Elaine Hendrix brought the Dancing With the Stars ballroom to its knees on Wicked night.
The Parent Trap star and her pro partner Alan Bersten earned among the lowest scores last week after their “Dedication Night” foxtrot for Hendrix’s bestie (and fellow Parent Trap star) Lisa Ann Walter. But Hendrix was able to rebound in a major way, with the pressure squarely on her shoulders being saddled with the beloved musical’s biggest number — “Defying Gravity.”
“We’re dancing a contemporary, and I want to portray the story like Elphaba did, where Elaine realizes she can trust herself to show she is stronger than her injuries,” Bersten shared in a pre-dance rehearsal tape. Hendrix opened up in rehearsal about the challenges posed by a titanium plate in her foot, surgically inserted after she was in a grisly car accident, and was shown breaking into tears at one point during practice.
“It’s not fun, knowing the limitations of your body, and this song is all about pushing past your limitations,” Hendrix confided. “I know my determination is going to win, it’s just getting there is quite a journey.”
Outfitted in sleek Elphaba black, Hendrix slinked onto the ballroom to the opening bars of the song led in guest judge Jon M. Chu’s film adaptation by Cynthia Erivo. Dramatic dips, lifts, and turns culminated in Hendrix recreating the Broadway musical’s showstopping moment: the actress, as Elphaba, lifted high into the air as her cape billows below to deliver the song’s climactic send-off.
The audience roared like thunder as Hendrix was lowered back down and safely unbuckled from her harness. Cohost Alfonso Ribeiro first passed the mic to Carrie Ann Inaba for the judges’ critiques.
“Elaine, that was something special. When you were dancing, my heart was— I just burst into tears, because you were so purely in the moment,” Inaba explained. “There are moments on the show that are so magical that no one will ever forget how it made them feel when you danced, and you reached [that].”
Chu looked back on his time directing both Wicked and its upcoming sequel, Wicked: For Good, to comment, “It was pure ascension… We talked a lot about that on the movie. It’s not about control, it’s about surrender to your own power, and I felt that.”
Hough revealed that he and Hendrix “had a little chat after last week’s show,” in which the veteran screen star “shared a few things with me, and so I know that you’re pushing through some things.” With that context in mind, Hough concluded that Hendrix is truly “defying the odds.”
Before turning the mic over to Julianne Hough in the skybox for the judges’ scores, Bruno Tonioli exclaimed, “Darling, you went into orbit tonight… You had the toughest number because it’s the highest, the biggest in the show, and you killed it.”
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Hendrix was elated in her post-dance chat with Hough, even before receiving her stellar score. “I am feeling like I am defying gravity,” she winked. Bersten gave his partner an earnest hug, telling Hough, “Elaine’s determination and her perseverance is just so incredible and so inspiring, and I feel so lucky to be partnered with her.”
The actress earned four 9s for a score of 36, her highest so far. It would have been a contender for the highest score of the night if Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Whitney Leavitt had not nearly swept the judges’ panel for a season-high score of 39.
Dancing With the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and Disney+, and streams the next day on Hulu.
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