Ariana Grande withdraws from SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE

This Pulitzer Prize-winning musical with a book by James Lapine and a score by Stephen Sondheim tells the story of French post-Impressionist painter Georges Seurat in the months leading up to the completion of his most famous painting, 'A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte'. Driven by an obsessive need to complete the painting, Seurat isolates himself from the French bourgeoisie, spurns his fellow artists, and ignores his lover Dot, a string of decisions that will have a resounding impact over the next hundred years.

Marianne Elliot will direct this first major revival since 2006, with Jonathan Bailey and Ariana Grande originally cast as Seurat and Dot. However, Grande's team and Empire Street Productions have both confirmed that she has stepped away from the musical. According to her representative, the pop singer has decided to take a step back from the public eye after completing her Eternal Sunshine Tour, needing "a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny."

This is not the first time that a West End revival of Sunday in the Park With George has encountered problems. In 2020, the Broadway transfer starring Jake Gyllenhall and Annaleigh Ashford was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The producers expressed their support and best wishes for Grande, and confirmed that Sunday in the Park With George will open at the Barbican Theatre in summer 2027 as planned, and casting for Grande's replacement will be announced in due course.

Sunday in the Park with George Tickets