Ariana Grande swooped in for a solo Wicked: For Good promo appearance on The Tonight Show on Tuesday night (Nov. 18), and while her movie bestie Cynthia Erivo is skipping interviews on the red carpet ahead of Friday’s opening of the sequel after losing her voice, Grande broke from their silent solidarity pact for a night to belt out some famous duets with host Jimmy Fallon.
The pair ran through a History of Duets, opening with “For Good” from Wicked, naturally, before dipping into Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s titanic “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” bopping and swaying to the soul classic’s groove before taking a hard left turn. Fallon steered into a bit of “Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better) from the 1946 Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun, with Grande trying to steal back the spotlight with her “no you can’t!” to his “yes I can!” as the two playfully tried to push one another out of frame.
Grande firmly grabbed the attention back by busting into the powerhouse Lady Gaga bits from “Shallow,” with Fallon sitting back as she dove into the deep end, then joining her to croon about rising to the surface in his best Bradley Cooper impersonation. They then slipped into a few lines from the iconic Brandy and Monica jam “The Boy Is Mine” before cranking things up for Bruno Mars and ROSÉ’s “Apt.” and downshifting into the soaring Aladdin ballad “A Whole New World.”
Fallon slipped on some nerdy glasses for a swoon through “Suddenly, Seymour” from Little Shop of Horrors before cueing up the big finale, Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes’ iconic, Oscar-winning “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” from Dirty Dancing. Fallon surely made his show’s lawyers nervous by offering to do the signature lift from the 1987 Patrick Swayze/Jennifer Grey dance romance. Grande got a head start and then took off, landing in Fallon’s arms as he awkwardly spun her around over his head.
Okay, kidding, it was just a stuffed Ari doll, though she sold it by pretending her hip was sore from the high-flying bit.
Grande had plenty to say during her 10th appearance on the Tonight Show, promoting the anticipated movie musical, of course, but also her upcoming appearance on the Dec. 20 Christmas episode of Saturday Night Live, where she will be joined by musical guest Cher. “I’m so excited,” she said, noting that she didn’t find out the pop legend would be joining until two days before it was announced. “I almost passed out. I had no idea what to do. What an honor.”
And not for nothing, Grande predicted that it would be “one of the gayest SNL episodes that has ever happened, right?”
She also talked about what it felt like to film both Wicked movies at the same time, saying it’s been interesting to watch it so many years after the cast finished shooting. “So in my head they’re both one story and one experience,” she said, while happily taking Fallon’s praise for her wand skills in the second half of the blockbuster Broadway adaptation. “It got caught in my wig a few times,” she admitted as Jimmy pulled out a massive glittery prop from the film and asked the movie’s star to show off some of her impressive wand work.
Watch Grande on The Tonight Show below.
