In “Wicked,” Elphaba and Glinda travel from Shiz University to the Emerald City on a glistening green train to meet the wizard. In real life, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande have traveled much farther and wider and longer — and on airplanes — to promote their hotly anticipated film.
The Oscars. The Met Gala. CinemaCon in Las Vegas. Premieres on both U.S. coasts and around the globe in London, Mexico City and Sydney. The two stars even appeared at the Paris Olympics, where they should really have won a gold medal for fashion.
At the Oscars in March, Erivo channeled her green-skinned character with a Louis Vuitton gown in shiny green leather. Grande evoked spritely Glinda in a bubble-gum pink concoction. Onstage, the duo presented the awards for best song and score, and Erivo managed to get in some lines from “The Wizard of Oz.” Replied Grande: “How wickedly subtle of you.”
At the Met Gala in May, the duo switched colors during a performance for the lucky dinner guests, with Grande in light green and Erivo in rose. On the carpet, Erivo wore black festooned with pink flowers, a nod to her co-star.
And in Paris, the two posed in front of the Eiffel Tower, with Grande in a Grace Kelly-esque light pink sleeveless dress and white gloves, and Erivo in a bright green Thom Browne gown, paired with a matching wide-brimmed hat. Her long nails — also green, of course — completed the look.
Erivo changed direction in Mexico City, choosing black to emphasize Elphaba’s roots — she is, after all, the Wicked Witch of the West — wearing a hooded Thom Browne number that looked like she’d just stepped out of an enchanted forest. Grande was ethereal in a Versace gown of very light pink.
At their stops, the two actors talked about the movie’s message of acceptance and friendship.
“I think it’s such a beautiful thing that pop music, pop culture, these films and art that we create, can … create a safe space for people who feel like they don’t belong,” Grande said in Los Angeles.
They also spoke about their own relationship.
“We really listen to each other,” Erivo said. “I think that’s the wonderful thing. You trust that this other person knows what they want to do with their voice, knows everything about the music that they bring to the world, so you can just make space for it.”
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