For 21 years, fans of composer Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s Wicked musical adaptation of Gregory Maguire’s novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, have been praying to the gods of Broadway for a feature film adaptation.
Now, they finally have it with director Jon M. Chu’s two-part musical extravaganza. Wicked Part One is in theaters now, with Wicked Part Two gliding into theaters a year from now, November 21, 2025.
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Both the book and film tell the epic “untold” back story of Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda (Ariana Grande), the Good Witch of the North first introduced in L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
For Wicked musical fans, this theatrical release is practically a must-see pilgrimage. To honor them, producer and Tony Award-winner Marc Platt and Chu have gifted the original fanbase with some Easter eggs inside their film that connect the stage show to the screen even more.
If you’ve already seen the film and missed some of the cameos during the big Wiz-o-mania production in Emerald City, then NBC Insider is here to point out who to look out for the next time you see it.
Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth’s cameos in Wicked
Of course, the women who originated the characters of Elphaba and Glinda — first in the San Francisco rehearsals and then on Broadway in New York City — had to be in the Wicked feature film.
Not long after Elphaba and Glinda arrive in the Emerald City, the city welcomes them by singing “One Short Day,” during which they are whisked away to watch the Wiz-o-mania stage production which explains the origin story of the city. Mid-performance, Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth are revealed as the Wiz-o-mania Superstars, dueling divas trying to one-up each other during the show. Both actresses homage their Broadway stage performances by adding specific flourishes taken right from their original portrayals.
Other Wicked stage actors of note in the movie
During the lively presentation of the Wiz-o-mania sequence, there’s a whole cast of players supporting the Wiz-o-mania Superstars. Because the Wicked films were produced in London, England, there’s a whole lot of very familiar musical theater faces featured during this musical within a musical. More specifically, there are several performers from the various Wicked casts from the West End productions.
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On the stage, or near it, you’ll see Kerry Ellis, who played Elphaba from 2006-2008, 2008-2009, and in 2014, as well as actress Dianne Pilkington, who played Glinda from 2007–2010. From the Broadway run, Michael McCorry Rose, who played Fiyero, is the lead male voice singing “One Short Day” with the cast.
Outside that sequence, in the first act when Glinda arrives at Shiz University, actress Alice Fearn plays her mother; she notably played Elphaba from 2017-2019.
Winnie Holzman
Holzman goes back to the very beginning of Wicked the musical’s life, as she worked closely with composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz to adapt Maguire’s novel into what would be come the musical’s book (or script, in stage play speak). Together, they adapted the book through its various iterations from San Francisco’s trial performances, the Broadway version, and the adjusted West End version.
She also co-wrote the Wicked Part One and Wicked Part Two screenplays with screenwriter Dana Fox. In Wicked Part Oneduring the “One Short Day” sequence, Holzman is dressed like an Oz-ian and sings a line from the song almost to camera.
Stephen Schwartz
Six-time Tony Award-winner Stephen Schwartz worked with Holzman to develop the book, and create the songs and lyrics for their Wicked musical. For these Wicked films, Schwartz worked with composer John Powell (How to Train Your Dragon) to produce the songs for film, and use the melodies from the musical’s songs to adapt into the film score.
In Wicked Part One, Schwartz gets his own cameo as the well-dressed Emerald City guard who announces Elphaba and Glinda into the inner sanctum of the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum). He introduces them formally with the well-known phrase, “The wizard will see them now.”
Wicked is in theaters now! Click here to pick up tickets for yourself and the whole family!
