' WICKED : FOR GOOD ' : FILM'S ARIANA GRANDE HONOUR

BIG things can come in small packages, as Ariana Grande has now proved. Like her musical-comedy forebear Kristin Chenoweth, who originated to role of Glinda on Broadway before Grande-brought her to the screen in last year's '' Wicked'' the 5-foot-2 star is a petite powerhouse.

And the sequel “Wicked: For Good,” in theaters Nov. 21, will showcase Grande’s dramatic chops in a whole new way.

While she was promoting the first film last year, there was still a lilt in Grande's voice - and a Glinda -like glint to her blond hair that suggested she hadn't fully parted ways with the high-spirited character she had long dreamed of playing.

But in New York, it felt like a transition was already underway. Clad in a black turtleneck and ballet flats, her hair already pulled back, she looked less like the bubble-gum-pink Glinsa and more like Audrey-Hepburn auditing the Actors Studio.

At 32, Grande has already lived through several eras in the public eye - first as a teenager starring in Nickelodeon sitcoms, then as a pop princess with a string of chart-topping hits, and finally as a big-screen ingenue whose first major role earned her an Oscar nomination.

Still, we've never seen her go the places she does in the second '' Wicked '' film, which brings Grande's character to the fore in a much more significant way than audiences might have anticipated.

The World Students Society thanks Kyle Buchanan.