Cynthia Erivo Plays Glinda in 'Nigerian Wicked' Sketch on 'SNL U.K.'

Cynthia Erivo hosted "SNL U.K." and spoofed her own blockbuster, playing Glinda in a sketch titled "Nigerian Wicked." The Tony and Grammy winner, who originated Elphaba on screen opposite Ariana Grande, switched sides of the rivalry for the night — blonde wig, pink velour tracksuit and all.

The sketch reframed the Oscar-nominated musical as a lo-fi Nollywood melodrama (Nollywood being Nigeria's prolific film industry), with Ayoade Bamgboye taking over the Elphaba role. The two enemies-turned-friends set off to meet not the Wizard of Oz but the Wizard of LagOz.

What replaces the songs?

Quite a lot, as it turns out, and none of it involves singing. In "Wicked," Erivo's Elphaba and Ariana Grande's Glinda vent their mutual loathing through the number "What Is This Feeling?" The "SNL U.K." version is more direct: Glinda slaps Elphaba across the face.

"Glinda, you slapped me!" Bamgboye's Elphaba says.

"Yes, because you are very classless," Erivo's Glinda replies.

The sketch then reworks the film's famous makeover scene. Elphaba objects to the expense: "Glinda, I can't afford this!"

"When we go to the Wizard, it will all pay off," Erivo's Glinda assures her.

"The Wizard?" Bamgboye says. "But I'm a virgin!" The pair nearly kiss at that moment — a wink at the portion of the fandom that ships (romantically imagines pairings between) the two characters.

What does the Wizard of LagOz offer?

The answer is consumer goods, mostly. When Glinda and Elphaba finally reach what the sketch calls the "emerald, white and emerald city," each states her price. Erivo's Glinda wants the Wizard to produce a Birkin bag. Bamgboye's Elphaba asks for a "skinny BBL" (a Brazilian butt lift).

"She wants a BBL that defies gravity!" declares a voiceover from the Wizard, played by Hammed Animashaun — a gag that folds the musical's signature song, "Defying Gravity," into cosmetic-surgery punchline territory.

The Wizard himself proves a disappointment. Glinda and Elphaba discover he is broke. "That's a nolex," Erivo's Glinda says of his watch, delivering the sketch's bluntest verdict on counterfeit luxury.

Back at Shiz (the university the characters attend in the original musical), Glinda asks Elphaba, "What do we do now?" The two then lean in for a dramatic kiss before an explosion effect engulfs the screen.

"Nigerian Wicked: LGBTQ!" Animashaun's voiceover concludes, landing the sketch's final title card.

Why the sketch lands

Erivo has spent months promoting "Wicked" and its sequel on a global press run, and the sketch works precisely because she is in on the joke — the star of a billion-dollar movie musical slumming it in a parody that costs roughly what her pink tracksuit appears to have cost. The role reversal does the heavy lifting: watching Elphaba's own actress play the shallow, slap-happy Glinda gives the spoof its engine.

For "SNL U.K.," a format still proving itself to British audiences, securing Erivo as host and letting her parody her most famous current role suggests the show intends to compete for Hollywood talent willing to mock their own franchises — a reliable formula the American original has run for decades.