Attendees of the 2024 Met Gala weren’t just treated to a rare Ariana Grande concert Monday night (May 6), but also an exclusive sneak peek at how the singer and Cynthia Erivo‘s voices will sound together as Glinda and Elphaba in the upcoming Wicked films.
The 30-year-old pop star was charged with delivering an ethereal performance to match this year’s event theme, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” and she more than delivered. First, a “sleeping” Grande was carried into the Metropolitan Museum of Art event space after the red carpet by a troupe of fairy-like dancers as a gorgeous orchestral arrangement played, as captured in a video the Grammy winner later posted on Instagram and TikTok.
After making her entrance, Grande “woke up” and began singing “Once Upon a Dream” from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty as the audience applauded. Swathed in a teal chiffon gown, she went on to perform her Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits “Yes, And?” and “We Can’t Be Friends” from her new album Eternal Sunshine, as well as some of her older smashes, “7 Rings” and “Into You.”
One of the biggest highlights from her whimsical showcase was when Erivo — with whom Grande had walked the red carpet on the Met steps earlier that evening — joined her on stage. The pair synced their voices for a duet of “When You Believe” by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, joined by a group of backup gospel singers.
“@cynthiaerivo i love you,” the R.E.M. Beauty founder wrote on Instagram Stories, sharing a clip of the show-stopping duet.
She also gushed about the performance on TikTok. “had the honor and most special time performing at @metmuseum in @maisonmargiela by the one and only, most brilliant angel of all @jgalliano (how i wept in our fitting !!!!)… working on this performance was an experience i will cherish forever,” she captioned one video. Her note included thank you messages to Vogue editor Anna Wintour, Baz Luhrmann and others. Last but not least, she gave a shout-out to Erivo. “thank you to the divine and magical @cynthiaerivo for joining me in the end and for lighting up the museum brighter than any star in the sky ever could. it was my honor to have you and to sing with you as always. i love you !”
Grande and Erivo weren’t the only Wicked stars to show out at the Met Gala. The two women were also joined by Jeff Goldblum, who will play the Wizard of Oz in Jon M. Chu’s two-part duology — the first installment of which hits theaters this Thanksgiving — as well as Jonathan Bailey, who will play Fiyero.
Her first Met since 2018, Grande attended the event – which was co-chaired by Zendaya, Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez and and Chris Hemsworth — in a custom white gown designed by Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson, accented by a sculpted bodice made entirely of mother of pearl. “I loved the tie-in of the opalescence and little hues of pink and green for Glinda’s bubble and for Wicked,” she told Vogue of the dress on the red carpet. “Pearls are just made in the most unexpected of ways. You never know what beautiful things you will find in unexpected places.”
See clips from Grande’s Met Gala performance below.
