Ariana Grande wants to return to the Broadway stage

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 11/6/24 at 12:13pm

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Ariana-Grande-Plans-to-Pursue-More-Musical-Theatre-Will-Release-Less-Pop-Music-20241106

While appearing on her Wicked co-star Bowen Yang's Las Culturistas podcast, Grande revealed that she plans to put out less pop music in the coming years to focus on musical theatre and acting roles.

"[Broadway] is my heart," Grande revealed. "I'm always gonna make music. I'm always gonna go on stage. I'm always gonna do pop stuff. I pinky promise. But I don't think doing it at the rate that I've been doing it for the past 10 years is where I see the next 10 years going."

She now leaves the door open to return to Broadway, having made her debut in 13 in 2008.

"I think that I would love to [do Broadway] in whatever makes sense, or whatever roles that we see fit, or where I could really do a good job or honor the material, I would really love to because I think it's a lot better for me."

Throughout the past five years, Grande has put out pop records at a frequent rate. She has put out four full-length albums since 2018, only taking a break in for two years to focus on auditioning and filming Wicked.

"I think I love acting, I love musical theatre," she continued. "I think reconnecting with this part of myself who started in musical theater and loves comedy, and it heals me to do that."

[singer234]

Posted: 11/6/24 at 12:22pm

I wonder, if Last Five Years happens to extend, if she and Ethan Slater would be willing to do a short stint. Also, she's obviously very close to JRB.

I also wonder about Jamie Lloyd's Evita...didn't someone say they were looking at a major start who would be returning to musical theatre after a long hiatus? She would definitely fit the bill. Physically she is perfect, vocally she would kill it...the only question is whether they would cast/she would be willing to play someone South American (even though her ethnic background is actually likely fairly similar to the real Eva's). If she's going to return to musicals, she is going to go big...doesn't get much bigger or harder than Evita.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 11/6/24 at 12:36pm

singer234 said: "I wonder, if Last Five Years happens to extend, if she and Ethan Slater would be willing to do a short stint. Also, she's obviously very close to JRB.

I also wonder about Jamie Lloyd's Evita...didn't someone say they were looking at a major start who would be returning to musical theatre after a long hiatus? She would definitely fit the bill. Physically she is perfect, vocally she would kill it...the only question is whether they would cast/she would be willing to play someone South American (even though her ethnic background is actually likely fairly similar to the real Eva's). If she's going to return to musicals, she is going to go big...doesn't get much bigger or harder than Evita."

 

I don't see her replacing on Broadway but you might be on to something with Evita.

 

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/6/24 at 1:00pm

If we could finally get a good book to Sweet Charity, I think her infectious personality would be well suited to the role. 

[getatme]

Posted: 11/6/24 at 2:17pm

Would much rather be seeing her and Ethan Slater in The Last 5 Years over the cast we actually have.

[BETTY22]

Posted: 11/6/24 at 3:21pm

Welcome back.....new shows need your star power more than ever. 

[BenjaminNicholas2]

Posted: 11/6/24 at 3:37pm

Bleh.

[verywellthensigh]

Posted: 11/6/24 at 4:46pm

Oh.

[bwayobsessed]

Posted: 11/6/24 at 5:08pm

I don’t think she’d replace but she could totally do Daisy in the Gatsby 

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 11/6/24 at 5:32pm

She mentions Sherie Rene Scott in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in that interview and I think that would actually be a perfect role for her. Especially if she doesn’t want to have to carry the show entirely on her shoulders. Actually, her Wicked costars Jeff Goldblum and Jonathan Bailey would be perfect to headline it with her. But she could also just have someone (JRB?) write a show for her. 

[darquegk]

Posted: 11/6/24 at 9:27pm

I was wary on this until her SNL appearance last month. Genuinely one of the all time great female hosts (who are still underrepresented in numbers), capable of being indistinguishable from a top tier cast member. 
 

Ariana is likely going to want a classic diva type role, but I’d rather see her in something that plays to her comic versatility like the SNL appearance did. If only Bells Are Ringing was worth reviving…

[broadway86]

Posted: 11/8/24 at 10:35am

NOWaWarning said: "Actually, her Wicked costars Jeff Goldblum and Jonathan Bailey would be perfect to headline it with her."

