Ariana Grande goes the extra mile for her 99-year-old grandma to watch Wicked
Ariana Grande visited her hometown movie theater for a special screening of Wicked with her 99-year-old grandmother, who was just a teenager when the original Wizard of Oz was released.
In a post shared to her Instagram Story, the 30-year-old pop star documented their outing at Cinemark 20 in Boca Raton, Florida, a movie theater Grande said she frequented during her childhood.
“Flew to Boca for a day to watch with Nonna at the movie theater I grew up going to every weekend, Cinemark 20 in Boca,” she captioned the first photo, which showed her leaning close to her grandmother, Marjorie Grande, while her brother, Frankie Grande, smiled in the background.
Ethan Slater, Grande’s boyfriend and her Wicked co-star, also joined the family for the special occasion. Although he wasn’t pictured during the outing, Grande tagged him in the post, hinting that he may have been the one behind the camera.
“Thrilled to report that when the sugar glider had her drum solo Nonna exclaimed loudly, ‘Oh I LOVE that,’” Grande wrote over her Instagram Story post, delighting fans with her grandmother’s reaction to a whimsical scene in the film.
Slater, best known for his Tony-nominated role as SpongeBob SquarePants in SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical, has been romantically linked to Grande since July 2023. Their relationship blossomed while filming director Jon M. Chu’s film adaptation of Wicked, in which Slater stars as Boq and Grande portrays Glinda the Good Witch.
Since Wicked’s theatrical release on November 22, the movie musical has already earned an estimated $114 million domestically from its opening weekend, according to CNBC. The record-breaking debut marks the highest opening for a Broadway adaptation in cinematic history.
Marjorie made her own history in March when she appeared at the end of Grande’s song “ordinary things,” off her seventh studio album, Eternal Sunshine. The track featured Marjorie answering Grande’s question in “intro (end of the world),” in which she asks herself: “How can I tell if I’m in the right relationship?”
Marjorie offered timeless wisdom in the track, as she said: “Never go to bed without kissing goodnight. That’s the worst thing to do. Don’t ever ever ever do that. And if you can’t, and if you don’t feel comfortable doing it, you’re in the wrong place. Get out.”
The heartfelt moment earned Marjorie a place in history as the “senior-most artist ever to have appeared on the Hot 100,” according to Billboard. Grande celebrated her grandmother’s milestone on Instagram, writing: “Celebrating the one and only, most beautiful Nonna who has now made history for being the senior-most person to ever appear on the @billboard Hot 100. We love and thank you.”
Grande has previously shared glimpses into her tight-knit family bond. In October, her family celebrated Marjorie’s 99th birthday on Instagram, where her brother Frankie posted a photo of himself, his husband Hale Leon, his famous sister, and their mother Joan posing with pink balloons to mark her milestone age.
“Happy 99th birthday to the Queen… NONNA!” Frankie wrote, adding: “I couldn’t feel more blessed to celebrate this unbelievable milestone with you and our beautiful family.”
In 2014, Marjorie accompanied Grande as her date to the VMAs, where they wore coordinating black-and-white outfits and shared hugs on the red carpet. Nonna has since joined the pop star for numerous events, including the 2015 American Music Awards and the 2016 Time 100 Gala.
