West End Sunset: Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey’s Sunday in the Park With George has been scrapped
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The highly anticipated London revival of Stephen Sondheim’s iconic musical Sunday in the Park With George has been officially scrapped following the departure of its two high-profile leads, Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey.
The production, which was set to mount at London’s Barbican Centre next summer, was first announced in January, promising Wicked fans a rare chance to see the film co-stars share a live stage. Grande was slated to double up as Dot and Marie, while Bailey was set to star opposite her as French painter George Seurat—the artist behind the real-life masterpiece A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, which inspired the 1983 musical.
However, the production hit a major snag when ticketing plans were thrown off course. Originally scheduled to drop in May, ticket sales were delayed to September to align with the end of Grande’s Eternal Sunshine tour. The timeline fell apart last month when Grande announced she was “taking a step back from visibility” due to ongoing public scrutiny regarding her health, prompting her exit from the show. Earlier this month, Bailey followed suit by stepping down from his role as well.
With both leads gone, the producers have chosen to shelve the production for the time being.
“The planned 2027 production of ‘Sunday in the Park with George’ at the Barbican will no longer proceed as scheduled,” a rep for producers Empire Street Productions told Variety. “Empire Street Productions will retain the rights with a view to presenting the production in 2028. Further details will be announced in due course.”
Sunday in the Park With George last saw a major revival on Broadway in 2017, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford. Theatregoers eager to see Sondheim’s classic back in London will now have to wait until at least 2028 for the curtains to rise.
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