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Wicked: One Wonderful Night<\/em> soared onto NBC on November 6, featuring big-voiced performances from Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande,<\/strong> and the cast of Wicked<\/em> and Wicked: For Good<\/em>. But the magic really happened over a month ago, when Wicked: One Wonderful Night<\/em> was taped in front of a live audience at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Disclosure: I was there in my capacity as host of Universal\u2019s official Wicked<\/em> podcast<\/a>.) Here\u2019s what the cameras didn\u2019t capture\u2014and which moments didn\u2019t make it to the final telecast.<\/p>\n Ariana Grande and company<\/span>NBC<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n A LONG YELLOW BRICK ROAD<\/p>\n Audience members were instructed to arrive at the theater no later than 4:30 p.m. to guarantee entry to the taping\u2014and they were in for a lengthy night. By the time One Wonderful Night<\/em> had concluded, it was half past nine, making the event a five-hour marathon. (The Wicked<\/em> superfans present, many of whom were decked out in their Ozian best, didn\u2019t seem to mind.)<\/p>\n After tucking their phones away in Yondr pouches, audience members could mingle with friendly faces from the Wicked<\/em> press tour, like Bowen Yang<\/strong>\u2019s Las Culturistas<\/em> bestie Matt Rogers<\/strong> and journalist Tracy E. Gilchrist,<\/strong> who was able to hold space<\/a> in the flesh. Some cast members that didn\u2019t participate in the special, like little Cesily Collette Taylor<\/strong>\u2014who plays baby Nessarose\u2014were also cheering on their castmates from the audience. Director Jon M. Chu<\/strong> made a special appearance, introducing never-before-seen clips from the movie featured in the special. That was a recurring theme of the evening; Erivo, Grande, and Yang all teased snippets of the second film\u2019s new songs, \u201cNo Place Like Home\u201d and \u201cThe Girl in the Bubble,\u201d as well as a special performance of \u201cFor Good,\u201d sung by Erivo and Grande, filmed live at the Gershwin Theatre\u2014only to reveal later that this footage wouldn\u2019t actually be shown until the special aired.<\/p>\n TAKE TWO<\/p>\n The songs in Wicked<\/em> are notoriously tricky, and some numbers at the taping had to be recorded more than once. Toward the beginning of the evening, Erivo wowed the audience with a choreography-forward rendition of \u201cThe Wizard and I,\u201d which kicked off with her costar Jeff Goldblum<\/strong>\u2014also an accomplished jazz musician\u2014tickling the ivories. During her first shot, Erivo switched around the lyrics in the bridge of the song\u2014understandable, as that portion uses a melody that Elphaba repeats with different lyrics throughout the show. She sang the whole thing again afterward, nailing the words on her second try.<\/p>\n Erivo also took two cracks at her literally soaring rendition of \u201cDefying Gravity,\u201d which launched her toward the ceiling of the Dolby Theatre. Though her first rendition was note-and-word perfect, production needed to capture certain aspects of the act from different angles\u2014which meant Erivo had to strap into her harness and belt out the number a second time, much to the audience\u2019s delight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n