Phillips and Alabado to lead SUNDAY IN THE PARK at Pasadena Playhouse

The cast of Sunday in the Park with George is led by Graham Phillips (Broadway's 13, CW's Riverdale, CBS' The Good Wife) as George Seurat/George and Krystina Alabado (Broadway's Mean Girls and American Psycho) as Dot/Marie. The production will run Tuesday, February 14 to Sunday, March 19. The production also features Michael Manuel (Our Town at South Coast Repertory, The Father at Pasadena Playhouse) as Jules/Bob, Emily Tyra (Broadway's Nice Work If You Can Get It) as Yvonne/Naomi, and Liz Larsen (Broadway's Beautiful, NBC's Law and Order) as Old Lady/Blair.

The cast also includes Armand Akbari as Soldier #2/Ensemble, Jenni Barber as Celeste #2/Waitress, Allison Belinkoff as Female Swing, Pippa Blaylock as Louise, Brian Calì as Boatman/Lee, Marc Ginsburg as Ensemble, Jennie Greenberry as Nurse, Savannah L. Jackson as Ensemble, Trevor James as Soldier/Alex, Robert Knight as Louis/Charles, Deborah Lew as Frieda/Betty, Matthew McCoy as Male Swing, Alexandra Melrose as Mrs./Harriet, Brianna Pember as Ensemble, Juliana Sloan as Celeste #1/Waitress, Jimmy Smagula as Mr./Billy, and Jason Michael Snow as Franz/Dennis.

Directed by Sarna Lapine, the design team features scenic design by Beowulf Boritt (Broadway's Sunday in the Park with George, 2014 Tony Award Winner for Act One), costume design by Clint Ramos(Broadway's Sunday in the Park with George, 2016 Tony Award Winner for Eclipsed), lighting design by Ken Billington(Broadway's Sunday in the Park with George, 1997 Tony Award winner for Chicago), sound design by Danny Erdberg and Ursula Kwong-Brown (Stonewall at NYC Opera, Head Over Heels at Pasadena Playhouse), projection design by Tal Yarden (Broadway's Sunday in the Park with George, Broadway's Network) and wig design by Christopher Enlow (Broadway's The Inheritance, Broadway's The Prom). The Production Stage Manager is Andrew Neal (Broadway's King Kong, Broadway's Spider Man Turn Off the Dark).

Updated On: 1/12/23 at 03:48 PM

Aaaand this gets musikman’s inscription back in my head: “What’s the muddle in the middle? / That’s the puddle where the poodle did the piddle.”

Like I’ve said before here, some of Sondheim’s best lyrics can be found in his later works.

Will this be a good production though?

considering almost the entire design team from the revival is back...wonder if this might not be dipping a toe in the water for a tour?

EDSOSLO858 said: "Aaaand this gets musikman’s inscription back in my head: “What’s the muddle in the middle? / That’s the puddle where the poodle did the piddle.”

Like I’ve said before here, some of Sondheim’s best lyrics can be found in his later works.

Will this be a good production though?"

Did someone say my name ?!



And to think he started with 13 and now this! Talk about a shift. Excited to hear how it goes

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "BoringBoredBoard40 said: "considering almost the entire design team from the revival is back...wonder if this might not be dipping a toe in the water for a tour?"

I have a hard time seeing SUNDAY ever touring, with the exception of major markets...this is probably just Pasadena licensing the Broadway elements (to be re-assembled by Sarna + associates)."

I think that's right. Unlike CTG and Broadway In Hollywood, Pasadena Playhouse does not originate tours or host touring productions. I would suspect this is a case of tapping into people who already have the experience and knowledge so they don't have to reinvent the wheel.

Happening simultaneously is a large scale revival in San Diego featuring Broadway's Will Blum and Emily Lopez who was sensational in the Los Angeles production of "Carrie". If anyone gets to see either production, please report back!

https://www.broadwayworld.com/san-diego/article/CCAE-Theatricals-Announces-Cast-For-SUNDAY-IN-THE-PARK-WITH-GEORGE-20221221

Updated On: 1/16/23 at 08:42 PM

Graham Phillips played a dramatic role on THE GOOD WIFE for seven years and was just in a major revival of WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF. Krystina Alabado has a long and varied résumé of Broadway, tour and regional theater roles. Neither is known merely for singing "Disney tunes."

Our tickets are for tomorrow night. Will report back promptly. High hopes...

Updated On: 2/22/23 at 07:30 AM

Just a bit of context: Pasadena Playhouse is a "Professional" Equity theater, so they wouldn't be able to license the show ("Stock and Amateur Rights" directly from MTI (like CCAE in San Diego would). It is most certainly a stand-alone remount of the Sarna Lapine revival (Staged by her, on the Boritt set, in the Ramos designs, under the Bilington lighting) that may have been conditional by the authors (author's estate) to securing the rights. (Akin to how certain professional productions of West Side Story and Chorus Line must license certain aspects of the original productions/hire certain directors/choreographer.) Looking at the season: I'm sure Feldman would have built a stunning production of it for the Playhouse, but having a Broadway remount is an undeniably unique addition to the series. So, my guess is when the conversation with the agents/lawyers was had, it probably went to this production rather easily despite what others have said Feldman has addressed is a tremendous investment by the Playhouse.

