Elphaba herself narrated Gregory Maguire’s Elphie, out now, and she will also read a new version of Wicked, due in September
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Cynthia Erivo was widely acclaimed for her performance as Elphaba, the Not-So-Wicked Witch of the West in Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked. Now, Erivo is returning to the character, sans green makeup. She narrated a new audiobook version of Gregory Maguire’s Elphie: A Wicked Childhood. It’s now available on Audible, Barnes & Noble, and other audiobook platforms.
Elphie Audiobook (Narrated by Cynthia Erivo)
The 2025 novel is a prequel to Maguire’s novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which served as the basis for the hit Broadway musical. The book, published in March, is a coming-of-age story about Elphaba’s childhood, and continues Maguire’s long-running series of revisionist novels inspired by The Wizard of Oz. It’s the second audiobook narration of the novel, following the Edoardo Ballerini version released earlier this year.
The 2024 film Wicked, which won two Academy Awards and one Golden Globe, adapted the first half of the stage musical. The second half, Wicked: For Good, will see Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande reprise their roles as Elphaba and Glinda, and will hit theaters on Nov. 21, 2025. As of last week, Wicked is no longer streaming on Peacock, but fans can stream it on Prime Video.
This isn’t the only Oz audiobook Erivo is lending her talents to; she’ll narrate a new version of Maguire’s original 1995 novel. That version is available for preorder from Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and comes out Sep. 9.
