‘Wicked’ composer wanted to make Glinda’s songs more hip-hop but Ariana Grande pushed back

Ariana Grande has revealed she pushed back against the Wicked composer’s attempts to make Glinda’s songs more hip-hop in nature.

• READ MORE: ‘Wicked’ review: hit musical makes gravity-defying leap to the big screen

The blockbuster is the first of a two-part film adaptation of the hit stage musical and it made memorable use of the show’s original songs, which were written by Stephen Schwartz.

In a new interview with IndieWire, Grande – who has been nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars for her role as the Galinda/Glinda character in the film – has spoken about how Schwartz himself suggested altering the songs, including ‘Popular’, so that they fit more closely with the music Grande has made in her career.

“I was concerned, but it was met with so much mutual love and respect,” Grande said about her reaction to his suggestion. “I lovingly reached out and said, ‘I don’t think this is very in character. I just don’t think this is Galinda’s rhythmic landscape’. She claps on one and three, you know. So, there’s no way.”

“When it comes to the score, the actual singing, I don’t like to do runs for the sake of just doing runs. I try to be very intentional when it comes to embellishments or vocal options that I choose when I’m singing Galinda, because I feel like they have to be emotionally attached to something,” she added. “There’s a pop version of ‘Popular’ that could exist, but I was very opposed to that idea just because I don’t feel like it serves the character, and I don’t feel like it serves the story.”

Schwartz has previously spoken about Grande’s reaction to the proposed changes. “In the spirit of being open to new things for the movie, my music team and I thought, let’s refresh the rhythm,” he told the Los Angeles Times last year. “Let’s, maybe, I don’t know, hip-hop it up a little bit. Ariana said, ‘Absolutely not, don’t do it. I want to be Glinda, not Ariana Grande playing Glinda.’”

Grande did extensively work to adjust her vocal and singing style for the film, including a lighter, higher speaking tone which she has said she might keep. “I think that might stay” she said of the difference. “Galinda required a lot of vocal work for me. Certain things maybe won’t melt away. Some will, but I’m really grateful for the pieces that will stay with us forever. What a beautiful thing to be left with, and to feel the ghost of every day.”

In a four-star review of Wicked, Nick Levine wrote for NME: “Wicked flags a little in the middle, but not enough to dampen a dramatic climax in which Elphaba and Glinda travel to Oz to meet the fabled Wonderful Wizard (Jeff Goldblum). He and Yeoh sell their brief musical numbers on twinkly charisma, but Erivo and Grande are both vocally extraordinary.”

The second film, Wicked: For Good, is set to be released on November 21 this year. It will feature a new original song that Schwartz has co-written with the film’s other lead star Cynthia Erivo.

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