Drag herstory has been made in the Wicked franchise.Drag superstar Gloria Groove has been cast in the role of Madame Morrible in a stage production of Wicked becoming the first drag queen in history to play this iconic role in an official production of the beloved musical.If you're still unfamiliar with Groove's body of work and career milestones, now's the perfect time to catch up!Ariana and Cynthia were unable to stop stanning Gloria Groove during their adorable Wicked interview.During an interview, Erivo and Grande (adorably) couldn't help themselves from stanning Groove's in-drag look, which fully embraced the whole head-to-toe Wicked core."You look incredible Werk!" Grande observed. "C'mon, dimples! C'mon, lips!" Erivo added. As Groove introduced herself to the Wicked costars, the actresses kept sharing even more compliments."You look so good," Erivo remarked. "The nails!"Since conducting that interview in November 2024, Groove has officially joined the Wicked universe and also made some LGBTQ+ history along the way.Gloria Groove's casting as Madame Morrible is a huge milestone for LGBTQ+ representation in the Wicked universe.While interviewing Erivo and Grande about the Wicked movie, these actresses didn't hold back from stanning over Groove's in-drag aesthetic in head-to-toe Wicked core."You look incredible Werk!" Grande observed. "C'mon, dimples! C'mon, lips!" Erivo added. As Groove introduced herself to the Wicked pair, the actresses went on to share even more compliments.Drag queen or otherwise, Gloria Groove has a massive online presence both in and out of drag.Groove's historic run as Madame Morrible in the Brazilian stage production of Wicked is set to take place between late August and early September at Teatro Renault in So Paulo, Brazil. But how did she get here, one may ask? Well, that journey is as fierce and magical and awe-inspiring as the Stephen Schwartz musical itself.Groove is far from being a one-hit wonder, or a social media artist who went viral a few times, or even a celebrity who'd be considered "gay famous" in the U.S. In a similar way as Out100 honoree Pabllo Vittar, Groove is a bona fide pop star with a dedicated audience that spans all ages, sexual orientations, and other demographics allowing her to compete for the same radio plays, high-profile music awards, tour dates, festival gigs, and music-chart rankings as all other mainstream singers in Brazil.Spoiler alert: Groove's numbers are pretty mind-blowing, particularly when compared to other drag artists in the U.S. and around the world.Groove's in the charts.See on InstagramGloria Groove's current audience of 5.5 million followers on Instagram is much bigger than any competitor in the entire RuPaul's Drag Race franchise. To be clear: The two most-followed Drag Race queens on the social network are at least one million followers behind Groove with Plastique Tiara at 4.5 million and Trixie Mattel at 4.3 million as of this writing.In April 2022, Groove surpassed RuPaul's Instagram following and kickstarted an era in which the Brazilian queen had more followers on the social network than the Drag Race mogul and all-time Emmy Award record breaker and that period lasted quite a few years.It wasn't until recently that Mama Ru surpassed Groove's following to regain her spot in this global social media ranking of drag icons. As of this writing, RuPaul has 5.8 million followers on Instagram. At this point in time, RuPaul has 300,000 more followers overall than Groove.Groove also has 4.7 million followers on TikTok as of this writing.Speaking purely as a musician, Gloria Groove has maintained an average of 6 million monthly listeners on Spotify for many years. Groove has also accumulated 4.09 million subscribers on YouTube with an output that is totally centered on releasing new songs, music videos, visualizers, live performance clips, and related content.Since launching her career as a drag queen musician in 2016, Groove's catalog of hit songs has spanned over the years with tracks like 2018's "Bumbum de Ouro" (162 million views on YouTube; 72.4 million streams on Spotify), 2022's "Vermelho" (114.5 million views on YouTube; 162 million streams on Spotify), and 2024's "Nosso Primeiro Beijo" (128 million views on YouTube; 148.7 million streams on Spotify).Gloria Groove graced the cover of Vogue and made drag history on the fashion publication.See on InstagramGloria Groove and Pabllo Vittar graced the print cover of Vogue Brasil in October 2020, becoming the first-ever drag queens to appear as cover stars of the prestigious fashion publication in any of its international editions around the world."I'm living a dream," Groove said in her Vogue Brasil cover story. "I'm still emotional about the invitation, as being here [is about] positioning drag queens as fashion icons."Between describing Pabllo as both "the most popular drag queen on the planet" and a "factory of hit songs," Pabllo's Vogue Brasil cover story also featured a bold statement from the drag pop star: "[When] I want it, I'm able to do it, and I