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
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Theatre Owned / Operated by Lincoln Center Theater (André Bishop: Producing Artistic Director; Adam Siegel: Managing Director; Hattie K. Jutagir, Executive Director of Development and Planning)
Produced by Lincoln Center Theater (André Bishop: Producing Artistic Director; Adam Siegel: Managing Director; Hattie K. Jutagir, Executive Director of Development and Planning); Produced in association with Jack Shear; Mindich Chair Musical Theater Associate Producer: Ira Weitzman
'Flying Over Sunset' was developed in part in Edgartown, MA at Vineyard Arts Project
Book by James Lapine
Music by Tom Kitt
Lyrics by Michael Korie
Music orchestrated by Michael Starobin
Musical Director: Kimberly Grigsby
Directed by James Lapine
Choreographed by Michelle Dorrance
Associate Director: Darren Katz
Associate Choreographer: Melinda Sullivan
Assistant Director: Danny Gardner
Scenic Design by Beowulf Boritt
Costume Design by Toni-Leslie James
Lighting Design by Bradley King
Sound Design by Dan Moses Schreier
Projection Design by 59 Productions and Benjamin Pearcy
Video Design by Nick Corrigan
Hair and Wig Design by Matthew Armentrout
Prosthetic Design and Fabrication: Christina Grant and Josh Turi;
Associate Scenic Design: Alexis Distler and Jared Rutherford
Associate Costume Design: J. Theresa Bush and Michael Magaraci
Associate Lighting Design: Alex Mannix and Nick Solyom
Associate Sound Design: Joshua D. Reid and Megan Culley
Associate Video Design: Brad Peterson
Associate Hair and Wig Design: Emilia Martin
Assistant Lighting Design: Megan Seibel
Assistant Video Design: Ingrid Larson, Sam Molitoriss, Jamie McComb, Simran Phull and Lorna Pittaway
General Manager: Jessica Niebanck
Company Manager: Matthew Markoff
Associate Gen. Mgr: Laura Stuart
Associate Co. Mgr: Andy Lieberman
House Manager: Rheba Flegelman
Production Manager: Paul Smithyman
Associate Prod Mgr: Kevin Orzechowski
Assistant Prod. Mgr: Polina Minchuk
Production Stage Manager: Rick Steiger
1st Assistant Stage Manager: Janet Takami
2nd Assistant Stage Manager: Andrea Cibelli
Musical Coordinator: Michael Aarons
Conducted by Kimberly Grigsby
Associate Conductor: Steven Malone
Keyboard 1: Steven Malone
Keyboard 2: Kimberly Grigsby; Bass: William Sloat
Drums/Percussion: Benny Koonyevsky
Harp: Lynette Wardle Trumpet: John Dent
French Horn: Rheagan Osteen
Reed 1: Ed Joffe
Reed 2: Steve Lyon; Cello: Amy Ralske
Violin 1 (Concertmaster): Sylvia D'Avanzo
Violin 2: Kiwon Nahm
Viola: Whitney LaGrange
Synthesizer Programmer: Randy Cohen and Cohen Keyboards
Associate Synth Programmer: Sam Starobin and Tim Crook
Music Copying: Emily Grishman Music Preparation
Casting: The Telsey Office and Craig Burns, CSA
General Press Agent: Philip Rinaldi
Director of Marketing: Linda Mason Ross;
Advertising, Marketing, Digital: SPOTCo, Inc.
Vocal & Dialect Coach: Deborah Hecht
Fight direction by Lisa Kopitsky
Dance Captain: Danny Gardner
Fight Captain: Danny Gardner
Principal Poster Artist: James McMullan
Video Services: Fresh Produce Productions
Videographer: Frank Basile
Photographer: Joan Marcus
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Carmen Cusack: Clare Boothe Luce
Kanisha Marie Feliciano: Ann/Judith
Harry Hadden-Paton: Aldous Huxley
Nehal Joshi: Dr. Harris/Father
Emily Pynenburg: Rosalia/Sophia
Michele Ragusa: Austin/Handmaiden
Robert Sella: Gerald Heard
Laura Shoop: Maria Huxley
Atticus Ware: Archie Leach
Tony Yazbeck: Cary Grant
Understudies: Aria Braswell (Maria Huxley, Ann/Judith, Rosalia/Sophia, Austin/Handmaiden), Danny Gardner (Cary Grant), Nehal Joshi (Aldous Huxley), Kate Marilley (Maria Huxley, Ann/Judith, Austin/Handmaiden, Clare Boothe Luce), Patrick Scott McDermott (Archie Leach), Michele Ragusa (Clare Boothe Luce), Tony Roach (Aldous Huxley, Gerald Heard, Dr. Harris/Father) and Michael Winther (Gerald Heard, Dr. Harris/Father)
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