#1
Posted: 7/7/06 at 3:27am
I'm in London for the next week, and thought I would share my ongoing thoughts of what I've seen in this thread....
I've always had a deep affinity for SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE; when I was about twelve years old, my father bought me a new contraption called a "compact disc" player. At the time there were only a handful of cast albums available on the new format, and one of those was the OBC of SUNDAY IN THE PARK.
I literally have grown up with the score; we all have one or two musical recordings that we somehow identify with as a soundtrack of our lives and SUNDAY has for me always resonated on some very deep level - the pursuit of an artist, the relationship between family and art = all that good stuff.
But despite many viewings of the great television broadcast, I have never seen SUNDAY live. Until last night.
It was important to preface my long "history" with the show, because it no doubt played into my experience of the new production at the Wyndham, but even I was taken by surprise at how incredibly moved I was by this production. Tears started to well up half way through the first act, and by the end of the second I'd stopped trying to wipe the tears streaming down my cheeks.
The production is extraordinary. I think some purists or people who are scholars of the original production will have some issues with it, and while I could fuss at some of the details that felt overlooked or unrealized, that would be to take away from the things that are so wonderfully right with the staging.
The elegent sweeping design of the show has to be credited with part of the productions great success at reimagining the material. Things that could only be hinted at in the first staging (the chromolume, the transition of the park from dead to alive, dueling dogs, George's bartering during "Putting it Together") are brought to vivid, exciting life here. In fact the fluid transitions, I think are one of the main reasons the second act, normally so problematic seems to work so well this time. Actually seeing the painting becoming a framed work of art in museum as viewers over 100 years walk suddenly bridges the gap between canvas and masterpiece. The design is full of touches like this which keep the action absolutely riveting.
There are already plans to move this production to the Roundabout (AA Theatre - American ironically is already a corporate sponsor of the show in the UK), and while it will be exciting to see who is cast in these roles for Broadway, it is hard to imagine a better matched pair than Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell who both are luminous and heartbreaking.
Evans is a very different George from Patinkin; a performer fundamentally optomistic and filled with light, Evans reprsents a less brooding more searching George, which I think also contributes to the success of the second act. This George is less egotistical and more desperate.
Russell's Dot is gorgeous and earthy. Her Marie wise and sad. One of the great strengths of this production is the clear illustration between art and love/art and family. Contributing greatly is the performance of Gay Sober as George's mother. The moment of George's refusal to see his daughter becomes a heartwrenching moment of regret as we see George's mother react to a son she no doubt helped to "create" but can no longer connect to.
As a side caveat, what a treat to have SUNDAY playing right next door to the National Gallery where Seuret's famous "Bathers of Asnieres" hangs. I dare any show queen to walk past the real thing and not comment on "the dog!"...
I've always had a deep affinity for SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE; when I was about twelve years old, my father bought me a new contraption called a "compact disc" player. At the time there were only a handful of cast albums available on the new format, and one of those was the OBC of SUNDAY IN THE PARK.
I literally have grown up with the score; we all have one or two musical recordings that we somehow identify with as a soundtrack of our lives and SUNDAY has for me always resonated on some very deep level - the pursuit of an artist, the relationship between family and art = all that good stuff.
But despite many viewings of the great television broadcast, I have never seen SUNDAY live. Until last night.
It was important to preface my long "history" with the show, because it no doubt played into my experience of the new production at the Wyndham, but even I was taken by surprise at how incredibly moved I was by this production. Tears started to well up half way through the first act, and by the end of the second I'd stopped trying to wipe the tears streaming down my cheeks.
The production is extraordinary. I think some purists or people who are scholars of the original production will have some issues with it, and while I could fuss at some of the details that felt overlooked or unrealized, that would be to take away from the things that are so wonderfully right with the staging.
The elegent sweeping design of the show has to be credited with part of the productions great success at reimagining the material. Things that could only be hinted at in the first staging (the chromolume, the transition of the park from dead to alive, dueling dogs, George's bartering during "Putting it Together") are brought to vivid, exciting life here. In fact the fluid transitions, I think are one of the main reasons the second act, normally so problematic seems to work so well this time. Actually seeing the painting becoming a framed work of art in museum as viewers over 100 years walk suddenly bridges the gap between canvas and masterpiece. The design is full of touches like this which keep the action absolutely riveting.
There are already plans to move this production to the Roundabout (AA Theatre - American ironically is already a corporate sponsor of the show in the UK), and while it will be exciting to see who is cast in these roles for Broadway, it is hard to imagine a better matched pair than Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell who both are luminous and heartbreaking.
Evans is a very different George from Patinkin; a performer fundamentally optomistic and filled with light, Evans reprsents a less brooding more searching George, which I think also contributes to the success of the second act. This George is less egotistical and more desperate.
Russell's Dot is gorgeous and earthy. Her Marie wise and sad. One of the great strengths of this production is the clear illustration between art and love/art and family. Contributing greatly is the performance of Gay Sober as George's mother. The moment of George's refusal to see his daughter becomes a heartwrenching moment of regret as we see George's mother react to a son she no doubt helped to "create" but can no longer connect to.
As a side caveat, what a treat to have SUNDAY playing right next door to the National Gallery where Seuret's famous "Bathers of Asnieres" hangs. I dare any show queen to walk past the real thing and not comment on "the dog!"...
Updated On: 7/12/06 at 03:27 AM
