\n<\/p>\n
Elphaba and Glinda may have spent one short day in the Emerald City, but they certainly made the most of their time there\u2014and saw a couple of familiar faces too. (Be forewarned: Wicked<\/em><\/a> spoilers abound!)<\/p>\n Those who have seen Wicked<\/em><\/a> now that it\u2019s in theaters may have noticed some very special cameos when Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo<\/strong>) and Glinda (Ariana Grande<\/strong>) travel to the Emerald City to meet Jeff Goldblum<\/strong>\u2019s wonderful Wizard of Oz. Yes: the original Wicked<\/em> witches, Idina Menze<\/strong>l and Kristin Chenoweth,<\/strong> appear in the middle of \u201cOne Short Day,\u201d delighting fans of the original Broadway musical.<\/p>\n True heads know that Menzel and Chenoweth originated the roles of Elphaba and Glinda in Wicked<\/em> on Broadway in 2003. Fans have long speculated whether the two OGs would make an appearance in either of the Wicked<\/em> films given their history with the musical. Their wish is granted when Menzel and Chenoweth pop up in the new, extended Wizomania<\/em> sequence\u2014a show within a show within \u201cOne Short Day.\u201d Wizomania<\/em> features dancers wearing egg-shaped costumes whose heads spring off midnumber, in a nod to the \u201cFlatheads\u201d who appear in L. Frank Baum\u2019s original novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz<\/em>. Then out come Menzel and Chenoweth, who tell the tale of the wizard while describing his magical book of spells, the Grimmerie.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Oz\u2019s darkest hour, though we cannot say when,\u201d sings Menzel. Then Chenoweth chimes in with her signature soprano: \u201cThere comes one with a power to read the Grimmerie again.\u201d During the number, Chenoweth breaks out some of the original Glinda\u2019s leaps and baton twirling, while Menzel gets to perform Elphaba\u2019s iconic battle cry. At the end, each gets a moment with the actor following in her footsteps: Menzel with Erivo, and Chenoweth with Grande. It\u2019s a genuinely touching and inventive bit of fan service.<\/p>\n According to Stephen Schwartz<\/strong> who wrote the music and lyrics for Wicked,<\/em> the expanded \u201cOne Short Day\u201d wasn\u2019t simply a ploy to get Menzel and Chenoweth into the film\u2014it was textually motivated. He and Wicked<\/em> book writer Winnie Holzman<\/strong> wanted to take an opportunity \u201cto show the Wizard\u2019s propaganda,\u201d Schwartz said during a recent post-screening Q&A at the Director\u2019s Guild Theater<\/a>. \u201cHow he\u2019s getting out into the world this fake story, and persuading all of Oz that he has powers that he doesn\u2019t. We also wanted to explain more what this mysterious book the Grimmerie is, because it figures extremely importantly not just in this movie\u2014but extremely<\/em> importantly in movie two.\u201d<\/p>\n Plugging Menzel and Chenoweth into the Wizomania<\/em> sequence came after a lot of subpar cameo ideas, according to Schwartz. \u201cWe have to get them in the movie somewhere, but we had all these very not good ideas,\u201d he said. \u201cThey could be somebody\u2019s mother. They could be a teacher.\u201d It was director Jon M. Chu<\/strong> who landed on the iconic pair appearing together in Wizomania.<\/em> \u201cJon M. Chu said, \u2018Well, you\u2019ve written these \u2018wise ones of Oz.\u2019 Why don\u2019t we just have that be the two wise women of Oz, and make it Kristin and Idina?\u201d said Schwartz.<\/p>\n Menzel and Chenoweth aren\u2019t the only Wicked<\/em> personalities making cameos in \u201cOne Short Day.\u201d Schwartz and Holzman also make surprise appearances in the number. Holzman appears as a citizen of the Emerald City who\u2019s excited to see a projection of Goldblum\u2019s Wizard as he reads aloud from the Grimmerie, booming out the mysterious syllables \u201cOoh Maaa Haaa.\u201d (Get it? \u201cOmaha\u201d?)<\/p>\n Schwartz, meanwhile, plays the all-important palace guard who gets to deliver the classic line, \u201cThe wizard will see you now,\u201d at the very end of the song. According to Schwartz, \u201cOne Short Day\u201d was shot on the last day before production had to pause for months on Wicked<\/em> because of the Hollywood strikes. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was an emotional experience for all. \u201cWe basically shot it and cried, mostly,\u201d he said. So did the rest of us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n