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Wicked comes to NBC with a live musical spectacular starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande ahead of Wicked: For Good flying into theaters

Director Jon M. Chu promises appearances from the movie's cast as well as "surprise guests" in the fall live event on NBC and Peacock

Elphaba And Glinda In Wicked Part 1 — Image credit: Universal Pictures

News by Graeme McMillan, Editor

Published on Mon May 12 2025

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Fans of musical theater and magic will have good reason to be thrilled this fall, with the news that NBC Universal is extending its relationship with the world of Wicked even further — with a new live TV musical special featuring songs from the Broadway show (and movies!) to be aired ahead of the release of November’s Wicked: For Good arriving in theaters.

The as-yet untitled and undated special will be part of the promotional efforts for the follow-up to 2024’s smash hit Wicked, which will be released in theaters November 21, and was announced by the movies’ director, Jon M. Chu during NBC Universal’s Monday upfront presentation to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

I am absolutely delighted to let you in on a centerpiece of our campaign for the second film, and it’s something that’s never been done in the 22-year history of ‘Wicked,'” Chu said, as quoted by Variety. “This fall, our stars, the wonderful Cynthia Erivo and incandescent Ariana Grande, will be joined by their castmates and some wonderful surprise guests in a one time only event from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, they will perform live many of the songs from the first movie — and maybe a little bit from the second one as well, for a night of entertainment that we think will be, as they say in Oz, thrillifying.”

The special will air live on NBC, and be available the next day on Peacock to stream. Place your bets as to who the “wonderful surprise guests” will be that accompany the movie’s cast, but we’ll be shocked if some of the original Broadway cast for the show don’t appear at some point, alongside more familiar pop stars looking to pay tribute to the property and get some Spotify streams out of the experience.

Keep your eyes on Popverse for more Wicked as the release of Wicked: For Good gets closer.

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Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.