“We were in our final hour of rehearsal for our first preview of a new show called Flying Over Sunset,” says Tony nominee Carmen Cusack of when she found out that Broadway would be shut down in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. “We were having a blast learning it and putting it together. We were looking forward to putting it on....”
The original musical, written and directed by James Lapine with music by Tom Kitt and lyrics by Michael Korie, was set to begin previews March 12, the day New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called for all Broadway theatres to close. Set in the 1950s, the musical centers on three historical figures: actor Cary Grant, author Aldous Huxley, and U.S. Congresswoman Clare Boothe Luce as they experiment (separately and together) with LSD. The Lincoln Center Theater production will now open as part of the Fall 2020 season.
In the meantime, Cusack, who plays Luce, says, “This time is making me reflect a lot on the things that are important.”
In the video above, the first in Center Theatre Group’s new video series Art Goes On, Cusack spoke about what art means to her in this moment and then serenades viewers with the title song from Flying Over Sunset while mimicking some of the lyrics: “Flying over sunset, crossing Hollywood and Vine...riding with the top down..."
Watch the series at CTGLA.org/ArtGoesOn and check back for new videos.
