Flying Over Sunset

Music by Tom Kitt
Lyrics by Michael Korie
Book by James Lapine
Directed by James Lapine

Set in the 1950’s, Flying Over Sunset is a work of fiction inspired by the lives of three extraordinary and accomplished people—writer Aldous Huxley; playwright, diplomat, and congresswoman, Clare Booth Luce; and film legend Cary Grant—each of whom in real life experimented with the drug LSD. At a crossroads in their lives the three come together, and under the influence of the drug, take a trip and confront the mysteries of their lives and their world.

Flying Over Sunset

The Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center
Dec 13, 2021 - Jan 16, 2022

Photos by Joan Marcus

History & Fun Facts

  • The beginnings of the idea for Flying Over Sunset came when Lapine read the article “Cary in the Sky with Diamonds” in Vanity Fair. Lapine learned that it was part of a trend of psychotherapy in the 1950s and later read about socialite and writer Clare Boothe Luce also using LSD and realized Luce and Grant were “four degrees of acid separation.”

  • Lapine first pitched the idea for Flying Over Sunset to Stephen Sondheim in 2014.

  • After five years and seven workshops (and many cut songs), André Bishop, the producing artistic director of the nonprofit Lincoln Center Theater, took the chance on the show.

  • The first preview was scheduled for March 12, 2020 (with an April 16th opening), but it was that afternoon that the mayor of New York decreed all theaters closed due to Covid and the first public preview became a closed friends and family only performance before the project was stalled for a year.

Awards, Reviews & Features

2022 Tony Awards

Nominated for four Tony Awards, including Best Original Score and Best Scenic Design of a Musical

2022 Drama Desk Awards

Winner of three Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Lighting Design and Outstanding Scenic Design


Photos by Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

“[Lapine] thought about bringing these three very different, largely unconnected yet celebrated figures, together. On a communal acid trip in Southern California. Set to music… Lapine turned to the lyricist Michael Korie, whose work on ‘Grey Gardens’ he deeply admired. For the music, his choice was Tom Kitt, the prolific composer… The writers had never collaborated before; nor had either of them experimented with psychedelic drugs. They just wanted the chance to work with Lapine. It’s OK, he laughed: ‘I’ve done enough for all of us.’ …it was only after many workshops that the musical’s key conceit came to life: That the characters would sing only when on drugs.”

Up, Up and Away: The Trippy Tales Behind ‘Flying Over Sunset’, The New York Times