Which 2016 live television musical featured Ariana Grande as Penny Pingleton?

The 2016 live television musical featuring Ariana Grande as Penny Pingleton was Hairspray Live!.

NBC broadcast Hairspray Live! on December 7, 2016, adapting the stage musical Hairspray for a live television production. Grande played Penny Pingleton, Tracy Turnblad’s best friend. The cast also included Maddie Baillio as Tracy, Dove Cameron as Amber, Kristin Chenoweth as Velma, Jennifer Hudson as Motormouth Maybelle, and Harvey Fierstein as Edna Turnblad.

Penny is written as a sheltered teenager whose friendship with Tracy exposes her to the racial tensions and social restrictions of 1960s Baltimore. Grande’s performance included the ensemble number “Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now” and the finale “You Can’t Stop the Beat.”

The title can be confused with other televised musical productions, especially Grease Live!, which aired on Fox in 2016. Hairspray Live! was NBC’s production and belongs to the Hairspray franchise, not the Grease or Rodgers and Hammerstein television adaptations.