Question about Sunday in the Park with George.- Page 2

[B3TA07]

Posted: 6/4/07 at 11:17pm

Maybe that's it; after the journey of Act II Dot is able to reply.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 6/4/07 at 11:36pm

Ugh, Patinkin's Buddy kind of ruins the FOLLIES concert cast recording for me (save for "Waiting for the Girls Upstairs). His "Buddy's Blues" is just atrocious, IMO, way too over-the-top and I find it to be quite a mockery of the number.
Eric, I know what you mean about Neil Patrick Harris' voice, I don't think it's for everyone but his "Finishing the Hat" is just fascinating, IMO. It's on the recording which you MUST get because it also include a BRILLIANT "Losing My Mind" by Donna Murphy.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 6/4/07 at 11:37pm

I thought Victoria Clark's character sings "Losing My Mind."

[wickedfan]

Posted: 6/4/07 at 11:38pm

Murphy did a recording of it for Sondheim's 75th Birthday concert.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 6/4/07 at 11:41pm

Yeah, BA, I was talking about the Wall to Wall Sondheim recording, not the Encores! production in which Clark did indeed sing "Losing My Mind."

Posted: 6/4/07 at 11:41pm

Ray I had no moolah when people on the Sondheim list were talking about that recording and now when I look for it on Amazon I can aever find it--is it actually called Wall to Wall? Yeah re Neil Patrick--I'll give it a chance--I dont' dislike himby any means I just find him overated (particularly by my gay theatre friends :P ) and pretty mannered--then again I was just discussing Mandy so bringing up mannerisms is hardly fair...

Mandy was WAY too young to play Buddy too (even if it is "just a concert") and the Buddy's Blues is unlistenable for me--it's like Burns from Wild Party got drunk and shanghaied a concert of Follies :P it's the definition fo self indulgent and I dunno--nowhere in the libretto for the original do I get the feeling Buddy is a SLEAZE--if he were he wouldn't have stuck with Sally all those years or cared what she thought of him.

But I have many probs with the concert recording (though that's the only real casting prob I have)

E

[lakezurich]

Posted: 6/5/07 at 12:39am

I have a few questions about the show and was wondering if someone knew the answers.

#1. Why does George sing with the people he is painting in the begining of their songs? I think that by doing this it is showing that he gets to know people better by painting them, but I am just wondering if it is supposed to mean something else.

#2. Why is the soldier's friend not real? Did they not have enough money to pay for another actor or what?

Thanks for the help,
Eric

[lynnechapman]

Posted: 6/5/07 at 5:30am

>>I remember they did the Act One Finale "Sunday." Don't know much about the upcoming revival. I understand that computer generated digital images are somehow involved. Would that technology been easily available in the 1984?>>

The London production is superb and very well worth seeing. Stephen Sondheim was very impressed with the production, calling it "a remarkable and unusual production".
"It uses a lot of technological advances that have not been available in the theatre up until quite recently, and, because the piece is about a painter – it's about our fictionalised version of Georges Seurat – and because it deals with visuals, visuals are enacted in a way I will not describe because the surprise is half the fun on the stage – to use an over-used word these days, it's genuinely awesome. And about 20 seconds, 30 seconds into the piece there's a moment that's one of those moments you remember all your life. It's absolutely astonishing. "
Lynne



The Stephen Sondheim Society

Posted: 6/5/07 at 6:32am

That's a wonderful quote! While nothing will ever replace for me the OBC cast of course--I *love* the London CD (and LOVE that they recorded the full One on the Left/Right as a bonus) and was surprised how well it comes off. I didn't realize theyused such sophisticated techniques though--what did they do for the chromolume?

Eric (good name by the way) to your first question I think youbasically answered yourself--also I think it kinda shows how "into" his subjects' and their worlds, and how observant of it he is when he's painting a subject--no wonder he stops concentrating on Dot or whatever/whoever else.

The one Soldier being carboard is to give the show some humour--nothing more or less. As far as I know that decision was made before the workshop anyway (it certainly was done that way in the workshops where Kelsey Grammar played the live soldier). I think it's one of those really odd touches that works--Sunday is funny (act I in particular) that way as it had all these very nonr ealistic elements, evenkinda "in jokes' like that yet they completely work and don't even strike you as all that odd when you're watching.

i think it's aroudn the time the soldiers are introduced that on the DVD commentary Stephen says something like "wow just looking at this show now it's struck me what a deeply weird show we made". LOL

E

[flamingo]

Posted: 6/5/07 at 8:14am

2 comments about taping the original video of Sunday...:

1)Bernadette said that she had pneumonia at the time of the taping (ref: Jonathan Schwartz radio interview,7/31/2005)
2)Bernadette did not perform in Song and Dance during the taping of Sunday... (they closed S&D for the taping of Sunday...) (reference: New York Times, October 17, 1985, Section C; Page 25)

Tony awards show: yes, the Tony Awards site confirms that they did perform: "Sunday" - Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters and Company"

(excuse the pedantic referencing-I've been writing on Wikipedia and everything there gets referenced!)

[sparrman]

Posted: 6/5/07 at 9:40am

Four Mandy thoughts:

Yes, Mandy was WAY too young to play Buddy, especially against Barbara Cook, Lee Remick, and George Hearn.

His terrible accent notwithstanding, I thought Mandy was great in Secret Garden. His own self-involvement meshed perfectly with Uncle Archie's, and I thought he received quite an unfair drubbing from the critics.

