New Wicked Trailer Reveals How Ariana Grande Is Paying Tribute To The Original Glinda

Summary Ariana Grande channels Kristin Chenoweth in the new Wicked trailer, paying tribute to the original Glinda actress.

Grande's role as Glinda allows her to showcase her comedic chops, following in Chenoweth's footsteps.

Inspired by Chenoweth's iconic performance, Grande embraces the distinctive voice associated with Glinda in the new Wicked film adaptation.

A new Wicked trailer was just released that offered a new look at Ariana Grande’s Glinda, which showed her paying tribute to her original actress, Tony Award winner Kristin Chenoweth. Wicked first premiered on Broadway in 2003 starring Idina Menzel as Elphaba and Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda. The musical, based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, served as an origin story for the witches from The Wizard of Oz and was an instant hit that is still running today after over 20 years. The upcoming Wicked movies will adapt the stage show into two films.

Ariana Grande leads the Wicked cast as Glinda along with Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. The actresses have big shoes to fill, but the new Wicked trailer proved they are up to the task. Menzel and Chenoweth delivered two of the most memorable performances in Broadway history as the perfectly cast witches in Wicked. They both earned Tony Award nominations, with Menzel taking home the award for Best Actress in a Musical. The Wicked movies have been in production for years, and they finally landed on another perfect casting with Grande and Erivo.

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Ariana Grande Took Inspiration From Kristin Chenoweth’s Performance

Ariana Grande Sounds Like Kristin Chenoweth In The New Wicked Trailer

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The Wicked trailer allowed viewers to see more of Ariana Grande’s Glinda, with a snippet of her singing “Popular” and plenty of dialogue to hear her voice. Kristin Chenoweth has one of the most distinctive voices in theatre, both in speaking and singing. She is known for her high-pitched, nasally sound and slight Midwestern accent having grown up in Oklahoma. Grande pays tribute to and takes inspiration from Chenoweth’s performance in the Wicked trailer by putting on a similar voice that has become associated with Glinda, even with countless actresses having taken on the role on Broadway since Chenoweth left.

Grande has been open for years about how much of an influence Chenoweth had on her as a performer. Grande recently spoke about her Wicked connection in a behind-the-scenes teaser video, sharing that she saw the original Broadway production at 10 years old and Glinda became a dream role for her. Grande even released a song with Mika inspired by “Popular” titled “Popular Song” in 2012. Chenoweth and Grande finally got to act together in 2016’s Hairspray! Live, and in 2019, they recorded a duet cover of Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me.” Grande playing Glinda brings everything full circle.

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Wicked Allows Ariana Grande To Show Off Her Comedic Chops

Kristin Chenoweth Helped Make Glinda Funny

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While Ariana Grande is best known today for her extremely successful recording career, she started out as an actress. Grande made her Broadway debut in 2008 in the musical 13 at just 15 years old. Not long after, Grande made her breakthrough television debut when she and her 13 co-star, Liz Gillies, were cast in the Nickelodeon musical sitcom Victorious. Grande played the ditzy redhead Cat Valentine in Victorious, which allowed her to show off her amazing voice as well as her comedic chops.

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Grande’s Victorious character was so popular that she even received a spinoff show with iCarly’s Jennette McCurdy, Sam & Cat. After the show ended, she became a pop superstar, which unfortunately meant that many people forgot or were not familiar with Grande’s comedic acting skills. Kristin Chenoweth helped make Glinda the funniest character in Wicked due to her amazing comedic timing. Grande’s history and the new Wicked trailer have shown she’s carrying on Chenoweth’s comedic legacy as Glinda.