This is why people are sobbing in the streets over Wicked.

There were two very different types of people at the world premiere of Wicked, if you knew where to look.

On one side of the security barriers that had sprung up around Sydney's State Theatre were the chosen ones who had snagged one of the coveted invitations, revelling in the opportunity to don outfits of pink or green and glide down the makeshift yellow brick road carpet. It was a sea of media and influencers, all attempting to snap just one photo worthy of an Instagram grid post, as stressed-looking security guards pleaded with the crowd to keep moving.

People within that throng of guests were granted the first taste of the Wicked mania that was about to take over the world as the global press tour kicked off right here in the land of 'Oz'.

While pushing my way down that faux yellow brick carpet, I spied both women and men (who had previously seemed somewhat emotionally regulated), swooning as Jonathan Bailey (Fieyro) swaggered past in a yellow silk shirt and sunglasses.

I saw Cynthia Erivo, who plays the film's green-skinned heroine Elphaba, command attention at the photo wall. Moments later, I realised that one of the many small blonde women rustling next to me in a sparkling pink gown was Ariana Grande herself. Already in full-blown Galinda mode, she waved regally to our group as we were swept past her into the theatre.

"I hope you enjoy the movie!" she trilled, in a tone so sweet and songlike that even a classic Disney Princess would sound like Fran Fine in comparison.

Outside, beyound those security barriers, a different type of world had been created. A world where the inhabitants were also clad in green or pink and frantically snapping photos of all who passed by.

Yet when you looked closer, their appearance told a different story.

This is where you spied tiaras that had started to slip and smiles that had drooped. Dark circles had formed under their eyes and many were shuffling their feet back and forth to relieve the pain brought on from hours of standing in a line so cramped that even sardines would look at them and feel claustrophobic in comparison.

Despite the hours-long wait behind the barriers, those tired faces were also littered with smiles and happy tears. A level of dedication and emotion that just the mere promise of glimpsing their favourite celebrities would not be able to conjure up on its own.

It's really only a musical that fans have been falling in love with for more than 20 years that could unite people on both sides of that barrier and prompt them to show so much emotion in public.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande arriving at the world premiere of Wicked in Sydney. Image: Getty.

Every diehard Wicked fan has a memory tucked away in their mind that, once opened, is able to make their eyes sting and their throat feel a little tight. Whether it be the first time they saw the stage show or the first moment they felt compelled to play the soundtrack on repeat.

Like so many other musical theatre fanatics, Wicked holds a special place in my heart (a confession that in no way makes me special — the media industry is littered with theatre kids who, unfortunately, just can't sing).

When Wicked first opened in Australia in 2008, I was working in my first full-time newspaper job and barely scraping in $30K a year, yet I spent nearly a month's pay on a theatre ticket and plane fare to see Wicked in Melbourne. In the weeks that followed this trip, the only thing that stood between me and death was my ability to steal bread from the office to toast when I got home.

To this day, I have no regrets.

That year Wicked became the soothing soundtrack to my first time living away from family and friends, a constant sound that still to this day remains the one thing that can pull me out of stress and sadness with just the opening notes of the overture.

Now, much has been said about Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande being overly emotional during the film's press tour, even in its earliest days. Yet when you factor in that fans and journalists alike are greeting them with this level of history and emotion each day, it's understandable that the weight of these expectations would make anyone partial to shedding the odd tear.

The day after the world premiere, the film's press day took place at a swankified harbourside location where Erivio and Grande were placed atop a platform to conduct their full day of interviews, ensuring that the Sydney Opera House was placed prominently in the background of all videos.

To ensure that, unlike the moon landing, there were no questions about where they really were.

Listen to the stars of Wicked on The Spill.

During my many years of doing film junkets, I have seen a range of behaviours that rival the plots of the movies I've been sent there to cover. I have seen allegiances between PRs and journalists form and then fail and world-famous actors be pleasant one moment and then brutal the next.

I have seen plenty of journalists cry once they reach the safety of the lobby, hell hath no fury like a celebrity bored by talking about a movie making them millions. What I have never before seen is a slew of journalists leave their interviews in tears, as happened on this Wicked day.

Just like the fans who had lined those barriers the day before, these journalists were carrying so much emotional baggage that no amount of excess fees could hope to cover.

Given that I too had sobbed so hard during the movie that at one stage my friend informed me via a tense whisper that I was making our row of chairs shake, I entered my interview nursing a fear that a rogue tear might escape before I'd gotten through my first question.

However, the universe's only KPI that day was to keep me humble. And an unfortunate occurrence ensured those tears were sucked back into my eyelids faster than that Dyson all elder millennials are obsessed with.

As I stepped onto the platform to conduct my interview, Ariana Grande politely extended her hand to shake mine, her voice so soft it was almost a whisper as she announced, "Hello, I am Ariana."

