Ariana Grande is gearing up for the release of her film ‘Wicked,’ based on the eponymous 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire. In the film adaptation featuring characters from Frank L Baum’s ‘The Wonderful Wizard of OZ,’ Grande essays the role of Glinda. Ahead of the theatrical release, the makers are screening the title for media, critics, and influencers. While viewers shared their opinions on social media, fans of the ‘Side to Side’ hitmaker couldn’t help but notice that Ariana’s name appears as ‘Ariana Grande-Butera in the film’s credits. This has sent fans into a frenzy and now the songstress has revealed the reason behind using her full name.
The ‘Wicked’ world press tour kicked off on Sunday in Australia. During her interview for “The Streaming Service” podcast, Ariana was asked about the credit roll. “I just feel like this experience was such a homecoming for me. I feel like I came home to myself in a lot of ways, through what I learned from Glinda, from Elphaba,” Grande explained, glancing at Erivo, who was seated next to her. “And, you know, that was my name when I went to see the show when I was 10 years old. And it felt like a really lovely way of honouring that. It felt really full circle, and it just felt like something I wanted to do.”
Ariana Grande started her career as a teenager with the 2008 musical ’13.’ Soon, she gained fame for playing Cat Valentine on Nickelodeon’s ‘Victorious’ and ‘Sam and Cat.’ Subsequently, she forayed into becoming one of the bestselling music artists of all time. The ‘7 Rings’ hitmaker boasts nine Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits and two Grammy wins among other laurels. Grande has also starred in films like ‘Zoolander 2’ and ‘Don’t Look Up.’
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The epic musical ‘Wicked’ is a two-part film helmed by John M Chu. Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox have penned the script. The upcoming film is the first of the two-part film adaptation. The film is based on the stage musical of the same name by Stephen Schwartz and Holzman. The play, in turn, was based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire. It features characters from L. Frank Baum’s 1900 classic novel ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.’
Meanwhile, ‘Wicked’ features Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. Additionally, it features Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle, and Peter Dinklage in supporting roles. The film releases on November 22.