[CYNTHIA ERIVO]
It was really special, actually
And when I approached it at first, I-I didn't know how much I could make it my own
I-I was very okay with being as Bible as possible
So whatever was written, was what I was willing to sing
But when I got there, both Stephens, Stephen Oremus and Stephen Schwartz
Let me sing
They were just like, "You sing it how you feel it should be sung"
And there is what we call the "war cry" at the end, and
They were like, "Make it your own, do whatever you want to do with that"
And th-thеre's something really thrilling about hеaring that version now
And that being sort of like cemented for me
When I've been singing the other version, Idina's version, for years
And to know that the connection is there is really special
[STEPHEN SCHWARTZ]
She brings a sort a-a ferocity to Elphaba
And-and a depth to the character that is beautifully expressed
In everything she does, but I think, um very strongly and in Defying Gravity
Also, it's the last song in a movie
And therefore you need to feel not just that the act of a show is coming to an end, but a whole movie is coming to an end
And therefore, there are sequences put in at the end to kind of sum up the whole movie
And that required writing some stuff that would, uh, allow that to happen
Which I found very exciting and I really love how it's turned out
[STEPHEN OREMUS]
We wanted it to be different than, you know, we wanted it to be unique to her
It was very important that Cynthia get to really
That-that final cry needed to be from this primal place
And boy, it-it was so emotional to hear it in the studio
We all just went, "Woah, that's it," I mean that's, you're never gonna
It was one of the most powerful moments I've ever had on the show, to get to hear that final
That final moment in such a new and thrilling way
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