''Flying Over Sunset'' is a musical with music by Tom Kitt, lyrics by

Michael Korie Michael Korie (born April 1, 1955) is an American librettist and lyricist whose writing for musical theater and opera includes the musicals ''Grey Gardens'' and '' Far From Heaven'', and the operas ''Harvey Milk'' and ''The Grapes of Wrath''. His ...

, and book by

James Lapine James Elliot Lapine (born January 10, 1949) is an American stage director, playwright, screenwriter, and librettist. He has won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times, for ''Into the Woods'', ''Falsettos'', and '' Passion''. He ha ...

. The musical is a fictional account of a meeting between

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxley ...

Clare Boothe Luce Clare Boothe Luce ( Ann Clare Boothe; March 10, 1903 – October 9, 1987) was an American writer, politician, U.S. ambassador, and public conservative figure. A versatile author, she is best known for her 1936 hit play '' The Women'', which h ...

and

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...

, who all used the drug

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

Productions

Readings (2015 and 2016)

The musical had a reading in August 2015 at the Vineyard Arts Project (Martha's Vineyard) with

Christine Ebersole Christine Ebersole (born February 21, 1953) is an American actress and singer. She has appeared in film, television, and on stage. She starred in the Broadway musicals '' 42nd Street'' and ''Grey Gardens'', winning two Tony Awards. She has co-s ...

playing Luce, and a cast featuring

Boyd Gaines Boyd Payne Gaines (born May 11, 1953) is an American actor. During his career, he has won four Tony Awards and three Drama Desk Awards. Gaines is best known for playing Mark Royer on '' One Day at a Time'' (1981-1984). Early life and education H ...

Julia Murney Julia Kathleen Murney (born January 14, 1969) is an American actress and singer, also known for television commercial voice-overs. Until 2005, she was commonly known as the Broadway actress who had technically never appeared on Broadway. This wa ...

Tam Mutu Tam Mutu (born April 30, 1978) is an English stage and screen actor. He began his career on the West End theatre, West End in the early 2000s. He was part of the original West End production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies (musical), '' ...

and David Turner. A second reading was held on July 29, 2016 in

Edgartown, Massachusetts Edgartown is a tourist destination on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States, for which it is the county seat. It was once a major whaling port, with historic houses that have been carefully preserved. Tod ...

. Performers who took part in the reading included the late

Marin Mazzie Marin Joy Mazzie (October 9, 1960 – September 13, 2018) was an American actress and singer known for her work in musical theatre. Mazzie was a three-time Tony Award nominee, for her performances as Clara in '' Passion'' (1994), Mother in ''R ...

, Boyd Gaines,

Betsy Wolfe Betsy Wolfe (born Elizabeth Marie Wolfe; June 1, 1982) is an American actress, singer, and entrepreneur. Betsy Wolfe is currently starring in the new Broadway musical ''& Juliet'' as Anne. Previously, Wolfe starred as Jenna Hunterson, the titl ...

, Tam Mutu and Jennifer Simard.

Broadway (2021)

The production was originally scheduled to open on April 16, 2020, but was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The musical premiered on Broadway at the

Vivian Beaumont Theater The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a Broadway theater in the Lincoln Center complex at 150 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Operated by the nonprofit Lincoln Center Theater (LCT), the Beaumont is the only Broad ...

on November 11, 2021 in previews with the official opening on December 13, 2021. The cast included

Carmen Cusack Carmen Cusack (born April 25, 1971) is an American musical theater actress and singer. She is known for playing Elphaba in the Chicago, North American Tour, and Melbourne productions of the musical ''Wicked'' and for originating the roles of Al ...

as Clare Boothe Luce,

Harry Hadden-Paton Harry Frederick Gerard Hadden-Paton (born 10 April 1981) is a British actor. He is perhaps best known for his television roles as Herbert Pelham, 7th Marquess of Hexham, in the television series ''Downton Abbey'' and Martin Charteris in ''The ...

as Aldous Huxley, and

Tony Yazbeck Tony Yazbeck (March 14, 1979) is an American actor, singer, and dancer, best known for his work on the Broadway stage, including the revival of '' On the Town'', for which he received 2015 Tony Award and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for ...

as Cary Grant. The musical was directed by Lapine with choreography by

Michelle Dorrance Michelle Dorrance (born September 12, 1979) is an American tap dancer, performer, choreographer, teacher and director. Awarded a MacArthur "Genius Grant", she is the Founder and Artistic Director of Dorrance Dance. Dorrance is known for her crea ...

