Hello, this is Jon M. Chu and I am the director of 'Wicked'. 'And Elfie. Can I call you Elfie? “Well, it's a bit perky.” So we're about halfway through the movie. And these two roommates, who are very different from each other, have moved into this semi-small student room. And it's Glinda and Elphaba, played by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, and they just bonded over sharing stories. So this is the beginning of their real friendship, their first date, so to speak. This is a very iconic scene. 'Popular' is one of those songs that everyone knows from 'Wicked'. It's probably most used in talent shows, and there was a lot of pressure to get this right and find our way into this in a cinematic way. But of course, it's all about Ariana Grande's performance here, as she showsboats and shows off her power to transform Elphaba into someone who could be popular. “Exactly what they need.” And Ari is simply a master of comedy. You see it in all her movements and how she interacts with Cynthia Erivo. If you actually listen to it, her beats and her breaks are just masterful. Paul Tazewell, our costume designer, designed for her this beautiful new word that I learned, peignoir, which has now become iconic on all the dolls and such, and this giant chandelier that she swings from. It seems simple, but there's actually a lot of manpower running that thing. There's actually a guy sitting on top who turns it and helps her move around, and this was a lot of fun for us. We had to really let the song come in and take our time to get in there. We had a pianist in the corner because everything is live too, so she could use her own tempo. “Popular, you're going to be popular.” And what the concept was for this was that instead of going into a giant closet, because it's a dorm room, it contained all the bags that we had seen in previous scenes. I love this moment where she takes the ruby slippers and taps them three times as a nod to Wizard of Oz. But each of these devices, even though they seem simple, has grown men sitting in small spaces pulling it open and closing, and it took months and months to design it right. One of the biggest things that Cynthia really wanted was that she didn't just want to be a passenger, she really wanted to be a part of it. She doesn't resist it as much as in the photo shown, she actually enjoys this attention and this friendship very much. “Not when it comes to popular.” That mirror alone. It is so heavy and there is so much technology in it. It's actually very, very dangerous. Later she will actually step on it. And that alone took many, many months to design, including this thing that folds back and she falls back on. And I love this moment of her swinging around. We did this about 18 times. We had to grease the floor. Her dressing gown couldn't stay on that hanger. But then again, Ari is a master of physical comedy and she does it like she was born to do it. “What?”
