The recent production and release of the movie-musical “Wicked” has taken the world by storm, becoming the highest grossing movie based on a (domestic) Broadway musical. Starring Cythia Erivo as Elphaba, and Ariana Grande as Glinda, the star-studded casting made an amazing acting performance and soundtrack.
However, fans have noticed that the co-stars have quickly become great friends, often holding hands during interviews and speaking highly of each other when given the opportunity. This is not uncommon for co-stars, but fans have noticed certain “quirks” about the pair that differentiate them from what is considered normal.
Both Grande and Erivo have a tendency to get emotional when talking about the movie, understandable seeing as it took many years to film and the fact that they have built such a strong relationship. Even so, it seems like in virtually every interview, one of the two breaks into tears when talking about the impact of the movie.
While initially this seemed endearing, it’s gotten to the point where it’s a bit strange and unsettling, genuinely making it seem like the two can’t get through an interview without crying for a good portion of it.
In a more famous interview featuring the two, the interviewer mentions to Erivo how people, especially people in “queer media”, are taking the lyrics to the famous ballad “Defying Gravity”, and really “holding space with it”, to which Erivo gets visibly emotional and seems touched by the prospect.
This leaves the question: What could that possibly mean?
“I guess it could mean like holding the note out for a long time, but honestly I do not know what they were supposed to say to that because that makes no sense” says senior Addie Whitmeyer.
Senior Aryam Agili- Shaban says how “every time I listen to Wicked, I hold space, which gives me time to process the music and how amazing it is. But on a more real note, I have no clue what it’s supposed to mean”.
When asked about it later on, Erivo and Grande admitted to having no clue what the interview meant by “holding space” but simply reacted to try and make it seem like they did.
Overall, we may never know what “holding space” means in the context of “queer media”, but what we can do is listen to the Wicked soundtrack as many times as it will take to figure it out.
