Broadway's longest-running Glinda in Wicked, Katie Rose Clarke, attended a special screening of the movie for former and current Glindas and Elphabas — including both Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo — and she shared stories from the experience with The Direct in an exclusive interview.
Both nominated for Golden Globes, Grande and Erivo have made waves for both their praised performances in Wicked and the particularly emotional energy they have brought to the movie's press tour.
Fans have noticed a unique emotional energy from the two Wicked stars in several interviews, which has manifested in what one fan described as "one of the most chaotic & funny press tours to date."
Most notable is one clip featuring an interviewer speaking with the duo about "holding space" with the lyrics of "Defying Gravity" while Grande holds onto one of Erivo's fingers, which went especially viral — both for Erivo's particularly emotional response and the vague phrasing and responses throughout the exchange.
As Clarke shared with The Direct, though, this is simply "exactly how they are."
Stories from the Elphaba-and-Glinda Wicked Screening
"It Just Feels Like This Sorority."
Speaking with Gillian Blum of The Direct while promoting her new song "Margarita Christmas," Katie Rose Clarke shared stories from the emotional exclusive Wicked screening for former and current Elphabas and Glindas.
Clarke described how anytime Elphabas and Glindas reunite — for instance, when she ran into her former Elphaba Jessica Vosk in a store while she was looking for something to wear for the screening — "it just feels like this sorority."
She shared that "there's just nothing like doing those roles and doing them with each other" and pointed out how special "the bonds you have from that relationship" of Elphaba and Glinda are to her:
"Anytime we all reconnect with former witches, it just feels like this sorority. Like, we really understand each other in those ways. There's just nothing like doing those roles and doing them with each other, and get[ting] the connection and the bonds that you have from those from that relationship. So there's really, like, no words."
She felt that energy in full force at the screening, which was attended by several former Wicked stars, including the movie's duo of Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
The original Glinda, Kristin Chenoweth, attended in person, and though the original Elphaba, Idina Menzel, was not there, Clarke said she sent the attendees a video (which they responded to with a video of their own):
"We all sat together. We did, like, a photo op before, I think a lot of those photos were floating around. And the girls came — Cynthia and Ari were there, and Kristin was there. Idina sent like a video. We sent her a video back. So it was so special. And to feel like you're any part of that legacy is such an honor, much less now that it's this mega, international, epic phenomenon."
"What You See Them Do on the Press Tour Is Exactly How They Are."
As for the screening itself, Clarke shared how "emotional" everyone was, pointing to how after the song "The Wizard and I," "the whole place just stood up and, like, started applauding towards [Erivo]:"
"And then the movie itself, viewing it was just emotional... The minute that Cynthia finished singing 'The Wizard and I,' I mean, the whole place just stood up and started applauding towards her."
Clarke shared that the level of raw, "weighted" emotion Grande and Erivo have brought to the Wicked press tour "is exactly how they are," as was demonstrated at the screening. She remembered the two movie stars "sobbing" in the theater:
"The two of them... What you see them do on the press tour is exactly how they are. They're just very emotional. It's all very weighted for them. So just sobbing, you know."
Clarke added that this moment was particularly profound because Grande and Erivo "are both Broadway girls," and they were surrounded and supported by so many others who have taken on these roles onstage over the years (and people who worked on the show in other capacities too):
"And they're Broadway girls, so I think it was pretty emotional to have that screening happen with the 'Wicked' Broadway community. Because it wasn't just witches. It was the original Broadway cast, the current Broadway cast. It's the creative team of the original company. It was just a huge group of us that are just Broadway 'Wicked' people. And so it was impactful, for sure."
She finished by sharing that there were "standing ovations after every number," bringing this supportive energy even further throughout the experience of this special screening.
Wicked is available for digital purchase on various platforms, including Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+, and will soon be available to stream on Peacock. While it is currently unknown exactly when that will be, past patterns on the platform indicate it will likely be sometime this spring.
Gillian Blum has been a writer at The Direct since 2022, reporting primarily from New York City. Though she covers news from across the entertainment industry, Gillian has a particular focus on Marvel and DC, including comics, movies, and television shows. She also commonly reports on Percy Jackson, Invincible, and other similar franchises.