, sets by

Beowulf Boritt Beowulf Boritt is a New York City-based scenic designer for theater. He is known for his scenic design for the play '' Act One'', which earned him the 2014 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design in a Play. Early life Boritt was born to American Civi ...

, costumes by Toni-Leslie James, lighting by Bradley King, and sound by

Dan Moses Schreier Dan Moses Schreier is an American composer and sound designer. He is best known for his theatrical music work, on Broadway and elsewhere. Schreier is from Detroit, and lives in New York City. He studied music at the University of Michigan and ...

. The production closed on January 16, 2022 after 63 performances (28 previews and 35 performances).

Plot

Act l

Huxley, Grant, and Luce separately obtain LSD. Each is dealing with a problem: Huxley is grieving his wife's death, Grant his ineptitude with women, and Luce her guilt over the deaths of her mother and daughter. Huxley takes LSD at the drugstore where he obtained it, and imagines the figures from the painting “ Judith With the Head of Holofernes” coming to life around him ("Bella Donna Di Agonia"). Grant's first trip sees him meeting his younger self and his violent father ("I Have It All"/"Funny Money"). The three ultimately meet at the

Brown Derby Brown Derby was a chain of restaurants in Los Angeles, California. The first and best known was shaped like a derby hat, an iconic image that became synonymous with the Golden Age of Hollywood. It was opened by Wilson Mizner in 1926. The chain ...

restaurant in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

Act ll

Huxley, Grant, and Luce gather at Luce's estate in Malibu, where they proceed on LSD trips with

Gerald Heard Henry FitzGerald Heard (6 October 1889 – 14 August 1971), commonly called Gerald Heard, was a British-born American historian, science writer, public lecturer, educator, and philosopher. He wrote many articles and over 35 books. Heard was a g ...

as their guide.

Cast

Musical numbers

Source: Playbill ;Act I *"The Music Plays On" - Company *"Bella Donna Di Agonia" - Judith, Handmaiden, Aldous *"Wondrous" - Aldous *"Bella Donna Di Agonia" (Reprise) - Aldous *"I Have It All" - Cary *"Funny Money" - Archie, Cary, Father *"A Sapphire Dragonfly" - Clare, Ann, Austin *"Someone" - Clare *"Flying Over Sunset" - Clare, Gerald, Ann, Austin *"Flying Over Sunset" (Reprise) - Clare, Aldous, Gerald, Cary, Company ;Act II *"Om" - Gerald, Clare, Aldous, Cary *"Huxley Knows" - Clare, Cary, Aldous *"My Mother and I" - Clare, Cary, Gerald, Archie, Father, Ann, Austin *"The Music Plays On" (Reprise) - Aldous, Maria *"I Like to Lead" - Sophia, Cary *"Rocket Ship" - Cary *"An Interesting Place" - Austin, Ann, Clare *"If Only I'd Known" - Clare, Austin, Ann *"How?" - Clare *"Three Englishmen" - Cary, Gerald, Aldous *"The Melancholy Hour" - Maria, Ann, Austin, Archie, Father, Rosalia *"The 23rd Ingredient" - Clare, Cary, Aldous, Gerald *"Bella Donna Di Agonia" (2nd Reprise) - Judith, Handmaiden

Reception

The show received mixed to negative reviews from critics, including AmNY,

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, Theatrely, and Timeout. Generally, critics tended to dislike the book and music, while praising the show's cast, technical effects, set, sound design, and choreography.

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production

''Flying Over Sunset'' tied with ''

MJ the Musical ''MJ the Musical'', also referred to as simply ''MJ'', is a jukebox musical featuring the music of Michael Jackson with a book by Lynn Nottage. It tells the story of American singer, songwriter, and dancer Michael Jackson. ''MJ'' was originally ...

'' for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical.

References

{{Reflist

External links

''Flying Over Sunset'' Internet Broadway Database

''Flying Over Sunset'' Lincoln Center
Broadway musicals 2021 musicals Musicals by James Lapine Musicals by Tom Kitt (musician) Drugs in popular culture