But like Anthony Newley before him, Mandy was a terrifically exciting, unique, mesmerizing singer who quickly got lost in the eccentricities of his own singing style.

My favorite moment in the SITPWG DVD commentary is in the opening number. Bernadette is leaning forward, singing rapturously to Mandy. In the shot we see the back of Mandy's head, and a stunning view of Bernadette's decolletage. At this moment in the commentary Mandy says something like "Wow, look at that hair! I sure wish I still had hair like that!"

Um, Mandy, I don't think ANYONE is looking at your hair at that particular moment...

Updated On: 6/5/07 at 09:40 AM

[musicalfan07]

Posted: 6/5/07 at 11:29am

Thanks everyone for the replies and insights on SITPWG. I do own both the full show and BWAY the American Musical. Thanks to the full DVD and commentry, Sunday is now my fav musical and I'm soon going to buy the Four by Sondheim book of Amazon simply for the designs for the show (plus Sweeney's.) Never knew BP was ill for the recording. Thanks, I've learned alot about the show from this tread.
thanks,
mf07

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/5/07 at 11:32am

Mandy was BRILLIANT in Sunday.

But as Buddy, whew not so much. I almost feel he's better fit for the role now. He looked like a little boy with the other 3 stars.

[Jon]

Posted: 6/5/07 at 12:24pm

sparrman-

Thanks for the Newly comparison. When young folks ask me "Who is Anthony Newly?", I always say, "He was kind of the British Mandy Patinkin of the 60's and '70's".

[lakezurich]

Posted: 6/5/07 at 2:16pm

Thanks fo answering my questions Eric. By the way you have a great name too, I wish my parents named me Eric.

So I have another question. Does anyone know if the revival will tour? I don't think I will have enough money to haul ass to NY from CHI. I will have to start saving now if I want to go. Anyway, any rumors of a tour? Even if I do get to see it in NY I will probably see it again if it does come to CHI.

Thanks,
Eric

Updated On: 6/5/07 at 02:16 PM

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 6/5/07 at 2:28pm

Love Mandy in Sunday, hate him in Follies. His "Buddy's Blues" is horrible.


Speaking of the London production, does anyone think the tempo of the songs on the CD is a bit slow? As much as I love the score, the tempo on the London CD makes the songs a little less enjoyable to listen to.

[sparrman]

Posted: 6/5/07 at 2:37pm

"When young folks ask me "Who is Anthony Newly?", I always say, "He was kind of the British Mandy Patinkin of the 60's and '70's"."

Right! Although it's an unfair comparison to Newley, who of course also WROTE the shows he made such a splash in.

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 6/5/07 at 3:32pm

I say this having seen him on stage in at least 5 different roles.

Neil Patrick Harris is only moderately talented. I don't mean to slight him. He is good within his range, but their are many others who can do what he does and better. Simple as that.

He does have a likeablity about him, but not enough talent and skill to pull off complex and deeply felt characters that so much of Sondheim demands.

[LostLeander]

Posted: 6/5/07 at 3:50pm

I've always been very nonplussed with Neil Patrick Harris. He's good, but he lacks personality, to me.

Sondheim LOVES him though, right?

Posted: 6/5/07 at 4:00pm

I dunno John Barrowman also claims that Sondheim loves him too--and while I love him on Dr Who I think most of his recent stage performances have been bland beyond belief. I agree with you on Neil though.

"2)Bernadette did not perform in Song and Dance during the taping of Sunday... (they closed S&D for the taping of Sunday...) (reference: New York Times, October 17, 1985, Section C; Page 25) "

Haha thanks for the correction I meant more though that she was currentlyd oing Song and Dance which I knwo she has said was a big strain on her voice (more than Sunday I guess?)

E

[LostLeander]

Posted: 6/5/07 at 4:13pm

Well, she didn't have to belt E's everyday. Though she does do a fair amount of belting in Sunday... I'm actually listening to Sunday right now!

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 6/5/07 at 6:28pm

But she did have to sing the whole first act by herself and there was some belting involved in songs like "You Made Me Think You Were in Love," "Unexpected Song," "Take A Look at Yourself" (all 3 versions), and "Tell Me on a Sunday." She said in an interview that when she first was approached she thought they were crazy, then she decided to take the advise from "Move On" and leave SUNDAY to do SONG & DANCE.
Neil Patrick Harris is indeed one of Sondheim proteges like Jane Krakowski, Bernadette Peters, George Hearn, Patti LuPone, et al. I think he's quite talented but that's all subjective. I agree with Eric about John Barrowman though, even if I do like him in a few recordings. I know Sondheim has said that Barrowman is his favorite Bobby or the most effective, one of those.

[jv92]

Posted: 6/5/07 at 6:58pm

I found his manic Buddy's Blues to a be a concert highlight in Follies. I'm a Mandy fan so perhaps that's why. I really don't mind him.
He was terrfic in Sunday. The perfect George. What a performance! What nuance! He certainly isn't chewing the scenery on the taped performance. He's just as wonderful as he was when I saw it live those many times.

[Blue-Eyed Wonder]

Posted: 6/5/07 at 7:00pm

Didn't they alsohave to bring back a couple of other cast members, not just Mandy and Bernie?

[jv92]

Posted: 6/5/07 at 7:02pm

I think it was just Bernadette and Mandy.