Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey Come Together Again for Sunday in the Park with George Revival
Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey.
Credit: Sthanlee Mirador/PA Images via Getty; Dave Benett/Getty
Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey are set to reunite on stage in a West End revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Sunday in the Park with George.
Speculation surrounding the production gained momentum on social media, with Deadline first reporting in December that development was underway and producers aimed for a summer 2027 opening at the Barbican Theatre in London.
On January 14, 2024, Grande, 32, and Bailey, 37, confirmed the rumors by sharing a photo on social media of themselves at The Art Institute of Chicago, in front of Georges Seurat’s iconic painting, "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte," which served as inspiration for the musical. In the Instagram caption, they quoted the show’s signature song, stating, “All it has to be is good.”
The production has since been officially confirmed by the Barbican Theatre and will be directed by Marianne Elliott, an accomplished Tony and Olivier Award-winning director known for her innovative gender-swapped revival of Company.
Written by Sondheim, with a book by Lapine, Sunday in the Park with George tells the story of painter Georges Seurat, who is consumed by his need to complete his masterpiece, leading to a growing isolation from those around him, including his lover and muse, Dot. The musical explores themes of artistic obsession across generations, with the second act advancing a century to examine Seurat’s legacy.
Originally, the roles of George and Dot were brought to life on Broadway by Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters in the 1984 production, which famously lost the Tony Award for Best Musical to La Cage aux Folles. In London, the characters were first portrayed by Philip Quast and Maria Friedman in a 1990 National Theatre staging.
Over the years, Sunday in the Park with George has seen various revivals and benefit performances, including a 2008 Broadway revival featuring Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell, and a 2017 production starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford. The latter was expected to transfer to the West End in 2020, but plans were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For Bailey, this revival marks a return to collaboration with director Elliott, who guided him in the acclaimed West End production of Company. His outstanding performance of "Getting Married Today" garnered him an Olivier Award in 2019. Following that, he starred in Bridgerton, the Netflix series that elevated his profile.
Grande began her career on Broadway as a teenager in the musical 13 in 2008 and later starred in the Nickelodeon series Victorious. She has since become one of the world’s leading pop stars. Sunday in the Park with George will be Grande’s first stage role in almost two decades and her debut on a West End stage.
Notably, Grande has experience in musicals, having starred in the televised production of Hairspray Live! and currently portraying Glinda in the film adaptation of Wicked, alongside Bailey as Fiyero. The second installment, Wicked: For Good, is currently in theaters.
While working on Wicked, Grande and Bailey forged a strong friendship, connecting over their shared theatrical backgrounds. "We were both very theater children in the room," Grande remarked, with Bailey adding, “I mean incessant.”
Before taking on Sunday in the Park with George, Grande will embark on her 2026 Eternal Sunshine tour. In a recent appearance on Good Hang with Amy Poehler, she hinted that this tour may be her last for a considerable time. "I’m very excited to do this small tour. But I think it might not happen again for a long, long, long, long time," she said. "I’m going to give it my all … I think that’s why I’m doing it. Because I’m like, one last hurrah. For now."
