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Frankie Grande likes to stay busy \u2014 even on Sundays.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the moment I wake up, it\u2019s go, go, go,\u201d said Mr. Grande, a 41-year-old actor, singer and reality TV personality. This month, he returned to playing Victor Garber in \u201cTitanique<\/a>,\u201d an Off Broadway parody musical of the movie \u201cTitanic.\u201d He first played the character in a fully staged production in 2022, and is now back for a limited run through Feb. 18.<\/p>\n Mr. Grande, who is the half brother of the pop superstar Ariana Grande, was born in New York, grew up in Englewood, N.J., and Boca Raton, Fla., and graduated from Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania. Now he splits his time between a two-bedroom penthouse apartment in Hell\u2019s Kitchen and a home in Beverly Hills, Calif. He lives with his husband of almost two years, the actor and model Hale Grande, 31, and their red toy poodle puppy, Appa.<\/p>\n While Mr. Grande was a relative unknown when he moved back to New York City in 2005 \u2014 he said he often wandered through Times Square wearing a pair of earbuds, soaking in the scene \u2014 he\u2019s now a YouTube, Instagram and TikTok personality with more than 3.5 million followers across all three accounts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI definitely can\u2019t wander now without being recognized every four feet,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I love talking with fans.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n HERE COMES THE SUN<\/strong> I don\u2019t usually get up before 10 a.m. \u2014 my husband is in Los Angeles for work, and we\u2019d been up all night playing the new Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora game \u2014 but I surprise myself and wake up at 8:45 a.m. I have a Philips alarm clock that mimics a natural 30-minute sunrise, and at the end it has birds chirping. It wakes me up like I\u2019m on a farm with animal noises. It\u2019s a really peaceful way to start the day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n FUELING UP<\/strong> I make a run to the Starbucks in the bottom of my building \u2014 my order is a venti iced oat milk latte with three pumps of toffee nut \u2014 or I put my headphones on and make breakfast here. I have to have my coffee with Chobani vegan creamer (it\u2019s the best thing that ever happened to the world) and a container of Siggi\u2019s vegan yogurt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n MORNING GLORY<\/strong> While I\u2019m prepping breakfast, I go down to the dining room and look out on the world. The apartment has high windows that face three corners of the city \u2014 south, west and east. There\u2019s light and sun all day long. I can see all the way down to the Statue of Liberty if I look down Eighth Avenue, as well as my dad\u2019s house over in New Jersey, which is adorable.<\/p>\n EAR CANDY <\/strong>On Spotify, there\u2019s a playlist called \u201cThe Daily Drive\u201d that I listen to every morning. It starts with NPR, and then I get some Vox podcasts, then some music, all my most-played songs \u2014 \u201cRunning Up That Hill\u201d by Kim Petras, \u201cGot Me Started\u201d by Troye Sivan, \u201cGeronimo\u201d by Sheppard, \u201cRun Away With Me\u201d by Carly Rae Jepsen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n SWEAT IT OUT <\/strong>I take the subway to a 10:45 a.m. or 11 a.m. SoulCycle class near Bryant Park. I would rather be on a train going three miles per hour than in a cab going zero; that drives me nuts! I have some SoulCycle teachers that I absolutely love \u2014 shout out to Dakota, Cameron and Parker \u2014 mostly the gays. I\u2019m a big supporter of the gays because they play my music, which motivates me to get through the class. I\u2019ve been going for more than 10 years and have probably done about 500 rides.<\/p>\n BRUNCH PLANS<\/strong> I normally meet my family for brunch around noon or 1 p.m. at 44 & X<\/a> in Hell\u2019s Kitchen \u2014 my father lives in New Jersey with my stepmother and my little brother, James \u2014 but they were snowed in. So I grab lunch with my best friends Dominic Crossey and Lauren Strigari instead. I love this place. The dining room is so open and airy with lots of light. I always order the French toast; it\u2019s my comfort food.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n FIT CHECK <\/strong>I have my first performance back in \u201cTitanique\u201d next week [Mr. Grande returned on Jan. 13], so I head to the Daryl Roth Theater for a costume fitting at 2 p.m. They\u2019re making me a brand-new costume, which I\u2019m very excited about \u2014 I wore the previous one for eight months, so it was sad by the time I was done. The show won a Lortel Award for best costume design<\/a> \u2014 and my costume was pretty fantastic! \u2014 so I\u2019m looking forward to whatever Victor Garber 2.0 is.<\/p>\n SHIP OF DREAMS<\/strong> Dominic, Lauren and I end up staying for the \u201cTitanique\u201d matinee. It\u2019s one of the funniest and most joyful shows I\u2019ve ever been a part of. No one who comes to the show leaves without the biggest smile. I was so fatigued when I left the show a year ago \u2014 we had been running for eight months; it\u2019s very grueling to start a show from scratch \u2014 but I knew I wasn\u2019t done with it.<\/p>\n MOVIE NIGHT<\/strong> We head back to Times Square, where we catch \u201cThe Color Purple\u201d at the 42nd Street AMC. It\u2019s so beautiful, and the performances are incredible. Danielle Brooks as Sofia and Taraji P. Henson as Shug Avery were my favorites. It made me cry.<\/p>\n AWARDS SEASON <\/strong>Back at my apartment, we order nachos, buffalo cauliflower tacos and queso from Jajaja Mexicana<\/a> \u2014 the greatest vegan restaurant ever \u2014 and watch the Golden Globes. I try to watch all the nominated films each year. I\u2019m surprised \u201cThe Color Purple\u201d doesn\u2019t win anything, but I\u2019m thrilled that Christopher Nolan finally won his Globe for \u201cOppenheimer.\u201d I was blown away by that film.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n EARLY NIGHT<\/strong> Normally, I would end my night with a drag show at 10 p.m., which means 11 in the drag world. I\u2019d been planning to see my friend Pixie Aventura at Barracuda Lounge<\/a> in Chelsea, but she\u2019s out of town this week, so there\u2019s no show. So, we put on \u201cTrolls Band Together\u201d; Lauren and I love watching animated movies together. Seeing my friend Lance Bass portray the glittery yellow troll with the rainbow hair made me so happy.<\/p>\n A FULL NINE HOURS<\/strong> In an ideal world, I\u2019m in bed by midnight and asleep by 1 a.m. It takes me about an hour from the time I decide I want to go to bed to fall asleep. I have a whole ritual I go through: I\u2019ll listen to an audiobook \u2014 right now it\u2019s \u201cIron Flame\u201d by Rebecca Yarros, the sequel to \u201cFourth Wing\u201d \u2014 and then cuddle in bed with my husband. I put on my blue light blocker glasses if I\u2019m going to be watching something on my phone. Then I take my melatonin and then \u2014 hopefully \u2014 zip off to sleep. My ideal is around nine hours; that\u2019s what my brain requires for maximum function. Anything less than seven, and I\u2019m useless to the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n