Wicked in Japan

Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, and Jon M Chu were in Japan yesterday to promote Wicked. The movie opens there on March 7 and this was the last possible week that they could have travelled there because of course it’s been non-stop and now they pretty much have to stay locked in LA for the next two weekends. 

But, seriously, this award season schedule is batsh-t, right? Think about this press tour which is has been ongoing since late October. And all the award shows they’ve attended. Just last weekend, Cynthia and Ariana were at the BAFTAs in London. From there it was probably straight to Tokyo for two and a half days and they’re expected back in LA this weekend for all the cocktails and etc etc etc and the SAG Awards on Sunday. You know that rule about jetlag? That the time difference is the amount of days it takes you to get over it? For example, Tokyo is currently 14 hours ahead of Toronto which means it’s generally around two weeks after you get home to reset. But when you’re literally in three or four different time zones in a week… how does that work?! For women, the way it f-cks with your cycle alone is a goddamn pain in the ass. 

Now can we talk about the looks? The Wicked dress parade has been relentless, their stylists must be exhausted? Cynthia for Wicked and award season could be two full-time jobs. And Jason Bolden really is killing it with her. I love this black dress with the high, loose neck and the soft spikes scattered all over the body. The fascinator is a nice too, Japanese coded, but not super obviously so. Wonderful style imagination happening here. 

A quick note on Cynthia while we’re talking about exhaustion? On top of all this Wicked, she’s releasing new music. She just teased a release on February 28. And it was just announced that she’ll be hosting the Tony Awards in June. I guess we’ll just have to be tired for her because she’s certainly not feeling the fatigue. 

Speaking of headpieces, that was the main event of Ariana’s look. The white dress is Louis Vuitton, not really all that exciting, but the dress might not have been the point. The point is… SAKURA. We are coming right up on cherry blossom season and Japan is the best place for it. Cherry blossoms are my thing, I can’t get enough, if I could I would wallpaper my whole life in cherry blossoms so if you’re looking for criticism here, keep walking, it won’t be me. I will be ripping this off as soon as I have occasion to. 

 

Here is Ari arriving in Tokyo the other day. Join us at The Squawk to chat about Wicked today. (App link here)