Sunny Afternoon (musical)

Sunny Afternoon
West End production poster
Music	Ray Davies
Lyrics	Ray Davies
Book	Joe Penhall
Basis	The formation and career of The Kinks
Premiere	1 May 2014 (2014-05-01): Hampstead Theatre
Productions	2014 Hampstead Theatre 2014 West End 2016-17 UK Tour
Awards	Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical

Sunny Afternoon is a musical with music and lyrics by Ray Davies and a book by Joe Penhall. Based on the formation and career of the English rock band The Kinks, the musical made its world premiere in 2014, at the Hampstead Theatre, London, before transferring to the West End's Harold Pinter Theatre. Featuring songs by the The Kinks, Sunny Afternoon includes their hits such as "Lola", "Waterloo Sunset", "You Really Got Me" and the musical's title song, "Sunny Afternoon".

On 13 December 2013, it was officially confirmed that a musical based around the early life of Ray Davies and the formation of the band The Kinks would receive its world premiere at the Hampstead Theatre in spring 2014. The musical was named after the band's 1966 hit single "Sunny Afternoon," and features songs from the band's back catalogue. The musical has a book by Joe Penhall and is directed by Edward Hall, with choreography by Adam Cooper, set and costume design by Miriam Buether, lighting design by Rick Fisher, sound design by Matt McKenzie and musical direction by Elliott Ware.

The show's premiere production began previews at the Hampstead Theatre in London, on 14 April 2014, with its official opening night on 1 May, booking for a limited run until 24 May 2014.

In late June, it was confirmed that the production would transfer to the West End, beginning previews at the Harold Pinter Theatre on 4 October, with an official opening night on 28 October 2014. Tickets for the transfer went on sale on 30 June. Shortly after beginning previews the show extended booking to January, before quickly announcing another extension to 23 May 2015. The musical closed on October 29th 2016.