The name of the Wicked Witch, Elphaba, was created by taking the phonetic pronunciation of the original "Wizard of Oz" author L. Frank Baum's initials, L-F-B, which became Elphaba.
It was been reported many times that Idina Menzel wanted to portray Elphaba in this version, but she eventually revealed that she thought she was too old for the role. During an interview with Andy Cohen she said would happily have a smaller cameo such as Melena, the wicked witch's mother.
Amanda Seyfried was actively pursuing the role of Glinda before Ariana Grande was cast. Seyfried stated in past interviews that she took voice lessons to prepare for her audition. While she was shooting The Dropout (2022) series, she went back and forth and auditioned in person several times on the weekends to play Glinda.
Based on the stage musical of the same name, which was based on the novel by Gregory Macguire. The musical opened in San Francisco at the Curran Theatre, before opening on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre in New York.
Prior to their casting, both Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande previously performed in concert events for Wicked, with Grande performing a song typically sung by Elphaba during A Very Wicked Halloween: Celebrating 15 Years on Broadway (2018), and Erivo performing a song typically sung by Galinda.