‘Sunday in the Park With George’ cancelled after Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey’s exit

Sunday in the Park With George has been cancelled in London after Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey exited the planned revival of Stephen Sondheim’s musical.

The production was scheduled to open at London’s Barbican Centre in 2027.

Producers Empire Street Productions said they intend to retain the rights and consider staging the musical in 2028.

“The planned 2027 production of ‘Sunday in the Park with George’ at the Barbican will no longer proceed as scheduled,” a representative for 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.”

Grande had been set to play Dot and Marie, while Bailey was due to portray George Seurat.

The production was announced in January, generating interest among fans of the pair, who starred together in the Wicked films.

The musical takes its name from Georges Seurat’s painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” and first debuted off Broadway in 1983.

Its most recent major Broadway revival opened in 2017, starring Annaleigh Ashford and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Tickets were initially expected to go on sale in May but were delayed until September.

Grande later announced she would be “taking a step back from visibility” after her Eternal Sunshine tour and withdrew from the London production.

Bailey subsequently announced his departure, saying, “I so look forward to seeing what the two actors who will now take on these roles will create with it.”

The London revival may now return in 2028 with a new cast.