Lights up.
The curtain ascends to reveal a botanical wonderland as a woman in a long, perked-up dress and parasol stands stage left, and a frumpy artist sits by his canvas stage right.
In 1984, it was Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin.
In 2017, it was Annaleigh Ashford and Jake Gyllenhaal.
And now, starting in the summer of 2027, it will be Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey.
Grande and Bailey have been in the spotlight for years, with Grande releasing her latest studio album Eternal Sunshine in 2024, Bailey starring in Bridgerton on Netflix and being named The World’s Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine, and both of them starring as Glinda and Fiyero in Wicked. The costars seem to be continuing their fame as George and Dot in Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park With George.
According to Vanity Fair, the production will be held at London’s Barbican Centre, with “performances in summer 2027” and “tickets on sale this May” (Vanity Fair). With Grande and Bailey as the leads, the production team is set to include “Tony and Olivier Award winner Marianne Elliott” as director and “design by Tom Scutt” (Vanity Fair).
But how do students and staff at MHS feel about this revival? Is it time for Grande and Bailey to put their fame at ease and let Broadway give stunt casting a rest? Or is this production what pop culture needs right now?
MHS students Chris Gilder (26’) and Gabby Bailey (27’) offer insight into how our very own student performers view this upcoming production.
When speaking directly about the casting, Gilder shared, “As someone who is a huge fan of both of them, it’s gonna be exciting just to be able to see that,” further explaining that their “phenomenal chemistry” and “outstanding talent” are something he is really looking forward to seeing once again.
However, Gilder also points out how he thinks “it’s a little obnoxious how much stunt casting Broadway is doing right now,” and that stunt casting is “not giving other people chances to perform on the Broadway stage.”
Bailey jokingly poked fun at the stunt casting, saying, “I think it’s great—good for them—but I also think I could have been an option in casting. Their stardom will wane at one point and give a place for new stars like me to shine eventually, but they can enjoy it for now.”
In a way, Bailey’s point contradicts Gilder’s.
Besides student opinions, PACE Dance teacher Allison Parsley was interviewed as well. While Ms. Parsley raised concerns about the continuous stunt casting Broadway appears to be implementing, she noted a specific reason producers continue to do this, stating that “by choosing people who are really well known—and specifically this pair [Grande and Bailey], who have performed together in both Wicked movies—it obviously is a ploy to get audience members in the seats.”
Aside from her critical standpoint, Parsley is generally excited to see both of the talented stars onstage, especially Grande, sharing, “Ariana Grande is sometimes labeled as a pop princess, but I think sometimes she doesn’t get the credit she deserves for what an incredible voice she has.” She is also excited to see how this classical theater work will differ from Grande’s previous work in Wicked and her past tours.
So, is this casting just some ploy to get more people into theaters, or is it great casting in disguise? The MHS community seems to think that while this may be stunt casting to get people in seats, Grande and Bailey are both incredible talents and deserve to be onstage, stunt casting or not.
They may not be completely new faces to the industry, but they have both proved time and time again that they are worthy of being on stage and on screen. In an era where musical theater may be slowly dying, it might not be so bad to put some well-known stars on stage to get people in seats; in fact, it may be just what the musical theater community needs.