In addition to Phillips and Alabado, it has Broadway vets who made the trip west like Liz Larsen (whom I loved) and several who have seemed to have moved west permanently/semi-permanently like Jason Michael Snow (Bway: Book of Mormon, but who does a LOT of new musical material/cabarets around LA) and Jimmy Smagula (Bway: The Little Mermaid and who has coaching posters in every rehearsal hall in town). The rest of the cast seems to be a mix of people cast out of New York and LA and are as uniformly strong as you'd expect for a regional remount of a Broadway revival in a major metropolitan area.

As mentioned, Melrose (Mrs) and Smagula (Mr) are in a different show, but I REALLY enjoyed Melrose's take on Mrs (I fully recognize, I may be in the minority here). I also liked Alabado far more than most people seem to. Phillips has clearly worked tremendously hard both to deliver the performance he did and to have the skill set he needs to do it. His voice NEVER falters and I really liked seeing someone of the relatively appropriate age play the role, even at the cost of some of the caveats mentioned elsewhere in the thread.

I don't think McNulty's estimation of the production was really fair and I did agree more with the Entertainment Weekly review: "They made a hat, in the shape of one that was already there before, but damn if it's still not a breathtaking one at that."

I ALWAYS enjoy seeing a properly rehearsed, fully professional production of the Sondheim shows and this production is no exception.

(Since it was mentioned earlier as well, I would hesitate to call the CCAE/San Diego production a "large-scale revival". Sunday at it's right size/orchestra is always "large-scale", but to imply that it's a major revival is a bit of a misnomer: the set will undoubtably go into the rental inventory of sets that make their way up and down the coast and we may see similar productions of it in other venues that 3D would seem to travel in, but while San Diego's 3 contract productions are far better than the ones that stretch up through Orange County and LA into Santa Barbara, it is still largely quasi-professional fare that is hit or miss depending on a variety of factors and certainly wouldn't become "First-Class" fare. I will try and see it as I was BLOWN AWAY by Moonlight's 3-Contract Ragtime this summer, this Sunday did get a good write up in the Tribuneand on something called The San Diego Story, and I am genuinely excited by what CCAE is building with their Musical Theater producing arm. However, there is a lot of exciting theater on the left coast right now that I am also trying to take in, and 3-Contract
shows are always a bit hit and miss, so I may not end up following up on this production. )

I'm a bit confused about your comment "but while San Diego's 3 contract productions are far better than the ones that stretch up through Orange County and LA into Santa Barbara, it is still largely quasi-professional fare that is hit or miss depending on a variety of factors and certainly wouldn't become "First-Class" fare."

Which 3 contract producing entities in OC and LA are you referring to? La Mirada and Musical Theater West are two regional CLO's that do consistently great work. Both of them use a mostly equity cast,. As for 3D Theatricals, they did not have a 2022-2023 season and I haven't heard of plans to put on a 2023-2024 season.

We just spent a terrific night at the Pasadena Playhouse enjoying this genuinely excellent production of SUNDAY.

Unfair, I know, but my only other exposure to a live production is the legendary OBC back in '84. And there's no comparing the current Boritt set or Ramos costumes to the iconic originals designed by Tony Straiges, Pat Zipprodt and Anne Hould-Ward. Let's face it, physically this is almost a concert production, complete with orchestra upstage of the lone scrim/projection drape.

But that orchestra is superb-- every dissonant note of the score comes through with nuance and color. And the voices of this cast are spectacular, putting across every number with precision and life. And wow, those ravishing choruses are really ravishing here.

There are no weak links in the cast. Krystina Alabado is a terrific actress so her book scenes as Dot really soar even if her singing voice doesn't soar quite as high. Liz Larsen's Old Lady is perfectly fine but her Blair in Act 2 is thrilling.

But no-one onstage comes close to the brilliance of Graham Phillips as Georges/George. Every beat, every word is precise and true. His singing voice is spectacular, without all the mannerisms of the Mandy Patinkin original, a perfect instrument for this glorious score. He seems to never leave the stage all night, and he holds the show beautifully in his young hands. Oh, about his youth? Per the script, it turns out Georges Seurat died at the age of 31-- he had painted his masterpiece over 2 years when he was still in his 20's. So finally we have a Georges who IS the correct age for the part.

Book your tickets soon-- the show looked to be sold out on a Wednesday night. I can't wait to see what they do with A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC in two months.

Updated On: 2/23/23 at 05:46 PM

I saw it last Thursday and it's a solid production. The emotion of the first act is conveyed with grace and confidence. The second act is actually more entertaining here than in the original version we all know from the video of it - but it will always be a lopsided show because that's just what it is. Though I couldn't stop comparing the cast to the original cast, this production works on its own terms. If you're in SoCal, go.

^ Absolutely agree! Flawless and crystalline delivery. It's so great a performance that the few naysayers above truly surprised me. Graham Phillips is a name I'll be on the lookout for from now on.