Idina Menzel & Kristin Chenoweth's Wicked Cameos Are A Full-Circle Moment

Spoilers for Wicked Part 1 ahead. Elphaba and Glinda are back — and no, not just Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande stepping into their respective roles in the long-awaited Wicked movie. Part 1 features cameos from none other than Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, who originated the two leading roles in the 2003 Broadway show.

The actors were instrumental in shaping the characters that Erivo and Grande would play over 20 years later. In fact, both of them received Tony nominations for Best Actress in a Musical, which Menzel won.

Wicked finally premiered in theaters on Nov. 22 after years of development. Menzel and Chenoweth originally expressed interest in reprising their roles for the film, with Menzel even joking in 2019 that she should “just show up, slap that green makeup on me, and get some CGI and Benjamin Button the sh*t out of that.”

While that didn’t work out, the first of two Wicked films honors Menzel and Chenoweth’s legacy in a sentimental way, making for an emotional full-circle moment. Read about their special cameos below.

Idina & Kristin’s Wicked Scene

Menzel and Chenoweth make their grand entrances during the musical number “One Short Day,” in which Glinda and Elphaba sing about the magical wonders of Oz as they explore the city before meeting the Wizard. The OG Elphaba and Glinda now play magical princesses who act out the history of Oz for visitors, singing new verses of “One Short Day” written for the film.

Hilariously, Menzel and Chenoweth channel their former characters’ initial feud rather than the close friendship they eventually form, with the princesses attempting to out-sing each other and steal the spotlight onstage.

In a very sweet passing of the torch, the duo descends into the crowd to sing with their Elphaba and Glinda successors. Hilariously, they still won’t let the new girls steal their shine, with Chenoweth even covering Glinda’s mouth when Grande attempts to replicate her operatic notes.

Idina & Kristin’s Casting Thoughts

Menzel and Chenoweth attended the Los Angeles premiere of Wicked and posed with Erivo and Grande on the red carpet, hinting at their cameos and giving their final approval to the film’s stars. However, the original duo were overjoyed for the new Elphaba and Glinda before they stepped onto set for their appearances.

Chenoweth first met Grande when the pop singer saw Wicked at 10 years old, and they became even friendlier as Grande rose to fame, which made for an emotional moment when she told Chenoweth about her Wicked audition.

“I finally confessed to her, I said, ‘Hey, I think they’re doing this now, and I think I wanna go for Glinda,’ and she went into the bathroom and closed the door and started crying,” Grande recalled on the Sentimental Men podcast. "It was the sweetest thing in the world... She was just like, ‘I was hoping this would happen. I love you, and I trust you with it, baby girl.’”

Menzel was similarly thrilled that Erivo and Grande would step into their shoes but admitted that it was “hard” not playing Elphaba anymore.

“I'm very excited and I know it's in great hands and I’ve sent so much love to Cynthia and Ariana and I'm there for them if they need me,” she told Broadway.com in 2022. “Yes, I’m a little sad that I'm just older and can't play the role, you know? It's the aging and the proprietorship of the role and what it means to me and how it changed my life. I just love it, and I miss her.”