Cynthia Erivo is weighing in on whether movie-goers should sing along to Wicked in theaters.
In an interview (via TMZ) during the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday (Nov. 28), the 37-year-old actress and singer, who plays Elphaba in the live-action adaptation of the Broadway musical, shared her thoughts on the ongoing debate about fans singing along during the film.
“Have you weighed in on whether or not it’s OK to sing in the theater? ‘Cause a lot of people are singing in the theater,” Today Show co-host Hoda Kotb asked Erivo during their brief conversation on NBC.
“Good! I’m OK with it,” Erivo replied with enthusiasm. “We’ve spent this long singing it ourselves, it’s time for everyone else to join in. It’s wonderful.”
The topic of theater etiquette recently made headlines after an AMC Theaters preshow advisory video raised the issue of audience behavior. “At AMC Theaters, silence is golden. No talking. No texting. No singing. No wailing. No flirting. And absolutely no name-calling. Enjoy the magic of movies,” the message read, according to The Independent.
Meanwhile, Wicked — which also stars Ariana Grande as Glinda — dominated the pre-Thanksgiving weekend box office, debuting at No. 1 with a global haul of $164.2 million. Since its release on Nov. 22, the Jon M. Chu-directed film has been met with widespread praise, particularly for the performances of its lead actresses in these iconic roles. The second part of the Wicked adaptation is scheduled for release in November 2025.
For those eager to belt out hits like “Defying Gravity” and “The Wizard & I,” a sing-along version of the film will hit theaters on Christmas Day. The special screenings are expected to play at roughly 1,000 theaters across North America, according to Variety. Exact locations and showtimes are yet to be confirmed.
These interactive screenings, which will allow audiences to sing along to Stephen Schwartz’s famous score, are modeled after similar events for other movie musicals like The Greatest Showman. The sing-along version of Wicked will be released just over a month after the film’s initial premiere on Nov. 22, following more than three years of production.
The two-part Wicked adaptation, based on both the Broadway musical and Gregory Maguire’s novel, began production in 2021. The film features live vocal takes of songs like “Popular,” “What Is This Feeling?” and “Dancing Through Life.”
In addition to Erivo and Grande, Wicked stars Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Peter Dinklage and Marissa Bode.
