Opinion: What will Jonathan Bailey and Ariana Grande’s star-casting do for Sondheim’s popularity?

As the Wicked movie co-stars reunite for Sunday in the Park with George, a whole new legion of fans could discover the wonder of Sondheim.

Summary

• Wicked stars Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey are reuniting on stage
• The pair lead a major revival of Sunday in the Park with George
• Their casting could introduce legions of new fans to Stephen Sondheim
• It could also aid director Marianne Elliott in finding exciting contemporary resonance

We already know one of the highlights of the 2027 London theatre calendar: a major revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s musical Sunday in the Park with George at the Barbican. Having this inimitable show back in town is already reason to celebrate, but the casting of this production makes it extra special.

Leading the show, which is directed by the Tony and Olivier Award-winning Marianne Elliott (Company, War Horse) are Wicked movie co-stars Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey. Grande will be making her keenly anticipated London theatre debut, while the Olivier-winning Bailey returns after his recent Richard II.

That combination of stars, of course, makes this a production with global interest, but just what will the pair’s casting do for the show’s popularity – and for that of its composer, Sondheim? Let’s dig in as we mark our calendars for this major 2027 opening.

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Sondheim is for everyone

There was a persistent and deeply unfair myth for much of Sondheim’s career that his shows were the esoteric choice – intellectual, cold and lacking those take-home tunes, in contrast to more populist fare. Certainly this excitingly creative composer and lyricist often took bold risks, and wasn’t afraid to challenge audiences, but equally his musicals are full of humour, heart, and, yes, memorable songs. (“Send in the Clowns”, anyone?)

Happily, that inverse snobbery has largely ebbed away in recent years, and numerous Sondheim works have been reclaimed as wonderful experiences for big, varied audiences. Company was shown to have potent modern resonance when cleverly gender-flipped, as Elliott did with her 2018 West End production – and for which Bailey won his Olivier Award. Follies got a haunting revival at the National Theatre in 2017, which gave it both spectacle and soul.

Perhaps the most cheering redemption came with Merrily We Roll Along, the infamous Sondheim flop which returned to Broadway in triumph in 2023 (Maria Friedman’s production also originated in London). Part of the joyful accessibility of that revival lay in its casting: Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, and stage and screen star Jonathan Groff, who audiences might know from Hamilton or from Glee or Frozen.

The casting of Grande and Bailey in Sunday in the Park with George should take this Sondheim reclamation to the next level. Not only will it attract devotees of the Wicked movies, who may not be familiar with Sondheim’s work, but the legions of fans who adore Grande’s pop music will desperately want to see her on stage. In the process, they will also discover Sondheim – and perhaps theatregoing – and hopefully find a whole new passion. We have already seen that happening with longtime Grande fans happily following her into the musical theatre world with Wicked, while Bailey also has a serious contingent of Bridgerton lovers who flocked to see him in Richard II.

Sondheim can feel contemporary

Company is the best recent example of a director taking a Sondheim show – in this case, one that premiered in 1970 – and making it feel as though it might have been written yesterday. Elliott changed the gender of the lead character from male to female, instantly transforming the ambivalent protagonist who is questioning their single life as they approach their 35th birthday. Bobbie’s refusal to conform to patriarchal social pressures read as a radical act, and there was added pressure with the ticking of her biological clock.

Meanwhile panicking bride-to-be Amy became Jamie, played by Bailey, a gay man whose dialogue took on a different meaning with that change. “Just because we can doesn’t mean we should,” he protested to his fiancé Paul, suggesting that the legalisation of same-sex marriage had introduced a new pressure to their relationship.

While Sunday in the Park with George will likely retain at least some of its period setting – the majority of the action takes place in the 1880s, as French artist Georges Seurat is working on creating his masterpiece – simply casting Grande and Bailey invites a more contemporary reading.

They offer a way into the material for modern audiences, and we could well see some interesting reflections on relationships, gender, family, art and work from our lead pair and from Elliott that resonate deeply. Although the Wicked movies remained largely faithful to the source material, we saw a similar phenomenon there of audiences connecting the story and themes to 21st-century concerns, partly thanks to the cast.

Sondheim’s music could be rediscovered

Sunday in the Park with George is a beautiful score, but one that might not be familiar to many – including musical theatre fans. Into The Woods is his best-known work (and the current Bridge Theatre revival is a magical version of it), probably followed by Sweeney Todd. Both have been turned into Hollywood movies in recent times, Into The Woods in 2014 starring Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, and Meryl Streep, Sweeney Todd in 2007 starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.

Sunday in the Park with George, although it has been revived several times over the years both on Broadway and in the West End, isn’t as well known. There was a recording made of the original cast, however it has not been adapted for film, nor was it an obvious candidate for the live TV musical treatment, à la Hairspray (which Grande appeared in), Grease or Rent.

But this fantastic star-casting of actors who are not only internationally famous, but who also have impressive vocal chops and have demonstrated their love of musical theatre, could well open up Sunday in the Park with George to new fans. That would be a glorious outcome both for Sondheim’s legacy and for audiences who begin delving into this score, which is full of treasures.

Dot has the wonderfully exasperated title number, as she is made to stand for hours while modelling for George. He wrestles with how his artistic commitment harms his personal relationships in the poignantly candid “Finishing the Hat”. Later Dot appears in a vision to her great-grandson, also a tortured artist, to counsel him with the exquisite “Move On”. The closing lyrics send a shiver down your spine: “Anything you do / Let it come from you / Then it will be new / Give us more to see.”

By giving us a new version of the show, one cast with integrity and purpose as well as eye-catching contemporary celebrity, this Sunday in the Park with George should certainly give us more to see. It could also cement Sondheim’s place in the hearts of the next generation.

Main photo credit: Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey (Photos by Helen Murray and Jason Hetherington). Inset: Jonathan Bailey and Ariana Grande in Wicked, Daniel Radcliffe and Jonathan Groff in Merrily We Roll Along, Jonathan Bailey in Company (Photo courtesy of the film, photos by Matthew Murphey, Brinkhoff Mogenburg)