Two nights into her O2 Arena residency, an Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo reunion handed the crowd something no setlist could have promised: her Wicked co-star walking out from the wings. Erivo joined Grande onstage in London on 16 August for a trio of duets, the centrepiece being the title track from Wicked: For Good, performed live for a crowd that had no idea it was coming.
The pair didn’t stop at one song. They also revived “Get Happy” and “Happy Days Are Here Again,” a medley the two first performed together during a Wicked television special back in November 2025, itself a nod to the classic Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand pairing from decades earlier. Watching two of the biggest voices in pop and musical theatre trade that lineage back and forth live, in the middle of an arena pop show, is the kind of crossover moment that doesn’t happen by accident.
The timing matters, too. This is the second date of a ten-show run at The O2 as part of Grande’s Eternal Sunshine tour, and by most accounts it’s arriving at a moment when Grande has been notably more guarded about her public presence, she recently stepped back from a planned West End run of Sunday in the Park with George and has spoken candidly about pulling back from the spotlight after months of scrutiny over her appearance and wellbeing. Against that backdrop, a spontaneous, joyful cameo with a close friend and collaborator reads less like a marketing beat and more like an artist choosing to enjoy the parts of the job that still feel good.
Critics were already primed to like this run: the opening night reportedly earned a five-star notice, with reviewers calling it a return to reliably excellent form right before Grande steps away from touring for a while. Pairing that with a surprise Erivo cameo gives the London dates a genuine “you had to be there” moment, and gives fans who weren’t in the room three new performance clips to obsess over instead.
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