On her right, Cynthia also extended her hand, still adorned with her signature bedazzled nails from the night before. Yet this peaceful greeting was quickly shattered by what happened next because, off the back of her greeting, she then made the gesture that every red lipstick wearer lives in fear of witnessing.

Cynthia mimed running one of her adorned fingers across her teeth while murmuring "go like this" covertly and kindly letting me know that in the few steps I had taken from the hotel room door to the platform, I had somehow smeared lipstick across my teeth.

But best to leave that moment in the past (or to the many sleepless nights were my mind is sure to remind me of it) and focus on where the interview went next, because it quickly became clear that the two softly-spoken women before me had a strict agenda they wanted to push.

Watch what happens when you interview the ultimate girl's girl, Cynthia Erivo.

Starting by making it known the importance of these roles was not lost on them, and they had both shed blood, sweat, and tears (and eyelashes, as it turns out) in order for their names to appear on that cast list.

(At this point I must admit that I was one of the people who felt a pang of disappointment when Ariana Grande was first announced as Galinda, fearing that a hint of stunt casting might be at play, but it was a concern that quickly washed away once I saw the film.)

Still, if any fans were going to revolt against casting choices they felt were undeserved it was going to be the legions of people who have 'Defying Gravity' lyrics tattooed across their bodies.

"I just assumed it wasn't going to come my way," Cynthia said of the lengthy audition process. "I was brought in to do a camera test and I was in that room for about four hours and I wanted to give it everything I could. That morning I had been running back and forth, doing laps, singing the songs, just getting the words into my body. I just wanted to make sure I had left everything on the table so that if it didn't happen, I knew that I had given it everything.

"My audition process was a long and kooky journey," Ariana said of her road to becoming Galinda. "We both love and care about this so much and wanted to give it everything we had. I had an audition, then callbacks, and then chemistry tests. Even before my first audition, I was training my voice and working with an acting coach for two months every single day to make sure that I was prepared for anything that was asked of me. I wanted to make sure that my instrument was ready because the Galinda vocal part is very different from what I usually sing. We both just really left it all in there… I even left my lashes on the mirror, that's how much I cared.

"I got immediately sick afterward," Cynthia added. "My body had given everything it could."

"I don't think I've ever felt a feeling like that in my life," Ariana said of finding out that she had the role. "I just felt a torrential downpour of gratitude and knowing everything would be ok no matter what because we get to do this thing."

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande on the global press tour for Wicked. Image: Getty.

The second item on their agenda, which has been unsubtly woven into every press interaction linked to the movie, had to do with the bond they had formed while filming.

Of course, the central theme of Wicked has always been the power and complexity of female friendship, so it's only fitting that the movie's stars reflect this in their interviews. Yet their constant push to publicly solidify their relationship appears to run deeper than a marketing thread.

Instead, it appears to be hooked on their knowledge that fans and media alike become like sharks who have sensed blood in the water if they begin to suspect that co-stars on a press tour may have hidden undertones of tension or even indifference lingering between them.

Ariana and Cynthia appear acutely aware that they can't just confirm their friendship for the small audiences they encounter along the way. Instead, the performance needs to be big enough to also reach the cheap seats in the back.

This became evident when I asked them a question about famous women continually being pitted against one another, leading their body language to instantly change.

Throughout our interview, they had oscillated between grasping hands and leaning over into one another, usually while recounting a memory designed to paint each other in a positive light.

It was a level of intimacy that even the most seasoned of actresses would not be able to fake, which explains why their grip on each other tightened and why they ever so slightly recoiled as I began to wander down this path of questioning.

It took me a moment to realise that they were probably assuming I was hinting at animosity between them. Leading me to quickly leap to the punchline of my question and ask if a movie like Wicked would change that conversation, promtling a clearly relieved Ariana to jump in with a resounding 'yes!' before I had finished speaking.

"Yes women are (still pitted against each other)," Ariana said, doubling down on her response. "But I think we're also in an environment and in a time when women are more supportive of one another than ever before.

"We're outspoken and we're loud about it," Cynthia said.

"Women are now here to set boundaries and stand up for themselves and their friends," Ariana continued. "And it really is a beautiful time."

"People will always try to do this," Cynthia said. "It's actually really wonderful to watch as women and new artists come through that they are coming together, collaborating, and making it clear that we're not here to be pitted against each other."

As our interview slot came to a close, Ariana, still using her lilting Galinda voice, uttered a line that would never make it into Wicked, but still sums up the spirit of the show's leading ladies and their plight in the land of Oz.

"We're not to be f**ked with."

Wicked Part One will be released in Australian cinemas 21 November 2024. Wicked Part Two is scheduled to arrive in theatres on November 21, 2025.

Laura Brodnik is Mamamia's Head of Entertainment and host of The Spill podcast. You can follow her on Instagram here for more entertainment news and recommendations.

Feature Image: Universal Pictures Australia.