‘Wicked: One Wonderful Night’: What You Didn’t See on TV...

A LONG YELLOW BRICK ROAD Audience members were instructed to arrive at the theater no later than 4:30 p.m. to guarantee entry to the taping—and they were in for a lengthy night. By the time One Wonderful Night had concluded, it was half past nine, making the event a five-hour marathon. (The Wicked superfans present, many of whom were decked out in their Ozian best, didn’t seem to mind.) After tucking their phones away in Yondr pouches, audience members could mingle with friendly faces from the Wicked press tour, like Bowen Yang’s Las Culturistas bestie Matt Rogers and journalist Tracy E. Gilchrist, who was able to hold space in the flesh. Some cast members that didn’t participate in the special, like little Cesily Collette Taylor—who plays baby Nessarose—were also cheering on their castmates from the audience. Director Jon M. Chu made a special appearance, introducing never-before-seen clips from the movie featured in the special. That was a recurring theme of the evening; Erivo, Grande, and Yang all teased snippets of the second film’s new songs, “No Place Like Home” and “The Girl in the Bubble,” as well as a special performance of “For Good,” sung by Erivo and Grande, filmed live at the Gershwin Theatre—only to reveal later that this footage wouldn’t actually be shown until the special aired. The songs in Wicked are notoriously tricky, and some numbers at the taping had to be recorded more than once. Toward the beginning of the evening, Erivo wowed the audience with a choreography-forward rendition of “The Wizard and I,” which kicked off with her costar Jeff Goldblum—also an accomplished jazz musician—tickling the ivories. During her first shot, Erivo switched around the lyrics in the bridge of the song—understandable, as that portion uses a melody that Elphaba repeats with different lyrics throughout the show. She sang the whole thing again afterward, nailing the words on her second try. Erivo also took two cracks at her literally soaring rendition of “Defying Gravity,” which launched her toward the ceiling of the Dolby Theatre. Though her first rendition was note-and-word perfect, production needed to capture certain aspects of the act from different angles—which meant Erivo had to strap into her harness and belt out the number a second time, much to the audience’s delight. FELLOW OZIANS All the Ozians in the crowd—not just the Wicked cast members—got to participate in One Wonderful Night. At the beginning of the special, fans seated in the orchestra were given tulips and taught the opening lines to “No One Mourns the Wicked” by Wicked arranger and the conductor of the live 37-piece orchestra for the evening, Stephen Oremus. Then Wicked choreographer Christopher Scott taught the crowd flower-based moves from the same number, to be performed as Grande sang upstage to the camera. PRINCE REMINGTON Although Erivo and Grande delivered knockout performances, the true star of the special was a little boy named Remington. The four-year-old, who went viral on TikTok for his cover of “Defying Gravity,” stole the show when Grande chose him to be her Elphaba during a winning performance of “Popular.” In between numbers, a warm-up comedian also brought Remington—dressed as Elphaba, complete with a broomstick—onstage and had him introduce himself to the crowd. His favorite Wicked character, no surprise, is Elphaba. THREE FIYEROS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE People’s sexiest man alive, Jonathan Bailey, was unable to make it to the telecast—but that didn’t mean there would be no “Dancing Through Life.” Bowen Yang, Ethan Slater, and Marissa Bode stepped up to the plate and performed chunks of the song, all wearing Fiyero’s signature blue jacket and tight riding pants. The playfully competitive number showed off their vocal chops, as well as some dance skills not necessarily captured in Wicked. Yang nailed a complicated lift at the beginning of the number, while Slater hit a split that would make Boq blush. A COSTUME PARADE In between numbers, an impromptu costume contest was held, as audience members showed off their Wicked best. Many of the attendees had constructed outfits based on the Oscar-winning designs from Paul Tazewell’s first film, while others echoed outfits found in the original Broadway musical, designed by Susan Hilferty. At one point, a group of Glindas had a “toss, toss, leg” competition, with each contestant doing their best impression of Glinda’s signature hair flip and toe point. THANK U, NEXT Toward the end of the evening, the energy of the crowd began to wane—but was quickly brought back up when the Dolby played Grande’s hit song “Thank U, Next” in between numbers. The entire crowd began singing along to the tune, and Grande herself came out from the wings of the stage to thank the audience, blowing kisses and looking genuinely touched. FORGET YOUR TROUBLES. COME ON, GET HAPPY In a special surprise for musical theater aficionados, Grande and Erivo put down their broomstick and scepter at the end of the night and sang an iconic duet not found in the musical Wicked: “Get Happy/Happy Days Are Here Again,” made famous by Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland. Seated on stools and holding each other, Erivo belted out the Barbra Streisand part—“Happy Days Are Here Again”—while Grande channeled Judy Garland, crooning “Get Happy.” At the end of the number, Erivo and Grande were told that they needed to perform it again because of a sound-mixing issue, and the audience erupted in cheers. “We just wanted to sing it again,” quipped Grande. Thank goodness they did.