Sunday in the Park with George

Sunday in the Park with George, a 1984 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Lapine, takes its inspiration from Georges Seurat's pointillist masterpiece A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884–1886). The story follows George, a fictionalized Seurat, as he pours himself into creating that painting, often at the cost of his relationships and his sanity. In the second act, the action jumps to a century later, where George's great-grandson, also named George, is a contemporary artist wrestling with creative doubts and the pressures of the art world. The musical opened on Broadway in 1984.

Sondheim and Lapine won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work, and the production earned two Tony Awards for design, along with a nomination for Best Musical. It also racked up numerous Drama Desk Awards, and later took the 1991 Olivier Award for Best Musical and the 2007 Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production. Major revivals include a 2005–2006 UK staging at the Menier Chocolate Factory, which transferred to Broadway in 2008, and a 2017 Broadway revival. With its intricate score and meditation on art, ambition, and legacy, the show remains a touchstone of musical theater.

A new London production at the Barbican was announced for summer 2027, with a planned opening in June 2027. This revival was set to feature pop superstar Ariana Grande and actor Jonathan Bailey in the lead roles. However, in breaking news from August 2026, Grande withdrew from the production, citing "endless, ongoing public scrutiny" and announcing she would take a step back from public life. The withdrawal was widely covered across major news outlets, including Deadline, Variety, BBC, CBS News, People, and Page Six. Producers of the show issued statements expressing support for Grande's decision, and confirmed that Jonathan Bailey would remain in the production. The show is expected to continue at the Barbican despite Grande's exit. [edit]