Elphaba and Glinda took flight again — going from Oz to the 2025 Oscars.
“Wicked” stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande brought their characters — and their tunes — from the hit movie musical to life at the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday night at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
Erivo and Grande — nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively — performed a medley of tunes from across the “Wizard of Oz” universe to open Hollywood’s biggest night.
First Grande, decked out in a ruby red gown, sang “Over the Rainbow” from the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz.” Then, Erivo, dressed in a white gown with adornments, belted out “Home” from “The Wiz” stage and screen adaptations. And the two divas brought it home with a showstopping rendition of “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked.”
It was a theater kid fantasy that brought a little bit of the Tonys to the Oscars.
Second only to the 13 nods for “Emilia Pérez,” “Wicked” landed 10 Oscar nominations, tying with “The Brutalist.” In addition to Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, the movie is up for Best Picture, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, Best Editing, Best Production Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Costume Design and Best Original Score.
However, none of the film’s tunes were eligible for Best Original Song since they were written by Stephen Schwartz for the stage production that opened on Broadway in 2003.
And in a change from years past, none of this year’s Best Original Song nominees will be performed during the awards ceremony.
But “Wicked” gave the show a broom-flying boost to start the night. Other scheduled performers include Blackpink singer Lisa, who will sing her new single “Born Again” with Doja Cat and Raye, and Queen Latifah, who will be part of the tribute to the late movie music legend Quincy Jones.
After opening last November, “Wicked” went on to become the highest-grossing musical film adaptation of all time, raking in more than $700 million worldwide.
And Erivo and Grande have been inseparable since the start of the press tour to the awards season trail.
Erivo played coy last month when asked about rumors that she and Grande would be performing at the Oscars.
“I don’t know where this has come from,” she told Variety at the Critics Choice Awards.
“Yeah, I don’t know either,” Grande later told IndieWire at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. “It would be really fun. We will have our thermoses, our pink and green thermoses, filled with tea. Hers will probably be rose and an English breakfast mixed together or something like that. In case, we’ll be ready, but I know nothing.”
This may be just the first of two big Oscar nights for “Wicked.” The second part of the film, “Wicked: For Good,” opens on Nov. 21.
Content shared from nypost.com.