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Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, who originated the Wicked roles of Glinda and Elphaba, respectively, on Broadway, joined Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, who play the parts in the film adaptation, during the movie’s premiere in Los Angeles on Saturday, Nov. 9.
The group posed for photos at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, where they were joined by other film stars, including Jeff Goldblum, Marissa Bode, Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater and Bronwyn James.
Notably absent was the movie’s director, Jon M. Chu, who had to miss the event to be by his wife’s side as she prepares to welcome their fifth baby together.
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Based on the 2003 Broadway musical of the same name, Wicked tells the emotional origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West, the villain from L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the iconic 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz.
But before the Wicked Witch was feared all across the land of Oz, she was simply Elphaba Thropp, a reserved and misunderstood young woman who happened to be born with green skin and special powers. At Shiz University, she meets fellow student Glinda, a bubbly — and yes, popular — aspiring sorceress (and future Good Witch).
Elphaba and Glinda become roommates, then unlikely friends — until outside forces come between them and test their bond.
Newcomer Bode, who plays Elphaba’s younger sister Nessarose, remembers acts of kindness from both Erivo and Grande.
As she said in PEOPLE’s special Wicked issue, Erivo brought home-baked cookies to set, and made vegan and gluten-free varieties “just in case” somebody had dietary needs. “[It] was so sweet that she’s thoughtful,” Bode told PEOPLE.
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To be sure, the leads of the movie didn’t just show up and say their lines. Production designer Nathan Crowley picked Erivo and Grande’s brains about Elphaba and Glinda, which helped him inform his decisions about the set.
As he told PEOPLE, “There were many, many conversations with the actresses to see how they see their characters and how the props relate to that character.”
Wicked will be released in two parts, with the first arriving in theaters on Nov. 22.
