Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey to Star in ‘Sunday in the Park With George’ Revival in London

Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey are set to lead a high-profile London revival of Stephen Sondheim's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical "Sunday in the Park With George." The production, scheduled for a limited engagement in summer 2027, will be staged at the Barbican Centre under the direction of multi-award-winning director Marianne Elliott. It is being presented by Empire Street Productions in partnership with the Barbican, a leading international arts venue situated in the heart of London's financial district.

The announcement came after a day of teasing social media activity from the two stars, who recently appeared together in the film adaptation of "Wicked." Their joint Instagram post featured them posing before Georges Seurat's iconic painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte," the very artwork that inspires the musical's narrative. Bailey's caption, quoting a lyric from the show, confirmed the swirling rumors that began with a trade report last month. For Grande, this marks a significant return to her theatrical roots; she began her career on Broadway at age 15 in the musical "13" before becoming a global pop phenomenon with albums like 2019's "Thank U, Next," which broke multiple streaming records upon release.

Tickets for the revival will go on sale in May. The creative team includes acclaimed designer Tom Scutt, responsible for sets and costumes, whose previous innovative work on productions like "Cabaret" at the Playhouse Theatre has been critically celebrated. This staging is a major event for the musical, which last saw a significant Broadway production in 2017. The Barbican Centre, with its history of hosting ambitious theatrical works, provides an ideal venue for Sondheim's complex exploration of art and legacy.

The musical, which premiered on Broadway in 1984 starring Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters, is structured in two distinct acts. The first act dramatizes the fictionalized struggle of painter Georges Seurat as he creates his masterpiece, focusing on his relationship with his model, Dot. The second act jumps to 1984, following Seurat's great-grandson, a modern artist wrestling with the weight of his artistic inheritance. The lead actors traditionally perform both the historical and contemporary roles, a demanding feat that highlights their dramatic and vocal range. For Jonathan Bailey, a seasoned stage performer who won a BAFTA for his role in "Fellow Travelers," this is a high-stakes return to the musical theatre genre.

In a recent interview, Grande hinted at a deeply meaningful new project, stating it "contains multitudes" and reflects a profound personal inspiration. This move is seen as a strategic artistic shift that could bridge her massive fanbase with the sophisticated world of Sondheim. As theatre historian Dr. Elara Vance notes, "Sondheim's work often examines the price of artistic obsession, a theme that resonates powerfully in today's content-saturated culture. A production of this scale, with stars of this magnitude, has the potential to make these complex ideas accessible to a new generation." The revival therefore represents a compelling fusion of star power and substantive artistic ambition, poised to draw significant attention to one of musical theatre's most revered works.