Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo just proved that “The Prince of Egypt” is never out of season.
Last night, Grande closed out her show-stopping performance of her greatest hits at the 2024 Met Gala by dueting with her “Wicked” co-star Cynthia Erivo. The song? The Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey rendition of “When You Believe” from beloved Passover movie “The Prince of Egypt.”
Though there doesn’t seem to be video of the full performance online, there are a couple clips circulating on Twitter. Here’s the longest version:
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo performing “When You Believe” pic.twitter.com/W3wJaZRWiw
— Cowboy Conny (@TheConradJay) May 7, 2024
For those who haven’t seen “The Prince of Egypt,” “When You Believe” is a rousing ballad sung to Moses by his sister Miriam and his wife Tzipporah. “There can be miracles / When you believe / Though hope is frail, it’s hard to kill / Who knows what miracles you can achieve / When you believe,” the pair sing as the Israelites are finally liberated from slavery in Egypt. (The movie version also includes Hebrew, with young children singing the Mi Chamocha prayer.) As Vogue noted, the performance of “When You Believe” right now evokes “a joyous tribute to unity, hope, and peace.”
The performance comes just a week after the end of Passover 5784 and received a standing ovation from the crowd. Because, duh, of course it did. The choir on backing vocals? Dayenu. The cinematic ending notes? Dayenu. The audience presumably including invitees Doja Cat, Gracie Abrams, Morgan Spector, Troye Sivan, Emrata, Dan Levy, Taika Waititi and more? Dayenu. The freaking Egyptian Temple of Dendur as the stage?!
DAYENU.