can do it. I always knew I would get where I am."Beyond having Groove and Vittar as the cover stars for that print issue of Vogue Brasil, two more queens Halessia and Bianca DellaFancy joined that herstoric moment as digital cover stars of the same October 2020 publication.In their respective digital cover interviews, Halessia described drag as a "wonderful and liberating art form," while Bianca defined herself as a "very sassy Black [f-word]."As outlined by Andrew Nguyen on The Cut, these covers featuring Groove and Vittar came out during a particularly sensitive moment in Brazil when "LGBTQ+ issues remain divisive in the nation, especially for trans people" who were still under the administration of "Brazil's right-wing president, Jair Bolsonaro."Bolsonaro was a pretty brutal adversary for the LGBTQ+ community during his time as president. However, since being defeated in his reelection run in 2022 (via The Advocate), Bolsonaro has also been barred from running for office until 2030 (via NBC News), charged with attempting a coup (via The New York Times), and threatened to get arrested by the Brazilian Supreme Court in July 2025 (via BBC News).Even more recently, Gloria Groove was featured on the cover of Billboard Brasil.See on InstagramAs the latest cover star of Billboard Brasil, Gloria Groove reflected on turning 30 this year and facing this new moment in her life, which involved "therapy" and the "rethinking of priorities" both on and off the stage. Specifically, the cover story centered on Groove reconciling with "multihyphenate artist who takes the stage" and also "the man of the house who must take care of his mother, husband, pets, and himself."Groove explained, "The 'diva' supports the 'man of the house' because she remembers that [between] so many responsibilities and serious things, [he] wants to have his own turn at the spotlight, to be playful, and to live [his own] world a little."She's also familiar with topics explored in the Wicked saga, as referenced in 'A Queda.'Groove shook the drag world to its core once again with the release of "A Queda."The title of this track a huge hit for Groove that's accumulated 271 million views on YouTube so far translates in "The Fall" in English.Released in October 2021, this song and music video satirize how the public treats artists and celebrities. Standout lyrics in "A Queda" include:"We're gonna build a circus / A dramatic thriller / And walk this tightrope, I will."Dressed as a clown, Groove challenged the general public to join the circus:"So come and join to see how many times I stumble / And how many friends I lose / I'm not even charging anything, come see it for free / They're throwing an open-bar party to celebrate my demise."The chorus of "A Queda" goes:"Extra! Extra! Don't miss out on this offer! / Secure your tickets to watch me eat shit / Extra! Extra! The show's about to start / Even better than watching the climb up is a chance to witness the fall."'Leilo,' another hit song from Gloria Groove, highlights how celebrities are often treated as products.Years before Shakira's sickening lyrics, "Las mujeres ya no lloran, las mujeres facturan" ("Women dont cry anymore; they just profit"), Groove released "Leilo."This fantastic song and mind-blowing music video highlights topics such as "selling-out," the cost of running one's life for monetization purposes, and the value/worth of a human being.Bonus points for this accidental foreshadowing!Groove served purple outfit, white hair realness in the "Leilo" music video dropped in October 2021. It's safe to assume that Groove, like everyone else, didn't know yet that this would be the look for Michelle Yeoh's performance of Madame Morrible in the 2024 live-action blockbuster Wicked.This purple aesthetic for Morrible was not pulled from the original Broadway version of the character it was a specific and notable change from 2024's Wicked film.In hindsight, this parallel is very sweet and heartwarming. There was no way for anyone to make this guess, but here we are, and it's lovely to see it.Watch Gloria Groove's full interview with the 'Wicked' cast and crew (in Portuguese).Gloria Groove's interview with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande which included scenes of Groove chatting with Wicked director Jon M. Chu and Oscar-winning costume designer Paul Tazewell was filmed in Los Angeles ahead of the first Wicked movie.The interview subsequently aired on Brazil's No. 1 newsmagazine on television for more than 50 years, Fantstico, on TV Globo and the network's streaming service Globoplay.Wicked: For Good opens November 21 in theaters. The first Wicked movie is now streaming on Peacock.The history-making casting announcement of Gloria Groove playing Madame Morrible in the Brazilian stage production of Wicked has been reported by all major pop culture news outlets in the country (via POPline). We can't wait to see how this turns out!For more information about the Wicked stage musical in So Paulo, Brazil, now playing at Teatro Renault, visit WickedBrasil.com.