50 Wickedly Fun Facts about 'Wicked' To Get You Ready For 'Part Two' ...Saudi Arabia

Are you ready to return to Oz? Wicked fans will get just that chance when Wicked: For Goodcomes soaring into theaters on Friday, November 21, which sees the return of Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Ariana Grande as Glinda, reigning Sexiest Man Alive Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero and the rest of the star-studded cast as we see how The Wizard of Oz prequel will wrap up laying out the origin stories of the infamous Wicked Witch of the West.

To get you fully prepped for the hotly anticipated sequel film — which will also see returning actors like Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang and Peter Dinklage, as well as Ozian newcomer Colman Domingo joining the cast as the voice of the Cowardly Lion — here are 50 fun factoids, behind-the-scenes tidbits and subtle Easter eggs found in the larger Wicked cinematic universe, including the 1939 Judy Garland classic The Wizard of Oz, the books that inspired both films, and famed stage productions of Wicked the musical. (You can also rewatch the first Wicked flick on Peacock to jog your memory.)

??SIGN UP for Parade’s Daily newsletter & get the scoop on the latest TV news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox??

Spoiler warning: This story contains spoilers for Wicked: Part One and the larger Wicked universe.

50 Fun Facts About 'Wicked'

The opening credits of Wicked: Part One pay homage to the larger The Wizard of Oz universe: The title card utilizes a similar font to the original The Wizard of Oz film and even the modern-day Universal logo got a themed black-and-white makeover, harking back to the 1939 logo used when The Wizard of Oz came out.

2. All of those tulips were totally real.

Director Jon M. Chu wanted to avoid visual effects wherever possible, which means that the production crew actually planted nine million colorful tulips throughout the Land of Oz for the Wicked film. 

3. The love for Almira Gulch is felt throughout.

Wicked pays tribute to Almira Gulch, the OG Wicked Witch of the West—portrayed by actress Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz—several times throughout the movie, from Miss Cottle exclaiming “Just a slight gulch!” upon encountering Elphaba for the first time to Elphaba’s hands recreating the shadow of Gulch’s famous silhouette.

Virgil Apger/Getty Images

To play the notably green-skinned Elphaba, Wicked star Cynthia Erivo spent up to four hours each day getting her makeup done.

5. That green makeup required just as much effort to wash off.

That same green skin paint took 45 minutes to remove after each day of filming.

6. Elphaba's name has a hidden meaning.

The name Elphaba itself is a reference to L. Frank Baum, the author of the original The Wonderful Wizard of Oz novel from 1900. (Keep saying “L.F. Baum” over and over and it’ll click!)

Universal Pictures

Related: 69 Best Movie Musicals of All Time, Ranked

In the film, Glinda’s mother is played by British actress Alice Fearn, who famously portrayed Elphaba in Wicked in the West End.

8. The youngest actress to ever play Elphaba is...

Danna Paola! She led the Mexico production of Wicked when she was only 18 years old. 

9. Fiyero's future self is foreshadowed in Wicked.

Fiyero’s future as — spoiler alert! — the Scarecrow is foreshadowed throughout Wicked the movie: Elphaba tells him to “get stuffed!” when she encounters him in the forest and he dances among cornstalk motifs during his big "Dancing Through Life" musical number.

Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures

Related: 50 Best Quotes From ‘The Wizard of Oz’

Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande insisted on forgoing pre-recordings and instead performed the musical’s songs live during filming "in solidarity with the women on Broadway who've done this eight shows a week,” as they revealed in a November 2024 appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show.

11. Wicked alums helped soundtrack the movie.

Unlike the lead singers, however, the ensemble vocals were prerecorded and featured a number of Broadway performers, including alumni from Wicked stage productions.

During NBC's Wicked: One Wonderful Night special, Jonathan Bailey revealed that his audition tape for Fiyero was taped in just a handful of minutes while he was in his dressing room waiting to go onstage in a West End production.

13. The original slippers were silver, not ruby.

In the movie, Elphaba’s sister Nessarose is given a pair of silver slippers from her father —they’re the same shoes that Dorothy wears in the original 1900 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz novel written by author L. Frank Baum. The 1939 film The Wizard of Oz changed the shoes to ruby slippers to show off the film’s Technicolor qualities.

Related: 32 of the Best Dance Movies Ever

In total, it has been reported that the Wicked costume team created over 1,000 costumes across Wicked: Part One and Wicked: For Good, with Glinda and Elphaba alone having about 25 dedicated looks apiece.

15. The Yellow Brick Road, and most of the movie's sets, are real.

To make Wicked’s fantastical world feel tactile and immersive, CGI effects were eschewed for real-deal sets crafted by the production team, including the iconic Yellow Brick Road.

16. Ama Clutch gets a shout-out.

In the movie, Glinda’s suite neighbor is named Ama Clutch, which is a reference to the original 1995 Wicked novel by author Gregory Maguire—in the book, Ann Clutch is Glinda’s school chaperone.

ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

When the Wicked book first debuted, Whoopi Goldberg and Demi Moore both fought for the rights to make a film adaptation of the novel. Fellow actresses Claire Danes, Salma Hayek and Laurie Metcalf also reportedly expressed interest in buying the rights.

18. Even the spell books at Shiz were real.

Textbooks and spell books featured in scenes like “Dancing Through Life” aren’t mere empty props—their pages were actually designed and written by the Wicked production team.

19. This actress played both Elphaba and Glinda onstage.

British star Louise Dearman is the only actress to portray both Glinda and Elphaba full-time in the West End production of Wicked—she played the former from March 2010 to December 2011 and returned to play the latter in October 2012.

Universal Pictures

Cynthia Erivo performed high-flying, broom-riding stunts to portray Elphaba, even while having to hit the high notes of songs like “Defying Gravity.” “I just did everything in my power that I could,” she said during a November 2024 Q+A at the DGA Theater in New York City, per PEOPLE. “I endured whatever bruises and chafing and whatever it was necessary to. ... I wanted to make sure that I could experience both what flight felt like and what it felt like to sing that song, in one. And I hope it was worth it.”

Related: How Cynthia Erivo Prepared for Filming Her ‘Wicked: For Good’ Scenes (Exclusive)

21. Wicked: For Good will musically mix things up from the original theater show.

Every single song from Wicked: Part One is pulled from the stage production of Wicked. However, there will be brand-new tunes featured in Wicked: For Good.

22. Fiyero's horse previously acted opposite Jonathan Bailey.

Jonathan Bailey had a previous working relationship with his horse from Wicked—the actor personally requested the animal, a Friesian named Jack, after working with him for six months on Netflix’s Bridgerton. 

Marleen Moise/WireImage

Among the high-profile stars who auditioned for Glinda were Amana Seyfried, Dove Cameron and Reneé Rapp. The role ended up going to pop icon Ariana Grande.

Related: Why Casting Ariana Grande for ‘Wicked’ Was Such a Risk

24. Bow's metallic transformation is teased in Wicked.

As with Fiyero, Boq’s future as the heartless Tin Man is also teased subtly through the film: In one scene, Glinda places a red handkerchief over his heart and in another, Boq (played by Ethan Slater) proclaims his penchant for crying “a lot.”

25. Who the heck is Oscar Diggs?

Before he was known as the Wizard of Oz, Jeff Goldblum’s character was simply Oscar Diggs from Omaha, Nebraska, a backstory teased throughout Wicked’s production design via signs and posters throughout Oz.

Getty Images

Related: ‘Wicked: For Good’ Fans are ‘Obsessulated’ Over the Final Movie Trailer

Glinda’s iconically pink and heavily beaded bubble dress from Wicked: Part One took 225 hours and 137 pattern pieces to make.

27. Here's why Fiyero is immune to poppy-induced slumber.

When Elphaba used poppies to put a room full of her fellow classmates to sleep, the ruse didn't affect Fiyero. Lovers of The Wizard of Oz will remember that, unlike the rest of the characters, the Tin Man doesn’t fall asleep in the poppy fields, foreshadowing Fiyero’s future.

Bruce Glikas/Getty Images

Related: Kristin Chenoweth Shares Unfiltered Opinion of New ‘Wicked’ Movie After First Watch

Wicked fans went wild when theater icons and OG Wicked actresses Kristen Chenoweth and Idina Menzel — who originated the roles of Glinda and Elphaba on Broadway, respectively— showed up for a cameo in the film adaptation.

29. And the musical's writers were also given a moment in the spotlight.

Winnie Holzman (who wrote the script for the original musical) and Stephen Schwartz (who composed the music and lyrics) also appear in the film during the “One Short Day” musical number.

30. "Dancing Through Life" honors a dancing legend.

The memorable spinning library sequence from “Dancing Through Life” was an homage to the 1951 movie musical Royal Wedding, which features legendary performer Fred Astaire dancing on the ceiling.

Courtesy of Sphere

Related: The Wizard of Oz is the World's Favorite Movie. Here's Why.

Nessarose’s striped socks in Wicked: Part One nod to her future status as the Wicked Witch of the East — Dorothy spots the witch’s striped legs crushed beneath her flying house in The Wizard of Oz.

32. Ariana Grande's name looks a little different in the Wicked credits.

Eagle-eyed fans will spot that Ariana Grande is credited as Ariana Grande-Butera in the film. That’s in tribute to her father and her upbringing, the star told Entertainment Weekly: “That was my name when I first saw Wicked. I do feel like this role, and this project, helped me sort of come home to little Ari. Maybe little pieces of her got lost along the way in this crazy industry, and I'm so grateful for the ways in which this experience led me back. So, I kind of wanted to capture that."

Jackie Burns is the longest-running Elphaba actress on Broadway; Katie Rose Clarke is the longest-running Glinda performer.

34. Cynthia needed prosthetics for a surprising reason to play Elphaba.

Cynthia Erivo had to sport prosthetic ears while playing Elphaba in the Wicked movie, to camouflage her own heavily pierced earlobes.

