{"id":587307,"date":"2026-09-01T22:20:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T22:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/587307\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T22:20:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T22:20:13","slug":"jonathan-bailey-exits-sunday-in-the-park-with-george","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/587307\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonathan Bailey Exits ‘Sunday In The Park With George’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe West End<\/a> revival of Sunday In The Park With George is without its two main stars \u00a0\u2014 weeks before tickets were expected to go on sale for the highly anticipated musical.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBridgerton star Jonathan Bailey<\/a> announced Tuesday that he will no longer be a part of the\u00a0project following his co-star Ariana Grande<\/a>\u2019s departure. (The two also starred together in the blockbuster Wicked films.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAri is one of my dearest friends, and my support for her is unwavering. Marianne is extraordinary and one of my longest collaborators and friends. After much consideration, I have decided to also step back from Sunday in the Park with George,\u201d Bailey said in a statement shared by his team and the show\u2019s production. \u201cThis brilliant, introspective musical has been a real passion project for me, and I feel incredibly lucky to have shared in its journey with this team. Among many things, the story explores the deep connection between George and Dot, a beautiful, devoted pairing, and I so look forward to seeing what the team, and the two actors who will now take on these roles, will create with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBailey and Grande were set to star as George and Dot in the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical \u2014\u00a0with previews set to start summer 2027. Created by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, the musical is based on the famous Georges Seurat painting \u201cA Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.\u201d It follows a fictionalized version of the painter\u2019s life \u2014\u00a0including his artistic process, career challenges, and the central relationship with his mistress Dot. The original musical, which premiered on Broadway in 1984, starred Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin and won two Tony Awards.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe news of Bailey\u2019s exit comes only a few weeks after Grande dropped out of the production<\/a>, announcing an extended break from public life that coincided with fan and peer concerns about her health. \u201cShe looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny,\u201d representatives for Grande said. Sunday In The Park With George producers said Grande\u2019s decision to leave the cast \u201ccannot have been an easy decision, and she makes it with our complete understanding and support.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to the production team, the show\u2019s premiere timeline has not changed. Instead, they are working to modify the musical. \u201cThe creative team is reshaping the production around a new company while preserving the ambition and artistic integrity of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine\u2019s musical,\u201d representatives for the musical said Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tCasting discussions are currently ongoing. No frontrunners have been announced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The West End revival of Sunday In The Park With George is without its two main stars \u00a0\u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[12342,430,156,10486,123400,111,139,69,114516],"class_list":["post-587307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-ariana-grande","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-jonathan-bailey","tag-musicals","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-west-end"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}