Ariana Grande could be in line to play the role she has always wanted according to a report in The Sun. She has always dreamed of playing the role of Elphaba in Wicked and it looks like this dream could be becoming a reality. It has been reported that she has met with bosses of the Broadway show to discuss taking over the role from Jackie Burns.
She has repeatedly spoken of her desire to play the role in many interviews throughout her career and it appears that this has not gone unnoticed by the producers of the show. When the show opened on Broadway thirteen years ago the role was played by Idina Menzel who won a Tony Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of the character. Only a select few actresses have been asked to play the part since then and it will be the first time that it has been played by a pop star.
It is believed that Broadway bosses are hoping that Ariana Grande could help to bring in fresh audiences to the show, which is now the seventh longest running show on Broadway. The show has been playing at the Gershwin Theater since 2003 and tells the tale of Glinda and Elphaba – the Wicked Witch of The West – many years before the events of the Wizard of Oz take place. There are several well known songs to come from the show including Defying Gravity and Popular. It is one of the most successful musicals of all time and is now performed all over the world, going on nationwide tours in some countries. It is also a firm favorite of Grande’s which is why she wants the role of Elphaba so badly.
The news comes after a disappointing few weeks for Grande who was forced to pull out of the Brit Awards in February due to illness. She was due to perform at the ceremony in a tribute to those who were killed in the bombing at the MEN Arena in Manchester last May after one of her shows. She was replaced in the performance by Liam Gallagher of Oasis who has also performed at the One Love Manchester concert that Grande organized which took place a month after her original show. A nail bomb was detonated in the foyer killing 22 people and injuring hundreds more. The terrorist attack was made even more sickening by the fact that the terrorist had chosen Grande’s concert which they knew would have been attended by a lot of young children and teenagers.
No official confirmation has been made by Grande or the producers of Wicked about whether these rumors are true and neither side is yet to comment at all. There has also been no suggestion of when Jackie Burns will leave the show. Grande does have a background in acting and bosses are rumored to be confident that she has what it takes to make a real success of the role. Only time will tell whether there is actually something behind the rumors and Ariana Grande’s dream really can come true.
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