Ariana Grande Reunites with Victorious’ Liz Gillies During Off-Broadway Date Night with Ethan Slater

• Ariana Grande and boyfriend Ethan Slater attended a performance of Off-Broadway’s Little Shop of Horrors
• Elizabeth “Liz” Gillies, playing Audrey in the show, welcomed longtime friend Grande, who starred with her in 13 on Broadway and in Nickelodeon’s Victorious
• Gillies posted fun photos of the show’s cast greeting Grande and Slater, who, a source tells PEOPLE, were “friendly and warm”

Ariana Grande is having both a date night and a fun reunion!

Liz Gillies, who stars in an Off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors at New York City’s Westside Theatre, welcomed her Victorious costar Grande, 31, who brought boyfriend Ethan Slater to the show on Saturday, April 26.

“Ariana and Ethan came to the theater like an hour early and hung out backstage with the cast,” a source tells PEOPLE of the “adorable” visit. “They were both so friendly and warm with the cast, and so supportive of the production. Ariana gave everyone hugs and brought Liz a potted plant for the women’s dressing room.”

Gillies, 31, shared several shots of her reunion to Instagram on Monday. “THANK YOU FOR COMING TO THE SHOP, MY DINGUS!!” the actress captioned shots of Grande, Slater and much of the Little Shop cast and crew.

In many of the photos, Grande and Gillies can be seen holding small potted plants — a gift from the Wicked star in honor of Little Shop’s Audrey II, an alien Venus fly-trap-like creature who sings and yearns for human blood.

“You could tell Ariana was excited,” adds the insider. “She was overheard singing ‘Skid Row’ as she walked into the theater, and even bought a bunch of show merch.”

Gillies, 31, stars as Audrey, alongside Milo Manheim as Seymour (replacing Sherie Rene Scott and Nicholas Christopher), in the revival of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s classic musical. The run marks Gillies’ return to the New York City stage after her Broadway debut in Jason Robert Brown’s musical 13 in 2008, alongside Grande.

13 costar Aaron Simon Gross was also part of the reunion. He “met up with Ariana. It was the sweetest reunion!” the source tells PEOPLE.

Gillies and Grande went from 13 to Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious, and have remained friends since.

“We make a real effort to see each other,” Gillies told PEOPLE in November 2024. “We laugh, we reminisce and we make new memories. I think a lot of the time when you have friends from childhood, you need to make new memories to keep a friendship going… I see Ariana all the time, and we’re constantly doing things, having new experiences and adding chapters to our book.”

Grande has been publicly linked to Slater, 32, since 2023. The two actors met on the set of Wicked and began dating after Grande’s separation from her then-husband, Dalton Gomez, and Slater’s separation from his then-wife, Lilly Jay. The pop star made their relationship Instagram official in November 2024.

Manheim, 24, can be seen in many of the backstage photos that Gillies shared. Grande’s arrival was not Gilles’ first Victorious reunion at Little Shop; former costars Avan Jogia and Daniella Monet attended the actress’ first night.

“To look out and see other people who knew me in a chapter of my life that really immediately followed the last time I was on Broadway, it’s very special and trippy and meaningful,” Gillies told PEOPLE earlier this month.

She added that it was Grande she first asked about taking on the role of Audrey. “There are certain roles that we both love so much or certain projects, and I needed to check in with her,” she said. “She’s been such a support to me throughout all of this.”