See One Thing Ariana Refused to Do For 'Wicked'

justjared.com:

Ariana Grande landed her dream role when she was cast as Glinda in the big-screen adaptation of Wicked, and she took her commitment to the part very seriously.

Director Jon M. Chu revealed that the 31-year-old pop star was an “aficionado” on the Broadway musical and treated elements of the script as a “bible.” In a new interview, composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz shared that she was so dedicated to respecting the source material that she refused to make a big change to one of its songs. Keep reading to find out more… Stephen told the Los Angeles Times that he proposed adding a bit of edge to Glinda’s song “Popular.” “In the spirit of being open to new things for the movie, my music team and I thought, let’s refresh the rhythm.

Let’s, maybe, I don’t know, hip-hop it up a little bit,” he explained, via Deadline. “Ariana said, ‘Absolutely not, don’t do it.

I want to be Glinda, not Ariana Grande playing Glinda.’” He added that they did try “a new vocal ending” for the song after some urging. “Ariana was a little hesitant about it, but I told her that if I had thought of it for the original show, this is how it would have been.