‘Oh my God:’ ‘Glee’ fans are flipping out over Rachel Berry’s ‘Wicked’ parentage

As Wicked releases in theatres, it is a big week for Glee fans (like yours truly) who grew up singing along to Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) and Kurt Hummel’s (Chris Colfer) face-off on the Broadway musical’s song, ‘Defying Gravity.’ But some of us are practically screaming over the realisation that Rachel really is a child of the Wicked universe. Because, do you even realise who her parents are?

In Glee, Rachel’s biological mother, Shelby Corcoran, is played by none other than Idina Menzel, who played Elphaba Thropp in the Wicked musical on Broadway! However, on the show, Rachel is being raised by two gay dads after her biological mother gave her up for adoption as a baby. One of those dads is played Jeff Goldblum, who plays the Wizard of Oz in the new Wicked.

So wait, are you saying Rachel Berry’s mother is the Wicked Witch of the West and her adoptive father is the Wizard of Oz? The universe surely has a funny sense of humour! No wonder fans are flipping out after someone spotted this connection and made a video about it on TikTok, spawning tweets on X!

Outside of Berry’s weirdly personal connection to Wicked, Glee has ties to the show and character in several other wild ways. Kristin Chenoweth, who originated the role of Glinda the Good Witch in Wicked, played former glee club member April Rhodes on the show. Also, Lindsay Pearce, who guest starred in Glee season 3 after winning the reality show The Glee Project, also went on to play Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway in 2020.

But here’s an interesting conundrum I’ll leave you with. If both Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth played other characters in Glee, then who was playing Elphaba and Glinda in Wicked on Broadway? Because we know that Rachel and Kurt visited New York and broke into the Wicked theater in one of the episodes and there’s even a BTS picture of the two posing before and recreating the Wicked poster! Somebody page Rachel, because we need answers!

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Jinal Bhatt

Jinal Bhatt (She/Her) is a staff writer for The Mary Sue. An editor, writer, film and culture critic with 7+ years of experience, she writes primarily about entertainment, pop culture trends, and women in film, but she’s got range. Jinal is the former Associate Editor for Hauterrfly, and Senior Features Writer for Mashable India. When not working, she’s fangirling over her favourite films and shows, gushing over fictional men, cruising through her neverending watchlist, trying to finish that book on her bedside, and fighting relentless urges to rewatch Supernatural.

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