Ariana Grande Brought Cynthia Erivo Back for a Wicked Reunion in London
Image: Loredana Sangiulian (via Shutterstock)
Ariana Grande turned the second night of her London run into an impromptu Wicked reunion, bringing longtime co-star Cynthia Erivo out during the encore of her Eternal Sunshine Tour stop at the O2 Arena on August 16.
The pair, who played Glinda and Elphaba across two Wicked films, performed "For Good" together before moving into a mashup of "Get Happy" and "Happy Days Are Here Again", a nod to the famous television pairing of Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand that Grande and Erivo first recreated during last November's Wicked: One Wonderful Night special. The two shared a long hug on stage as the crowd reacted to the surprise.
@_danieloconnor London has been changed FOR GOOD 💚🩷 #arianagrande #eternalsunshinetour #wicked #cynthiaerivo #wickedforgood @arianagrande ♬ original sound - DANIEL
It marked the first time Grande and Erivo have performed together live since that television special, and it landed at a notable point in the tour. The London shows are the final stretch of the Eternal Sunshine Tour, which wraps its ten-date O2 residency on September 1. Grande's team has said she plans to step back from public-facing work once the tour concludes, following a stretch of heightened attention on her.
The Eternal Sunshine Tour, named for Grande's seventh studio album, marked her return to the road after several years spent largely on film and TV work, including the Wicked films alongside Erivo. She followed the album with her eighth record, Petal, released in July.
For fans who've followed the Elphaba-and-Glinda pairing since the first Wicked film, Sunday's reunion offered one more shared moment before Grande steps out of the spotlight, and one of the last surprises expected before the curtain falls on the London run.
@alexisromo22 I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS OMG US GETTING TWO SURPRISE SONGS WITH CYNTHIA 😭 @arianagrande #arianagrande #eternalsunshinetour #eternalsunshine #arianator ♬ Defying Gravity - Cynthia Erivo
