Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo doubled the fun with Wicked: One Wonderful Night, the American television special celebrating the release of Wicked: For Good.
On Thursday, November 6, the duo surprised the audience by ending the broadcast with a new but nostalgic duet.
The Oscar nominee and the 7 Rings hitmaker took the stage to perform a medley for two classics from opposite directions of the Great American Songbook: “Happy Days Are Here Again” and “Get Happy.”
Their surprise duet has a legendary backstory. The iconic medley was originally sung by Dorothy Gale and Judy Garland during the former’s variety show in October 1963. Funny lady Barbra Streisand was also there during Garland’s event of the same name.
Much to fans’ delight, the former Disney star and Erivo, 38, delivered the live performance not once but twice simply because they wanted to.
“Is that okay?” Grande, 32, asked the audience, who quickly responded to the pop star’s request with thunderous applause that echoed through the walls of Hollywood’s Dolby Theater during the taping.
Of course, long before Grande and Erivo paid tribute to Garland and Streisand’s iconic Get Happy/Happy Days Are Here Again medley and before Garland and Streisand created the mash-up, the individual songs already had a rich history of their own.
Over the years, the “Get Happy/Happy Days Are Here Again” clip has been preserved and the duet has lived on through countless tributes, featuring Broadway legends.
