Cynthia Erivo weighs in on fans singing along to ‘Wicked’ in theatres: “We spent this long singing it ourselves”

Cynthia Erivo has weighed in on fans singing along to Wicked in theatres – and she’s given them the thumbs up.

During an interview on NBC’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade broadcast yesterday (November 28), the actress – who plays Elphaba alongside Ariana Grande‘s Galinda – was asked if she thinks it’s okay that fans have been singing along to screenings.

“Good. I’m OK with it,” she responded emphatically. “We spent this long singing it ourselves — it’s time for everyone else to join in. It’s wonderful.” Watch the interview below (skip to 1:21 for her answer).

Since Wicked’s release on November 22, the musical adaptation has breathed new life into the box office with huge takings – earning a combined $270million (£214.6milion) in worldwide ticket sales over its opening weekend.

Since then, however, social media users have highlighted how cinemas have applied policies barring audiences from loudly singing along to the film’s songs – separate “sing-a-long” screenings have been organised to help with this.

Earlier this week, Dwayne Johnson was the first to transmit his approval to the public: “Sing! You’ve paid your hard earned money for a ticket, and you’ve gone into a musical, and you’re into it. Sing,” he told BBC News from the red carpet of the Moana 2 premiere.

Theaters are putting up signs asking audiences to refrain from singing during ‘WICKED’ pic.twitter.com/2hFow6awe2

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) November 20, 2024

The immense popularity of the film, along with the attendance of its more zealous fans, have also resulted in other policies – such as no green face paint, as one fan learned.

Reviewing the movie, which stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo and is an adaptation of the stage musical which tells the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz, NME awarded it four stars and said the “hit musical makes a gravity-defying leap to the big screen”.

“Funny, colourful and full of empathy for outsiders, this film really is the Shiz,” it added.

Wicked Part Two is slated for a cinema release on November 21, 2025, and you can check out everything we know about it so far, here.