Ariana Grande Shares the Emotional Reason Behind Her Decision to Use Her Full Name In Wicked Credits
In the ‘Wicked’ credits, the singer refers to herself by her «little girl name,» Ariana Grande-Butera.
Simply refer to her as Ariana Grande-Butera.
The 31-year-old singer of «imperfect for you» has explained why she chose to use her given name in the credits of her next film, Wicked, which is based on the popular Broadway musical.
In an interview with podcaster and writer Justin Hill, the singer and her 37-year-old costar Cynthia Erivo mentioned that Grande is given her «full grown-up name» on screen.
«I wanted to know the symbolism of the importance of that for you,» Hill said.
«It’s actually my young girl’s name. «In a technical sense, it’s little [Ari’s] name,» she said. Butera is her father Ed’s last name, and Grande is her mother Joan’s.
When their daughter was eight years old, the couple got divorced.
«I just felt like I was returning home with this experience. In reference to the roles she and Erivo portray, she continued, «I feel like I came home to myself in a lot of ways through what I learned from Glinda, from Elphaba.»
When I was ten years old, I went to see the musical under that name, and it felt like a very beautiful way to memorialize it. It seemed like a complete circle.
The Wicked Witch of the West, the well-known adversary from L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, has a genesis story that is told in Wicked.
However, the Wicked Witch was once Elphaba Thropp (Erivo), a shy and misunderstood young woman with green skin and extraordinary abilities, before she developed into the terrifying figure we all know today. She meets Glinda (Grande), a fellow student and would-be sorcerer, at Shiz University.
Based partly on the Gregory Maguire book of the same name, the Broadway musical debuted on the Great White Way in 2003.
Shortly after the show’s premiere, Grande went to see it with her grandma, Marjorie, and had the opportunity to meet the original Glinda, Kristin Chenoweth.
In a recent interview, Grande stated, «We ended up going backstage to meet the cast.»
«I instantly connected with Kristin Chenoweth when I arrived at her dressing room and accepted her invitation.»
I believe I used a small drop of the pink, glittery shower gel that Chenoweth gave me every day for the following three years to make sure it didn’t run out.
She also gave me a wand. Additionally, I think there was some real magic there,» she remarked.
Although Grande and her father had a falling out in 2013, she has talked about getting back in touch with him a few years later.
Nov. 22 is when Wicked opens in cinemas.
