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!
The musical receiving its world premiere from Lincoln Center Theater was one of the most eagerly anticipated of the season, for good reasons. Besides the formidable creative team, the lavish production features a killer cast including Harry Hadden-Paton, Carmen Cusack, Tony Yazbeck, and Robert Sella as Gerald Heard, the philosopher/author who guides the trio through their drug-induced trips. Besides, how can you not root for a large-scale Broadway musical not based on a pre-existing property and featuring such an audaciously original concept? It's sad to report, then, that the show from the librettist of such landmark musicals as Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, and Passion is a misfire. A provocative misfire, to be sure, and one that will no doubt have its ardent admirers. But a misfire nonetheless.
There are certainly some highlights in 'Flying Over Sunset,' chief among them Tony Yazbeck's phenomenal dancing as Cary Grant, accompanied step by step by 14-year-old newcomer Atticus Ware as his younger self. The choreographer, Michelle Dorrance, was a star performer in Stomp, and we hear the influence. The rest of the cast is also first-rate. However, after sitting through the nearly three hours of this unique fusion of high-minded spiritual contemplation, gossipy biographical tidbits, subtle comedy and fabricated hallucinations all presented in song and dance, I was never completely persuaded that these three famous figures belong in the same musical; indeed, it seemed unlikely that they would have had anything to do with one another.
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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