That's genius.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 11/8/24 at 10:46am

I'm sure she won't want to follow Chenoweth's footsteps with any other roles, but she might be divine in ON THE 20TH CENTURY or THE APPLE TREE.

I agree she could be wonderful as CHARITY (with Ethan Slater as Oscar!) but vocally it would be a waste on her.

It's a shame she's just a little too young to play Adelaide in Rob Marshall's GUYS & DOLLS film.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/8/24 at 10:56am

She strikes me as in every possible way wrong for Charity, a woman who's been around the block more than once and has that tricky blend of vulnerability and street smarts that only comes with honest adult survival - i.e., a few more years. Nothing about her feels right, at least not in the next half a decade. 

No one wants another Candide, but isn't she a Cunegonde?  If the voices is a richly rangy as we've been told? I'd like to see her in something of substance, not popish fare. 

[singer234]

Posted: 11/8/24 at 11:11am

I DO however think Miley Cyrus would make a great Charity, even though they're about the same age.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 11/8/24 at 12:47pm

singer234 said: "I DO however think Miley Cyrus would make a great Charity, even though they're about the same age."

 

Words have power. I beg you to not manifest horrors as ugly as this one.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 11/8/24 at 12:53pm

Miley emanates self-confidence and carefree empowerment. Kinda the opposite of Charity. I can’t see it. 

[singer234]

Posted: 11/8/24 at 1:12pm

Haha, to each their own. I happen to think she has an incredible unique voice that would suit the score well and is a natural physical comedienne. I think you can rest assured it won't happen.

Updated On: 11/8/24 at 01:12 PM

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 11/8/24 at 1:43pm

singer234 said: "Haha, to each their own. I happen to think she has an incredible unique voice that would suit the score well and is a natural physical comedienne. I think you can rest assured it won't happen."

 

It is certainly unique...

[darquegk]

Posted: 11/8/24 at 2:05pm

There's not really a well-fitted star vehicle for someone like Ariana, because she is this larger than life pop superstar, and a versatile character comedian, AND a gorgeous sex symbol. If Ariana were a guy, people would be talking about her like she was the second coming of Justin Timberlake. Instead, nobody is sure what to do with her, since mass media doesn't seem like it can handle a woman with all three of those boxes checked at once.

Watching her on SNL, I kept thinking of her fellow Nickelodeon alum Amanda Bynes, who was one of the very few female comedians to be allowed the level of versatility and chaos that male character comedians are allotted by default. (I've also long wondered if Anne Hathaway felt reined in by her restyle as a serious actress in the late 2000s, and yearned to let her goofy enthusiastic theatre kid side out again.) Bynes burned out before reaching her adult era the way Grande has, but the two of them managed a similar balance of a glamorous pop-star aesthetic plus a self-deprecating and chameleonic comedic identity as an actor. If things had turned out differently, I think we'd be talking about Bynes the way we talk about Kenan Thompson, as one of those people so gifted at stage comedy from an early age that they're a legend in their own time. Ariana Grande has that same long-gestating spark, but her pop success has made people forget it.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 11/8/24 at 2:47pm

It may be that an all-new musical would be the best vehicle for Ariana, though very few legitimate stars want to spend 5-10 years developing a new musical.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 11/8/24 at 3:15pm

Auggie27 said: "No one wants another Candide, but isn't she a Cunegonde? If the voices is a richly rangy as we've been told? I'd like to see her in something of substance, not popish fare."

I'd like a good and silly production of Candide! Darko Tresnjak was supposed to direct it at Goodspeed and then Covid happened and it never got rescheduled. Which seems like an ideal match of director and venue.

Does Ariana actually have those notes though and, if so, could she sustain it 6-8x a week? That role is a TOUGH sing.

[Valentina3]

Posted: 11/8/24 at 3:33pm

I'm sorry but the answer is very clearly a Legally Blonde revival, with Renee Rapp as Vivienne. Sherie Rene Scott would be a fabulous Paulette.

(As long as they rewrite or cut the unnecessary "we cast a big name for Emmett so unfortunately he will have to play a really big part in her self actualization".)

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 11/8/24 at 3:44pm

Was Christian Borle a big name in 2007?

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 11/8/24 at 4:21pm

TotallyEffed said: "Was Christian Borle a big name in 2007?"

Of course not.