,” Grande wrote in a message to the Emmy-winning actor, sent with a pink and green floral arrangement (the signature colors of Glinda and Elphaba). ”Pink goes good with green,” Erivo wrote alongside the screenshots of her video call with the pop star and also shared the picture of the note she sent. A prequel to “The Wizard of Oz,” “Wicked” tells the story of everything leading up to Dorothy’s arrival in Oz. In the Broadway original, Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth portrayed frenemies Elphaba, who would become the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda the Good Witch. Stephen Schwartz, who penned the music and lyrics to the Broadway show, is adapting the screenplay with Winnie Holzman. Marc Platt, the producer of the Broadway musical, will also produce the film.