Who would dare to suggest that Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey don't belong together? After all, the "Wicked" alumni are indeed poised to make a comeback when it comes to collaboration, as they're reuniting once again for the West End revival of "Sunday in the Park With George." Rumors of the potential revival of the musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine had been circulating since December, and Jonathan and Ariana officially confirmed the exciting news in a joint Instagram post on January 14th. In the photo, they posed in front of "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte," the painting that inspired the musical, at The Art Institute of Chicago. Alongside the photo, which shows the co-stars gazing at each other from chairs placed in front of the iconic Georges Seurat painting, Jonathan quoted the musical's titular song in the caption, writing, "'All it has to be is good.'"
Later, the production details were shared in a subsequent January 14th post, confirming that the revival musical is set to be directed by Marianne Elliot and will run at the Barbican Center, kicking off in summer 2027. Confirmation of Ariana and Jonathan's next venture comes just a few months after the Nickelodeon star expressed her desire to return to the stage more than 15 years after making her Broadway debut in "13" back in 2008.
"I love theater so much," Ariana said during an "Interview" conversation with Nicole Kidman published in November. "And I actually did a Broadway show when I was 13 years old. I was a chorus girl." Although Ariana went on to star in "Victorious" and become a fixture in pop music in the subsequent years—not to mention an Oscar nominee—she called the Broadway experience the "most incredible" training. "It's so beautiful and so challenging," she mused. "I feel like that's where I developed stamina. But I would love to be onstage again."
As she put it, "It's funny, because I thought that's what I would be doing with my life when I was a young girl." But while her role in "Sunday in the Park With George" is certainly a return to form for Ariana, she isn't putting herself in a box. After all, she is set to embark on a tour for her "eternal sunshine" album later this year and will star in "Folker In-Law" alongside Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro, which hit theaters in November.
"I'm having a blast," Ariana said of filming the movie during a November appearance on "Good Hang." "It's like it's really special."
