Ariana Grande and her Wicked costar Bowen Yang traded the hallowed halls of Shiz University for 1900s Paris in a Saturday Night Live sketch.
Grande, 30, was the musical guest on the Saturday, March 9, episode of SNL and made cameos in multiple sketches throughout the evening. In her first appearance, she joined SNL cast member Yang, 33, for a Moulin Rouge parody.
“Welcome to ‘Musical Theatre Masterpieces.’ I’m your host Ken Burnt. It’s Oscar weekend and tonight we’re looking back at one of the few movie musicals ever nominated for best picture,” fellow SNL cast member Mikey Day said, referring to the 2001 movie starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. “The film’s crown jewel is the ‘Elephant Love Medley,’ which strung together 10 popular love songs like ‘All You Need is Love’ and ‘I Will Always Love You.’”
Day’s fictional PBS host added, “But, what you don’t know is that the original medley was much, much longer. Since they didn’t know what songs they could get the rights to, they tried many more that have never been seen. Take a look!”
The camera then cut to Grande (acting as Kidman’s Satine) and Yang (portraying McGregor’s Christian) on a replica of the film’s now-iconic Paris rooftop set. They sang a variety of musical covers, including “Up Where We Belong” by Jennifer Warnes and Joe Cocker, “Do-Re-Mi” by Julie Andrews, “You Belong With Me” by Taylor Swift, TLC’s “Creep” and “Happy Birthday.”
As the duo performed snippets of the songs, they wistfully looked into one another’s eyes. At one point, Grande and Yang broke character and failed to contain their laughter. While they kept on singing, Grande and Yang still had several more moments where they burst out in giggles — especially after Yang took on Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” and a second rendition of “Happy Birthday.”
Grande later joined Yang in a second sketch, titled “People Pleaser Support Group,” where they both played characters struggling with the concept of saying no.
As the night’s musical guest, Grande performed two songs from her new Eternal Sunshine album: “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” and “Imperfect for You.”
In between sketches and performances, Grande and Yang candidly discussed her LP, which dropped on Friday, March 8.
“My interpretation of Eternal Sunshine 2024 is that the whole album is a dream,” Yang gushed in a Saturday Instagram Story video posted by Grande. “So, you go to sleep and it’s all these images and then you wake up at the end.”
Grande, who laughed throughout the social media footage, noted in her caption that Yang is “the love of my life.” They met on the set of the anticipated Wicked movie musical, which wrapped filming in January. Grande stars as Galinda/Glinda the Good Witch, while Yang will take on the role of her Shiz University classmate Pfannee.
Saturday Night Live airs on NBC Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET.
