BY ABIGAIL AUBURGER
On Friday, Nov. 22 Ariana Grande will feature in the new “Wicked” movie, directed by John M Chu, playing the role of Galinda. In previous years, Grande has been a pop mogul with her singing career making her a whopping $72 M in one year. While she has expressed interest in theatrical performance before, nothing has come to fruition at this magnitude.
Grande performed as Penny in the live television remake of “Hairspray” in 2016 to which she received lots of negative feedback. While this would have stopped many, Grande has continued to pursue a musical theater career with “Wicked” as her next big feature.
Although many people have expressed negative feelings towards Grande playing the well known character, Galinda, UMD students have hope for the movie and its effects on the theater industry.
“Many people underestimate her flexibility as a performer to be able to portray a role that is much more aligned with a traditional musical theater style, but her pop career practically started with Broadway,” freshman theater and mathematics major, Christian Patiag said.
While some students are more opinionated, there are some that are less worried about the transition and think it is rather natural and expected.
Junior theater major Medhanit Desta thinks Grande has the skills for the role.
“[She] did start off as a Broadway star, so she has the talent and the passion,” Desta said.
Wicked is set to be one of the most popular movies of the year with a highly anticipated performance from Grande.
So far, critics have had a wide range of opinions but the general consensus is that Grande has lived up to expectations and, with her collaboration with Cynthia Erivo, the movie is sure to be a success as it hits theaters globally this Friday.