Pop Culture

Ariana Grande Celebrated Her 30th Birthday on the Set of Wicked

Ariana Grande didn’t ring in her 30th birthday with a blowout party in Los Angeles. The singer kept the public record of her day pretty low-key as she continues work on Wicked in the U.K. Grande posted an Instagram acknowledging her milestone birthday, featuring her as a kid in a Dorothy costume. Grande is playing Glinda in two upcoming Wicked movies and has been shooting them all year.

hbd, tiny !” she wrote. “I trust you implicitly & have never been prouder of you 🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧 30 🫧🫧🫧 🦀”

On Thursday, Grande shared an Instagram Story of the pink birthday decorations that the film crew surprised her with in her trailer. “Almooooost :’)!” she wrote, referring to the early birthday tribute. “How cuuuuute is team pink! I love this most thoughtful, Ozian family of mine so much. And I am so grateful.”

how wicked's team surprised ariana for her birthday

Twitter

Back in April, Grande reflected on hitting the halfway point of making Wicked:

halfway.

savoring every millisecond left with my Galinda (although she’ll be with me irrevocably, forever). she shows me so many new things every day.
i am so grateful, i don’t know what to do or say… to be here in Oz where everyday is a life changing one… to be feeling, learning and growing so much at such a disarming speed… to feel so much love around me, to begin each day before the sun is up and to end after it sets… to hold my brilliant twin flame / sister Cynthia’s beautiful, green hands every day… to work in the safest, most beautiful and loving, biggest-yet-most-intimate/tiny-feeling spaces… to be lead by thee most thoughtful, brilliant, compassionate and warmest possible director on this planet, my other Ozian best friend ever Jon…
to be transforming and healing parts of me that i never knew needed it. or maybe did.
forgive me for this most cancerian, rambly post.
words don’t suffice but i suppose i just wanted to (attempt to) share a little.
i don’t want it to end. so while i am still here, present, now, i just wanted to….exclaim my tremendous gratitution ! and allow my heart to overflow.
i hope this isn’t all a dream because as present as i am attempting to be, it sure does feel like one.
happy halfway to this most beautiful crew.
my fellow Ozians.
my heart will be stuck here forever.

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Senior News and Strategy Editor

Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.