- - Best and worst moments from “Wicked: One Wonderful Night” with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande

Jillian SederholmNovember 7, 2025 at 3:34 AM

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Ariana Grande and Remington on 'Wicked: One Wonderful Night'

Most of the main cast of Wicked and the upcoming sequel Wicked: For Good assembled for a soaring two-hour musical special that aired Thursday night on NBC.

Wicked: One Wonderful Night featured performances by Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba), Ariana Grande (Glinda), Michelle Yeoh (Madame Morrible), Jeff Goldblum (The Wizared), Bowen Yang (Pfannee), Marissa Bode (Nessarose), and Ethan Slater (Boq).

The thrillifying celebration of all things Oz boasted reimagined musical montages from the movie (accompanied by a 37-piece live orchestra led by the award-winning musical director Stephen Oremus), highlight reels featuring the cast and fans, and a sneak preview of footage from Wicked: For Good, including two new songs written by legendary composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz for Erivo and Grande.

Read on for our list of most memorable moments from Wicked: One Wonderful Night — and a couple things we would have changed for the better.

01 of 09

BEST: A "Popular" recast

Ariana Grande and Remington on 'Wicked: One Wonderful Night'

Although it's always fun to see Grande and Erivo together, watching the pop star's Glinda giving her frank analysis to an adorable young Elphaba stand-in — a 4-year-old boy named Remington — was a pure joy. The cuteness overload was even too much for Grande, who collapsed in delight as her new pal Remy agreed to join her from the audience and then she broke into giggles more than once while singing to her cutie patootie costar. Popular indeed.

02 of 09

BEST: Michelle Yeoh everywhere all at once

Michelle Yeoh on 'Wicked: One Wonderful Night'

We're always happy to see Yeoh, and even happier the special found plenty of ways to include the Oscar winner, who had multiple costume changes throughout the night and even vogued in one number.

03 of 09

BEST: We have been changed for good

nbc

Idina Menzel, Ariana Grande, Stephen Schwartz, Cynthia Erivo, and Kristin Chenoweth

At the halfway point in the special, we got a delightful segment filmed at the Gershwin Theatre in New York City, home of the original Broadway production of Wicked. It began with Schwartz playing a special arrangement of "For Good" on piano as Grande and Erivo sang. Grande became overcome with emotion, wiping away tears as Erivo sang to her "Who can say if I've been changed for the better / But because I knew you I have been changed for good." If that wasn't enchanting enough, they were then joined by their original Broadway counterparts, Kristin Chenoweth (Glinda) and Idina Menzel (Elphaba).

04 of 09

WORST: An unsexy lack of Jonathan Bailey

Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures

Jonathan Bailey as Prince Fiyero in 'Wicked'

Bridgerton star and PEOPLE's newest Sexiest Man Alive Jonathan Bailey wasn't able to make it to the taping of the TV special in Los Angeles due to a scheduling conflict. Although he appeared briefly in a pretaped package featuring the cast sharing memories of filming, Bailey — and Prince Fiyero — were greatly missed on stage. His absence, however, offered Yang, Slater, and Bode a moment to shine as they hilariously competed for lead Fiyero understudy in "Dancing Through Life."

05 of 09

BEST: Live from Oz, it's Bowen Yang!

Bowen Yang on 'Wicked: One Wonderful Night'

Although the Saturday Night Live star doesn't have the largest role in Wicked, the prime-time special made sure to take full advantage of Yang's charisma and impeccable comedy chops, especially playing off the live theater audience as he's used to each week at his day job. It was a highlight to see Yang pop up at various moments of the special as comic relief, especially stealing the show through the "Dancing Through Life" performance in place of Bailey.

06 of 09

WORST: Fake auditions and other filler

Khloe Kardashian on 'Wicked: One Wonderful Night'

Several clip packages were interspersed within the performances throughout the special. Some offered a nice glimpse at cast dynamics (like when the costars shared memories of filming intense scenes or Grande meeting Goldblum as a child), while most fell flat and like filler when we'd much rather see them all performing or interacting onstage together instead. On particularly bad moment came when director Jon M. Chu took the stage to introduce some never-before-seen auditions from actors who didn't get the part. Instead of the real audition of Amanda Seyfried as Glinda or Yang's SNL pals contributing a sketch of parody auditions, it was a reel of random celebs like Ludacris, Heidi Klum, and Khloe Kardashian joking about auditioning but with no real payoff to the bit.

07 of 09

BEST: Cynthia Erivo defies gravity

Cynthia Erivo flies of the audience on 'Wicked: One Wonderful Night'

Erivo trusted her instincts as she closed her eyes and leaped, soaring over the mesmerized audience during a show-stopping performance of "Defying Gravity." Flying even higher than her body was Erivo's powerhouse vocals that brought the down the house every time she took the stage.

08 of 09

BEST: Icons honoring icons

Cynthia Enrivo and Ariana Grande on 'Wicked: One Wonderful Night'

Grande and Erivo embodied queer icons of yesteryear as they beautifully harmonized their own rendition of Wizard of Oz star Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand's groundbreaking duet medley of "Happy Days Are Here Again" and "Get Happy" from a 1963 episode of The Judy Garland Show. The actresses shared a warm embrace at the end that really hit a high note.

09 of 09

WORST: No full-cast number

The cast of 'Wicked: One Wonderful Night'

Given the impressive number of cast members who did appear, it was a bit disappointing to not have them fill the stage at the same time for a group number. It would have been nice for all the costars to come out sooner to join in on the final notes of Grande and Erivo's duet. Heck, we would have settled for a quick sing-a-long of "We're Off to See the Wizard."

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Following its Thursday premiere on NBC at 8 p.m. ET/PT, Wicked: One Wonderful Night will stream on Peacock beginning Friday.

Wicked: For Good hits theaters on Nov. 21.

on Entertainment Weekly

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