Look at Me! Theater Kids Are Taking Center Stage

Ariana Grande has embraced her Broadway roots to huge success in Wicked and is now inspiring a whole new generation

- ISABEL MOHAN

Grande recently revealed that she's eager to return to the stage over making pop music.

In the high school popularity pecking order, being a musical theater geek used to be way closer to mathlete than cheerleader, but now some of the world’s biggest stars are proudly showing off that coming out of the womb with waving jazz hands is totally cool after all.

While Ariana Grande started her music career emphasizing her love of hip-hop and R&B and collaborating with artists from those worlds, we all now know that the multitalented star is a musical theater obsessive at heart who was born to play Glinda in Wicked (she even tweeted back in 2011 that it was her dream role!). And the huge success of the movie — in its opening weekend alone, it broke U.S. box-office records, raking in a staggering $114 million — is a sign that the world has been waiting for this moment too (hairbrush to wail into optional!).