Age: 33
female
Ariana Grande-Butera (born June 26, 1993) is an Italian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon and an influential figure in popular music, Grande is known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle register. Her accolades include two Grammy Awards, a Brit Award, two Billboard Music Awards, three American Music Awards, 39 Guinness World Records, and ten MTV Video Music Awards. She began her career as a teenage actress by appearing in the Broadway musical 13 (2008). She rose to fame as Cat Valentine in the Nickelodeon television series Victorious (2010–2013) and its spin-off series Sam & Cat (2013–2014). Grande signed with Republic Records and released her retro-pop and R&B-influenced debut studio album, Yours Truly (2013), which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. She blended pop, R&B, and electronic on her second and third albums, My Everything (2014) and Dangerous Woman (2016), which both achieved international success and contained the singles "Problem", "Break Free", "Bang Bang", "One Last Time", "Into You" and "Side to Side". Personal struggles influenced Grande's trap-infused albums Sweetener (2018) and Thank U, Next (2019). The former won Grande her first Grammy award, while the latter garnered US number-one singles "Thank U, Next" and "7 Rings", and made her the first solo artist to occupy the top three spots of the Billboard Hot 100. She subsequently achieved the most number-one debuts in Hot 100 chart history with the title track of her sixth album, Positions (2020), as well as the collaborations "Stuck with U" and "Rain on Me". After a musical hiatus, Grande released her seventh album, Eternal Sunshine (2024), which yielded the US number-one singles "Yes, And?" and "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)". She returned to film acting with the political satire Don't Look Up (2021) and received critical praise for her portrayal of Glinda in the fantasy musical Wicked (2024), earning her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
She has been the understudy for six years. Tonight, the star can't go on. Neither can the narrative that everything will be fine. Luna Vega, 27, has spent six years as the understudy for the lead of Broadway's longest-running musical — a role she has performed 847 times in her imagination and three times on stage in emergencies. She is better at the role than the star. Everyone knows this. Nothing changes because of it. When the lead — the incandescent, impossible Margaux — breaks her ankle backstage on the night a major film director is in the audience specifically scouting for his upcoming musical film, Luna goes on. The performance is transformative. The film director wants her. The Broadway producers want to keep her as understudy because she is more useful to the show's stability there. Her cast mate Theo, who has had front-row seats to Luna's quality for three years and has been unable to explain his feelings about it, watches the whole situation with the particular helplessness of a man in love with someone who has been told by every structure around her that she should be grateful for what she has. The film is a romantic comedy with a genuine political argument at its center about who gets to be the lead. Act One — 847 Times Luna's world: the wings, the watching, the extraordinary competence and the institutional invisibility. Act Two — The Performance Margaux's injury. Luna going on. The director in seat D12. The audience on their feet. Act Three — The Choice Not the film director's offer or the producers' counter-offer. Luna's own understanding of what she wants, separate from any offer.
See polls and matchups connected to Ariana Grande's casting for Luna Vega.
