Ariana Grande watches ‘Wicked’ with 99-year-old nonna in theater she grew up in
On Nov. 21, fans of “Wicked” got to see the motion picture-version of the story for the first time.
During the press tour for the new movie, actresses and singers Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, the stars of the show, revealed just how much their respective parts have meant to them.
In an interview with Variety, Erivo, who plays Elphaba, said she hopes her character is “a bit of a love letter to everyone who feels different, who feels out of place, to all of the Black women who have walked into rooms and felt like they haven’t been welcomed.”
“To anyone who’s walked into a room and felt like they haven’t been welcomed,” she continued. “I am really glad to be the conduit through which this character has been brought to the world.”
As for Grande, playing the role of Glinda has been a lifelong dream. In fact, when she was 10, her nonna took her see the Broadway production of “Wicked” in New York City with the original cast.
Then several years later, in 2011, Grande saw “Wicked” again. She took to her Twitter account to call Glinda her “dream role.”
“Loved seeing ‘Wicked’ again… amazing production! Made me realize again how badly I want 2 play Glinda at some point in my life!”
Now, Grande, a Boca Raton native, is celebrating that full circle moment of seeing “Wicked” for the first time with her beloved 99-year-old nonna, to sitting in the exact movie theater she grew up going to as a child watching her nonna watch her in her dream role.
“Flew to Boca for a day to watch with nonna,” Grande shared alongside images her boyfriend and “Wicked” co-star Ethan Slater shared, “at the movie theater I grew up going to every weekend, Cinemark 20 in Boca.”
In another slide on her Instagram story, Grande revealed that she is “thrilled to report that when the sugar glider had her drum solo nonna exclaimed loudly, ‘Oh, I love that,’” while tagging the director of the movie, Jon M. Chu.
Throughout Grande’s illustrious acting and singing career, her nonna, Marjorie Grande, has been by her granddaughter’s side.
In fact, nonna became “the senior most person to ever appear on the Billboard Hot 100,” Billboard reported, when Grande’s song “Ordinary Things” from her critically acclaimed album “Eternal Sunshine” charted in April.
Marjorie Grande performs the spoken word outro for the song.