Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, the originally played the roles of Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, in the Broadway production of Wicked in 2003, make a surprise appearance in the new movie.
The actresses donned fairytale-inspired gowns for the cameo, especially designed by costume designer Paul Tazewell.
The designer shared that he was handed the task of creating the whimsical dresses in an extremely limited time, in conversation with People Magazine.
“The question was how do you make something theatrical?” he thought as he began.
“How do I design something that’s going to be theatrical within the context of a fantasy world? What will Emerald City citizens see as an interesting theatrical presentation?”
The Oscar-winning designer dreamed up a picture of gowns that reflected the look of Christmas trees made out of folded pages of books.
“We know Idina as Elphaba, but I wanted her to be the ‘light’ one and for Kristin to be the ‘dark’ one,” he told the outlet as he made the choice of flipping their colour schemes.
“They’re both still pretty bright chromatically and sparkly, but I tried to give them opposites,” he added.
Taking pride in his creation, the designer continued, “And it was a mad dash to get everything because it all came together all at once very quickly. We were working tirelessly to pull it all together and make these happen. And I was flying to New York and fitting and then flying back [to London], but we made it happen, and it was really wonderful.”