‘Wicked’s’ director tells us the original idea they had for Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth’s cameos and how plans changed during one ‘magical’ night

It would be difficult for Jon M. Chu to make a film adaptation of Wicked without paying homage to the Broadway sensation’s original stars, Idina Menzel (as Elphaba) and Kristin Chenoweth (as Glinda). Those of you who have seen the new film—and based on box office numbers, that’s a large number of people—know that Menzel and Chenoweth appear in Wicked in the third act, when Glinda and Elphaba leave Shiz University and arrive in the Emerald City. . They are a big part of the musical number “One Short Day”. But when we spoke with Chu, we learned that they had different plans for Menzel and Chenoweth, and they quickly changed as filming continued. Jon M. Chu appeared as a guest on CinemaBlend’s official ReelBlend podcast, talking about the film’s reception and several elements of the filming of the Broadway musical. And when we brought up Idina Menzel’s and Kristin Chenoweth’s cameo appearances, we talked about walking that complicated line of showcasing those talents but not taking the audience out of the movie that they’ve come to see. As “wickedly” talented as Menzel and Chenoweth are, they have the ability to possibly steal the spotlight away from Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, whose film this is very much about.