Glinda descending in her bubble at the beginning of Wicked and singing “No One Mourns the Wicked” is honestly unforgettable. In both the Broadway musical and the film that just premiered on the 2024 movie schedule, it’s an iconic opening moment that features a jaw-dropping and detailed gown. However, there’s a big difference between the two as Ariana Grande’s dress (which took 225 hours to make, by the way) directly pays homage to The Wizard of Oz while the stage production does not, and we finally know why that’s the case.
On Broadway, Glinda’s opening gown is a pale blue color. Meanwhile, in the film, it’s pink – just like the character's dress in the original Wizard of Oz film (which you can stream with a Max subscription). According to costume designer Paul Tazewell, they wanted to directly pay homage to the OG movie, which is something the stage production wasn’t allowed to do, as he explained to People:
I guess my closest connection to the story of The Wizard of Oz was the film. When I think of the iconic Glinda, it is Billie Burke as Glinda in that pink dress and how she arrives in the bubble. So I really wanted to pursue the possibility of using pink. I mean, there were legal issues with using pink for the Broadway design just because of studios, and we were given clearance to use the pink to be reflective of Glinda, thankfully.
For context, Wicked the musical is based on the 1995 book by Gregory Maguire. In the 2003 Broadway adaptation, Glinda wears many colors that are not pink, which veers away from the color pallet of the character in The Wizard of Oz film. As the costume designer explained, there were legal issues with using that signature color on stage, and that’s why they didn’t do it.
However, when it came time to make the movie, they were able to get clearance and use the light pink color that is synonymous with The Good Witch.
After explaining the color debacle, and the amazing fact that they were able to make their garment pink, Tazewell broke down the other parallel between Grande’s dress and the one Billie Burke wore in The Wizard of Oz. Not only is it similar in color, it has a comparable silhouette too, as he said:
I was also intent on creating a similar quality of silhouette. There's a fairy princess quality in Ariana as Glinda in that dress. It's sparkly and it is covered with bubble imagery that swirls around her. So it has all of those qualities that are magical and give you that sense of the Good Witch of the North in a very strong way, but it's re-envisioned, it's turning it on its head.
It’s details like this that prove why Wicked is getting five-star reviews. The care and work put into legendary pieces of wardrobe like this and Cynthia Erivo’s witch hat help tell the story of Glinda and Elphaba, and it makes the world of Oz even more immersive.
Now, if learning all this wasn’t mind-blowing enough, just wait until you hear the numbers that go with the making of Glinda’s dress. It took 225 hours of hand-beading and over 20,000 beads to craft it. On top of that, there were 137 pattern pieces used to craft the layered pink gown.
Overall, all of this came together to create an unforgettable costume for Ariana Grande to wear during this flash-forward that shows her witch after the journey she and Elphaba go on in Wicked. It’s detailed, gorgeous, extra and totally Glinda, and it’s an indicator of who she becomes over the course of this story. To me, that’s wonderful and proves the power of a great costume.
The cherry on top is the fact that it also pays homage to the film that came before it, 1939’s The Wizard of Oz.
Now, it will be interesting to see what magical fashion moments Paul Tazewell concocts for the next film, Wicked: Part 2, because I’m sure they’ll be detailed, complex and pay homage to both the original film and the Broadway musical that this movie is based on.