Universal Pictures

Related: Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland’s Iconic 1963 Duet is Recreated by ‘Wicked’ Stars—and Fans Have Thoughts

Though not actually functional, a life-size Emerald City Express was custom-built for Wicked the film; it reportedly weighs 16 tons and stretches 106 feet.

36. Rainbows reference Oz's most famous ballad.

To honor Judy Garland’s "Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz, rainbow motifs are woven throughout Wicked, including the layout of the colorful tulips in the opening scenes and a rainbow set in the sky behind Elphaba as she sings “The Wizard and I.”

37. So, who else auditioned for Elphaba?

Several talented starlets reportedly came out to audition to play Elphaba, a role that was filled by multihyphenate star Cynthia Erivo. Among those willing to go green were Oscar winner Ariana DeBose, Pitch Perfect actress Anna Kendrik, pop singer Jessie J., Emmy winner Cristin Milioti and The Color Purple’s Phylicia Pearl Mpasi.

Related:75 Weird, Wonderful Facts About ‘The Wizard of Oz

After Elphaba rescues the baby lion, she puts the animal in her bike basket and rides away; this is a clear homage to Dorothy’s pet dog Toto.

39. And, yes, that lion is exactly who you think it is.

Yes, spoiler alert! That lion cub will grow up to become the Cowardly Lion himself.

40. Ariana Grande wanted "Popular" to be perfectly faithful to the musical.

Composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz wanted to give Glinda’s “Popular” number a hip-hop update for the film, but star Ariana Grande was passionately against the move. Schwartz revealed to Variety that the actress told him: “Absolutely not, don't do it. I want to be Glinda, not Ariana Grande playing Glinda.”

Universal Pictures

A single performance of the Wicked stage show reportedly uses 250 pounds of dry ice and enough electricity to power 12 homes.

42. Lady Gaga almost played Elphaba.

Long before Jon M. Chu’s 2024 version of Wicked, another film adaptation of the musical was in the works back in 2016, this time directed by Stephen Daldry (The Crown) and starring Mother Monster herself, Lady Gaga, as Elphaba. Scheduling conflicts meant that production never got past the planning phase.

Related: Iconic A-Lister Joins Lady Gaga on Stage for ‘Insane’ Performance

43. And Shawn Mendes was almost Fiyero.

Opposite Lady Gaga’s Elphaba in that 2016 Wicked was Shawn Mendes as Fiyero, an inside source told Page Six.

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation

Two of the three Jonas Brothers auditioned to play Fiyero in Jon M. Chu's Wicked: Nick and Joe Jonas. The role ultimately went to the one and only Jonathan Bailey.

45. They are stormy references in Nessarose's silver slippers.

Nessarose’s silver slippers channel the tornado that eventually brings Dorothy Gale to the Land of Oz. As Costume designer Paul Tazewell told Forbes: "The heel swirls up, is crystallized, and then wraps around the foot with spiral waves encased in Nessarose's [Marissa Bode's] feet. It's an iconic piece that is reflective of the ruby slipper and the importance that we give it."

46. Here's why there's no rain in the Ozian forecast.

Legend has it that the Wicked Witch of the West, and therefore Elphaba, is allergic to water. Thankfully for her, Wicked: Part One establishes that the Land of Oz is currently experiencing a drought.

Sophy Holland for Universal Pictures

Related: Ariana Grande Looks Unrecognizable After Dyeing Hair

Glinda’s signature pink frock is featured in both The Wizard of Oz and Wicked: Part One but onstage, the gown is instead colored a pastel blue. This switch-up is reportedly to avoid any copyright issues between the theater production and the 1939 film.

48. Wicked the movie won a lot of awards so far.

Wicked: Part One received a whopping 125 awards out of 324 nominations, including two Academy Award wins for achievements in production design and costuming. Well-deserved!

Marissa Bode, who portrays Nessarose in the Wicked films, actually uses a wheelchair in real life. It’s the first time that an actress with a disability has played the role.

50. Ariana Grande didn't just audition for Glinda, but Elphaba too.

Ariana Grande revealed on the Sentimental Men podcast in November 2024 that she had auditioned for not only Glinda but also Elphaba. "I had an inkling in my heart always that it was going to be Glinda, but I was hearing really mixed things from people who were like, 'Oh, they want you to read for both,' " the singer said. "I was like, I guess that's because they don't know what my voice is — and maybe they think vocally I might be better-suited for Elphaba. I secretly knew I was only meant for Glinda."

Hence then, the article about 50 wickedly fun facts about wicked to get you ready for part two was published today ( Saturday 15/11/2025 - 03:02 PM ) and is available on Parade ( Saudi Arabia ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.

Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( 50 Wickedly Fun Facts about 'Wicked' To Get You Ready For 'Part Two' )

Also on site :

• PIN Stockholder Alert: Shareholder Rights Law Firm Robbins LLP Reminds Investors of the Class Action Lawsuit Against Pinterest, Inc.
• Sheena Easton, 66, Is Still a Stunning Redhead Several Years After Leaving the Chaos of Mega-Fame Behind
• ‘Murphy Brown’ Star Jessie Jones Dead at 75