The WICKED team thought about making “Popular” more of a hip hop song but Ariana Grande refused “I want to be Glinda, not Ariana playing Glinda”

As with any stage musical that gets the big screen treatment, we can expect it Evil be just a shade different from its source material.

The director, Jon M. Chuhe will certainly make the film his own, while remaining very close to the beloved musical. One thing that was saved from the change was one of the film’s most popular songs, and we can thank actress Glinda Arianna Grande for that.

Evil composer and lyricist Stefano Schwartz revealed in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that he proposed a different version of “Popular” to Ariana Grande for the film adaptation which she immediately rejected.

The Grammy winner was adamant that her Glinda could have no trace of her musical career, so she wasn’t interested in making any of the songs on “Wicked” sound like pop songs.

“In the spirit of being open to new things for the film, my music team and I thought, let’s freshen up the pace. Let’s do, maybe, I don’t know, a little hip-hop,” Schwartz said when thinking back to “Popular” for the film. “Ariana said, ‘No way, don’t do it. I want to be Glinda, not Ariana Grande playing Glinda.’”

Grande also needed convincing when it came to changing the ending of “Popular.” The film changes a few octaves during the song’s finale to take full advantage of Grande’s impressive singing range.

“I had this idea for a new vocal ending. Ariana was a little hesitant about it, but I told her if I thought about it for the original show, that would be it,” Schwartz added. “Once she was reassured that this new piece of music was coming out of character, she was on board.”

Grande won acclaim for her performance in “Popular,” which remained mostly faithful to the Broadway version. “Wicked” director Jon M. Chi told the Times that he initially proposed doing something much larger for “Popular” in terms of visual scale, but producer Mark Platt rejected it.

“First I had a version where Glinda and Elphaba go into her closet and get lost in this pink world where she turns a corner, and then another corner, and another – like, how big is this closet?” Chu said. “But [producer] Marc [Platt] he said, “I don’t know if we should go into fantasy like that.” Remember, Glinda doesn’t have magic, so it’s confusing.’”

“Okay, what if all the bags we’ve been seeing this whole time are actually her closet and you don’t know it yet?” Chu continued. “So it became an extremely huge technical feat to bring this closet to life: grown men in small spaces opening doors and making things open at the right time, gadgets opening remotely with batteries and cables.

“That mirror is a very heavy machine, because it has to bend backwards to be able to walk on it. It was always scary; even during rehearsals I was always hesitant. If he steps on those lights, he’ll cut his foot.”

Evil It’s now in theaters around the world.

via: Variety