While Ariana Grande has iconically made Wicked’s Glinda her own, she went through a long audition process and had to compete against many other seasoned performers to get the role. Stephen Schwartz’s affecting music and lyrics have made the story the second-highest-grossing musical of all time and turned the Wicked characters of Glinda and Elphaba into beloved pop culture icons. Naturally, the Good Witch of the South represented a dream career challenge for many actresses, having been set as one of those impossible-to-repeat roles in Kristin Chenoweth’s immortal 2003 performance.

https://screenrant.com/wicked-glinda-actresses-almost-cast/