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The Broadway theater scene is a thriving part of America’s pop culture landscape, and movie musicals have won Best Picture and other major awards over the years. That includes offbeat musicals, as well as blockbusters like Stephen Schwartz’s Wicked. The Wizard of Oz prequel is getting its own movie this month, with Wicked‘s cast list being led by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. It turns out they both got Covid on the set, but Grande’s timing couldn’t have been worse.
What we know about Wicked is limited, but hardcore fans of the stage musical assume that it’ll be a faithful adaptation of the show’s first act. Filming for Jon M. Chu’s pair of movies was extended thanks to the strikes, and there were also setbacks with both of its lead actresses getting sick. During an interview with The New York Times, Grande revealed that she got sick shortly before filming Glinda’s signature song “Popular.” In her words:
We only got sick once each, but both were before some of the most important works of the whole movie — mine was the week before ‘Popular.’ I came to set with a mask on my final days of recovery to learn the hallway finale, and no one liked this joke but I loved it so I’ll tell it: We were in the dorm room together and I sang in her ear, ‘Positive, you’re going to be positive!’ But I wasn’t positive anymore, don’t worry! I took the test.
What a potential disaster! “Popular” is Glinda’s most iconic song from the musical, and the Wicked trailers make it look like an especially physical number for Grande. Add in the grueling schedule of movie sets, and it was a very difficult time for the “Seven Rings” singer to be fighting off Covid. Luckily she was able to get healthy in time to shoot the number.
While Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have been coordinating their fashion, unfortunately they had similar experiences with getting sick on set. Because Erivo also got sick before her biggest number, “Defying Gravity.” As she shared:
I got Covid the week before I shot ‘Defying Gravity.’ It was literally like, ‘Sit down, Cynthia, not yet.’
Talk about anxiety-inducing. Luckily it all ended up working out, and the footage from the first Wicked movie looks truly stunning. Although I can imagine the nerves involved, especially as both Grande and Erivo sang live on set. They couldn’t even lip sync to prerecorded tracks while fighting off Covid!
Exactly how this pair of actresses rose above after getting sick will be clear once the first Wicked movie hits theaters on November 22nd. For now, check the 2025 movie release dates.