Timothée Chalamet to Sabrina Carpenter: Theater Kids We Want to See Back on Stage

After bubbling rumors of a new production across the pond, it was made official last month: Ariana Grande is starring in another musical. 

Following her Wicked era, where the pop star fully embraced the role of Glinda, Grande will play Dot in Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George, taking on another beloved part in the musical theater canon. These projects mark the beginning of her career transition from music to a focus on acting projects.

But, before becoming a Grammy Award-winning performer, Grande grew up as a passionate theater kid. She began pursuing her musical career at just eight years old and made her Broadway debut in 2008 in Jason Robert Brown's 13: The Musical. 

With Grande returning to her stage roots, we put together a roundup of other theater “kids” whose careers have blossomed and taken them to the forefront of pop culture across film, television, and music.

From Sabrina Carpenter to Timotheé Chalamet, below are a few of the biggest stars we hope to see back on the stage!

Sabrina Carpenter

Despite always gravitating towards pop music, Sabrina Carpenter’s career has been impressively multifaceted. After gaining traction as a Disney Channel star, she began releasing her early music concurrently with starring roles in Girl Meets World and Adventures in Babysitting, before taking part in Pasadena Playhouse’s stage production of Peter Pan and Tinker Bell: A Pirate's Christmas in 2016, also a Disney project.

She went on make her Broadway debut as Cady Heron in Mean Girls in 2020. But COVID-19 had other plans. After only two performances in the musical comedy, the production shut down, resulting in a very short-lived run.

Since then, Carpenter has skyrocketed to pop stardom, and we couldn’t be happier. But we hope that she will one day make her way back to the world of musical theater— hopefully for more than two nights this time.

Reneé Rapp

Pop star Reneé Rapp made her Broadway debut as Regina George at the age of 19 in Mean Girls the Musical at the age of 19. A theater kid through and through, she previously won the 2018 Jimmy Award for Big Fish, which recognizes excellence in high school theater.

Following her success on Broadway, she made her way to the screen in Mindy Kaling's Sex Lives of College Girls series on HBO and reprised her Mean Girls role in the 2024 film adaptation. 

In 2022, she also began releasing original music, and as of 2026, has two albums under her belt. Rapp previously told BroadwayWorld that she thinks it would be "really cool" to write music for a Broadway musical with "the right story."

Timothée Chalamet

Before Timothée Chalamet stepped inside the world of candy-making with Wonka or turned heads as table tennis player Marty Supreme, several early roles played by the New York native were on the stage.

At age 16, Chalamet made his off-Broadway debut in The Talls, a coming-of-age family dramedy set in the 1970s. A production of Second Stage Theatre, it ran in August of 2011, with the actor starring as 12-year-old Nicholas.

He returned to the stage five years later in John Patrick Shanley's Prodigal Son. For his performance as the dynamic leading character (whom Shanley based on himself),  Chalamet received positive reviews, winning a Lucille Lortel Award and receiving a nomination for a Drama League Award.

In 2022, Chalamet was set to make his West End debut in a production of Amy Herzog's play 4000 Miles, but the production was ultimately cancelled. The play was previously set to open in April of 2020 and was postponed due to the pandemic.

Onscreen, he has bounced between genres, with his star power garnering leading roles in Call Me By Your Name, A Complete Unknown, and the Dune franchise.

Zendaya

Zendaya's stage roots run deep, with the MCU star honing her craft as a child star in the San Francisco theater scene. Some of her first theater experiences were at California Shakespeare Theater, where she accompanied her mother to her job as a house manager.  

Before her onscreen turn as Rocky Blue in Disney Channel's Shake It Up, the performer took classes at the theater company and went on to star in several productions at local theaters, including Berkeley Playhouse and Caroline, or Change at TheatreWorks and Once on This Island at Berkeley Playhouse.

With her rise to major stardom with roles in the MCU, Euphoria, and Dune, she has remained a frequent presence onscreen. In a 2024 conversation with Nicole Kidman, she noted her nerves surrounding live theater, saying, "I’ve got to rip the Band-Aid off. Maybe one day I’ll do it."

Tom Holland

In 2008, long before being known to the world as Peter Parker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tom Holland's very first acting job was in Elton John's Billy Elliot the Musical. Having trained in dance, he was selected to audition by choreographer Lynne Page. After performing for a few months in the supporting role of Michael Caffrey, he was promoted to the title character, working in the production until 2010.  

After switching to mostly onscreen work, Holland appeared in a range of projects from historical dramas to science fiction, animation, and his ongoing stint as Spider-Man. After 14 years away, he finally made a return to the stage in 2024, starring in Jamie Lloyd's production of Romeo & Juliet on the West End.

However, the actor has yet to tread the boards on this side of the pond, and we think audiences would flock to see the performer on the Great White Way.

Dove Cameron

Dove Cameron gained prominence as a young performer in the Descendants musical franchise. But before her turn as a Disney Channel star, she performed onstage as a child in local productions of Les Misérables and The Secret Garden. 

Throughout her career, she has remained close to the world of Broadway, with roles in Hairspray Live! and the musical theater series, Schmigadoon! She also starred as Cher in the Off-Broadway production of Clueless: The Musical and appeared alongside Renée Fleming in a 2019 London production of The Light in the Piazza. 

Even so, Cameron hasn't performed in a musical for a few years, and we would love to see her finally make her Broadway debut.

Anna Kendrick

Known for her roles in films like A Simple Favor, Up in the Air, and the Pitch Perfect franchise, Anna Kendrick got her start onstage in the 1997 production of High Society, receiving a Tony Award nomination at the age of 12. Though that marked her only Broadway credit to date, she appeared onstage in New York City Opera's production of A Little Night Music in 2003.

That same year, she made her film debut in the coming-of-age movie Camp. Set at a performing arts summer camp, the movie also featured a young Robin de Jesús and a cameo appearance from Stephen Sondheim himself.

Kendrick later returned to the world of musical theater (albeit onscreen) for two projects, starring in the film adaptations of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years as Cathy and Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods as Cinderella.

Caleb McLaughlin

Before taking on the part of the loyal Lucas Sinclair in Stranger Things, Caleb McLaughlin's first roles were in opera and theater. His first acting performance was in Lost in the Stars at the Glimmerglass Opera House in Cooperstown, New York. He played Alex, a role he would later return to in another production of the Kurt Weill opera, this time at the Kennedy Center in 2016.

Between those two productions, he made his Broadway debut as Young Simba in Disney's The Lion King, starring in the show for two years. After exiting the production, he appeared in a one-night-only concert of Mr. Magoos's Christmas Carol in benefit of The Actors Fund. Between TV roles, he returned to the stage for the world premiere of Athol Fugard's The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek at Signature Theatre.

As of 2026, that marks his most recent stage performance, but in a 2016 interview with BroadwayWorld, McLaughlin noted his interest in returning to Broadway again sometime in his career. 

Timothée Chalamet Photo Credit: Disney/Scott Kirkland

Sabrina Carpenter Photo Credit: Phil McCarten/CBS

Dove Cameron Photo Credit: Courtesy of Apple