Ariana Grande debuts blonde hair for role in Wicked

Singer Ariana Grande is set to flex her Broadway chops with her upcoming role as Glinda (or Gah-linda) in Jon M. Chu’s Wicked adaptation. While she’s teased a few behind-the-scenes moments on Instagram from the project, she revealed she’d undergone a major makeover yesterday when she debuted a brand new blonde hairstyle.

She posted a tongue-in-cheek caption which read simply: “New earrings.”

While her pearl earrings were very cute, most of her fans in the comments were understandably screaming about her new hair. Her Wicked coworkers however leaned into the joke, with her director Chu saying, “Earrings look great!”

Tony-award winning actress Cynthia Erivo, who is set to star as her best frenemy Elphaba in the film, also added, “Earrings are AMAZING!!”

She also shared an Instagram story of a different view of her ashy blonde hair, paired with a brown hairband. Her caption suggested it was a moment from the Wicked shoot, which read, “How I love you, please come back to Oz very soon.”

Wicked centres on the relationship between Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, the Good Witch, from The Wizard of Oz. For fans of the original musical, it’s no surprise that Grande has gone blonde as actors typically don a blonde wig for the role of Glinda onstage - along with a gigantic flouncy dress and wand.

With Grande and Erivo set to bring their incredible singing chops to the roles, excitement has been high for the film which is slated to be released in 2024. In any case, the pair seem to have brought their onscreen friendship into their real lives as Grande shared a picture of the pair sitting in what appears to be a dance studio during rehearsals earlier this month.

The role is a dream come true for Grande, who was previously asked in a 2013 KiddNation interview what her dream Broadway role was. She responded, “Glinda, for sure.”