1950s Hollywood. You are at a beautiful beach house overlooking the Pacific with Cary Grant, Clare Boothe Luce and Aldous Huxley… and they are on an acid trip. Together.
That is the bold premise of FLYING OVER SUNSET, a new musical written and directed by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award® winner James Lapine (Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Falsettos). Join three extraordinary people as they take an exhilarating journey into the most colorful corners of the human psyche – delving into their private desires, hopes and secrets. Carmen Cusack (Bright Star), Harry Hadden-Paton (My Fair Lady) and Tony Yazbeck (On the Town) lead the cast in this brilliantly imagined story of revelation and connection.
FLYING OVER SUNSET features a gorgeous score written by Pulitzer Prize, Emmy® and Tony Award winner Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) and Tony nominee Michael Korie (Grey Gardens). Michelle Dorrance, the world-renowned dancer and MacArthur grant winner, makes her theatrical debut as the show’s choreographer. Don’t miss the next breathtakingly original musical from James Lapine – now in previews at Lincoln Center Theater!
Much of Act II feels like retread, repeating the themes and conflicts set forth in the first act without much expansion. Overlong and occasionally (but only occasionally) a bit tedious, the last third of the show loses its way. There's some Freudian demon-facing, a lot of long-delayed (and fairly pat) self-acceptance and, in the case of the short-shrifted Gerald, a bit of ascendant fighting spirit, but for all the talk of communal experience and shared enlightenment, Flying Over Sunset just can't quite figure out what these characters ultimately mean to, or do for, one another. They certainly make for smart and pleasant company, and there's not a weak link in the cast, but one can easily imagine the characters' individual psychic breakthroughs occurring without any crossing of paths. Their inward journeys are just that - inward, solo - and though it's nice to trip in friendly environs, the human connections that would provide Flying Over Sunset its emotional payoff never quite land.
Unfortunately, 'Flying Over Sunset' is an artistic misfire - and a nearly three-hour slog to sit through. The book is devoid of conflict (relying instead of introspection and confession), expository (filling in details about the politics of the period), repetitive (with the second act more or less mirroring the first act), and indulgently weird (including a sequence in which Grant imagines himself as a 'giant penis rocket ship'). The unexpected highlight of the show ends up being a lengthy tap duet between Yazbeck and Atticus Ware (who plays Archie Leach, Grant's younger self).
2021 | Broadway |
Lincoln Center Theatre's Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2022 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical | Bradley King |
2022 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Projection Design | 59 Productions |
2022 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Scenic Design for a Musical | Beowulf Boritt |
2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Carmen Cusack |
2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design (Play or Musical) | Bradley King |
2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Scenic Design (Play or Musical) | Beowulf Boritt |
2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Video/Projection Design (Play or Musical) | 59 Productions |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Musical | Bradley King |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre | Tom Kitt |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre | Tom Kitt |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical | Carmen Cusack |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Musical | Beowulf Boritt |
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