Who did Ariana Grande play in 'Hairspray Live!'? Singer's character in the musical explored

While Ariana Grande is a globally known singer-songwriter, her prowess in acting is no secret either. Ari started out in the entertainment industry as an actress and still continues to put her acting skills to good use.

Eight years ago, Ariana Grande featured in a live NBC television production called Hairspray Live! Grande played the character of Penny Pingleton - a high school girl obsessed with the Corny Collins show - in the musical.

The 7 Rings singer starred in the musical alongside Maddie Baillio - who played the protagonist, Tracy Turnblad, Derek Hough as Corny Collins and Ephraim Sykes as Seaweed J. Stubbs.

Hairspray Live! premiered on NBC on December 7, 2016.

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Ariana Grande's character in the musical is nerdy and socially awkward

According to Grande's fandom, Ari's character in the musical, Penny Pingleton is indeed described as a nerdy, socially awkward teenager with Tracy Turnblad - the protagonist - being her only friend in the world. Both Pingleton and Turnblad share the love of the Corny Collins show, seen rushing over to Tracy's home to see it.

After becoming famous overnight, Tracy introduces Penny to Seaweed, and the two are instantly smitten with one another. However, her relationship with Seaweed isn't approved by Penny's mother, who is both religiously devout and r*****. In an attempt to keep her away from Seaweed, Penny's mother locks her in her bedroom.

Pingleton is later rescued by Seaweed, after which the two realize their love for each other. Eventually, it's implied that Penny has broken all ties with her mother and won't return to her.

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Ariana Grande reached out to the producers of Hairspray Live! for playing Penny

Before the release of Hairspray Live!, executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron told ET Online in October 2016 how the Thank U, Next singer had reached out to them for the role of Penny Pingleton.

"When we started casting, we hadn't gotten to those roles yet, and we got a call from her manager saying she would like to play Penny"

Zadan disclosed how they "were overwhelmed and thrilled and pinching ourselves" about it. They also exclaimed how, despite being an established singer, Ari didn't demand to have more songs added to Penny's character in the musical.

"She said, 'I love Hairspray, I love Penny. Don't change anything. Don't make it bigger. Let me play the part as it exists.' It shows her passion for doing this and the project."

The producers described how playing the part "as it exists" meant that Ariana Grande wouldn't get to sing any songs until the end of the show and had only one musical number to her character:

"Penny is a very shy kind of school booky-type of character that eventually is able to find her voice when she joins this group of kids trying to change the world. Through love, she's able to find her voice."

Of the 19 tracks in the musical, Ariana Grande is a part of only four and takes the lead in only one - Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now.

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Grande is set to star in another musical this year

Towards the end of 2021, shortly after completing her cameo appearance for the Leonardo DiCaprio starrer movie, Don't Look Up, Ariana Grande was announced to play Glinda, the good witch, in Jon M. Chu's movie adaption of the 2003 Broadway show, Wicked.

Both the movie and show are based on Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel of the same name. The Positions singer is playing Glinda, the good witch, in the movie, with Cynthia Erivo playing Elphaba.

Ari worked on the movie's production in 2022 and 2023 and became close friends with Erivo. The two stars also got matching tattoos to commemorate their experience of filming Wicked as well as their bond.

Earlier in 2024, Wicked's trailer was launched on YouTube, with the date of its release announced to be November 22, 2024, around Thanksgiving. The movie is the first installation of the two-parter, the second part - also starring Grande and Erivo - slated for release in November 2025.