SUNDAY... Post Your Thoughts & Opinions — Page 7

After seeing SUNDAY, it is clear that this production will take home the Tony!
Try and see the show before it sells out! Once it opens on Feb 21st to rave reviews, there will hardly be any tickets!!

Roscoe, I couldn't agree with you more! I found this Sunday to be so incredibly dull, lackluster, devoid of passion, and just not interesting. The cast was very weak; the ensemble blended in with the woodwork ... I agree with what you said about the original cast, including Danielle ...they were all memorable. In this revival ... just the opposite ... all forgettable. I did not like the use of projections at all, the music craves a larger orchestra, and all in all, was extremely disappointed with this revival.

Hi All-

I just got back from NYC. I saw the 2 pm matinee of SUNDAY IN THE PARK with GEORGE and I met Mr. Ed Morsthead at the stage door today

As promised... I will post my 10/10 Report on Sunday in the Park with Greorge on Monday (2/18 . I am cooking something different for SITPWG..something I have not done with my 10/10 Reports.. Like the production's projections- My report will be different than the usual- for this one.

If you love Scenic Design- you'll be happy with my Report for SITPWG.


J*

Updated On: 2/16/08 at 11:19 PM

i wrote this for my blog, so please excuse any obviousness in it (i was writing it for people who werent familiar with the show already)

....


I went to see Sunday In The Park With George last night.

when i got home i began to post here:

[quote="n69n"]
OH MY GOSH ITS THE MOST GORGEOUS THING IVE EVER SEEN!!

i am so in love with it on so many levels and for so many reasons, & i am so excited because i know i am gonna love it more the more i think about it!!!!
[/quote]

but then i deleted it because i wanted to take the time to really tell you about how wonderful this show is.

Sunday In The Park With George has many levels to it.

on the surface, it is about George Seuraut and his painting SUNDAY IN THE PARK.

on the next level, it is about the drama in people's lives & what brings them together in a certain moment, relative to each other. in this case,what brings these people in the painting together, why are they standing in this configuration? what is their relationship to one another?

wouldnt there be the same questions if moments of our lives were frozen in time like that painting? so in that sense, isnt evey moment of EVERYONE'S LIFE like that? look around on the subway car or in the grocery store or the doctor's office...or a messageboard...what has brought you & that particular cast of characters together in that moment? if you think about it & freeze it, every moment is a work of art., with infinite individual dramas behind it.

then on a deeper level, it is about the frustration & loneliness of being a creative person...*AND* the pain & frustration of loving a creative person.
not to say my work is in any way comparable to Seuraut, but i *really* identified with the "the thing you do that makes people love you is the very same thing that takes all of your time so you cant be with the people who love you". creative work (at least my kind) is neccessarily a solitary thing; you need other people for the inspiration but you can only do the actual work alone. in the process of creating this thing that expresses your love for the world, you push the world away even more.

that aspect had me crying like a baby right there in the theater...because i'd always thought that was just me & my own ****ed-upedness, i had never realized that thats a part of art itself.

what i always think about is how we are really given so little time in this world, and how important it is to leave something beautiful behind. that is really my only goal. & working towards that is the only thing that makes me happy.

i havent even mentioned the music. i dont even know how to talk about it yet, i cant seperate it from the drama. except to say that its the aural equivelant of pointellism, the technique Seuraut used. his paintings were all tiny dots of red, yellow & blue...its the eyes perception that blends the dots together into other colors and shapes and forms. this is what Sondheim does with the music in this show; its all just a dot here and there & suddenly you realize you are hearing a whole orchestra coming together.
it is genius & i am gonna be taking it apart and putting it together in my mind for the rest of my life.

& the creative direction of the show!!!! that is what will *BLOW PEOPLE AWAY*!!!!

when the audience comes into the theater, the stage is a wood floor, with white walls wrapping around & a single curtain draped in the center.
as the show progresses, the whole set *BECOMES* Seuraut's sketchbook. using projections, the walls & cutain are animated. we see pencil lines scribble across the walls; the walls become landscape, the curtain becomes a tree. through the first act, as the drama goes on, we watch the set go from blank, to pencil sketch, to full color painting. it is breathaking. and when the finished painting, with all the characters in place is revealed as the orchestra swells, the bottom fell out of my stomach and i blubbered like a baby. i have never seen anything so gorgeous and brilliant.

in that sense, the show is put together like his paintings...we just see all these little moments, all these little details...until it all pulls back and we see the full scope of the piece.

& you realize that the show, like life, is a puzzle, with every part *WANTING* to be in place, & slowly moving towards it whether we know it or not.

if you have the chance to see this revival production of Sunday In The Park With George, please dont miss it!!

it is a gift to humanity.

Thank you for that review, Norn. Being an artist myself, I can relate to so much of what you say. I really can't wait to see this in April. I may die from the anticipation.

---

im listening to the cast recording now for the first time.

CHILDREN AND ART almost sounds like a Joanna Newsom song!

just listening is making me cry again.

i want to be a good person and i want to be a good artist.
neither one is as easy as it sounds.

Updated On: 2/17/08 at 03:16 PM

I saw it yesterday afternoon and thought they did a beautiful job. I had seen the original and thought, like many, that the second act was somewhat of a letdown after the finale of Act One. Seeing yesterday's performance, I found myself deeply involved with Act Two and have revised my opinion of the whole show as an entity. It's definitely a "thinking man's" musical and a haunting one. By and large, I preferred the performances to the original.

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I saw this yesterday afternoon, and thought it was absolutely marvelous and breathtaking.

I absolutely adored and loved every second of this brilliant revival.

Excellent, excellent, excellent. I can't wait to see it again.

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Note: It's good that I always save the HTML formulas in my computer...as a precaution...I am kinda organize! though I re-edited some parts...


FOR THOSE WHO MISSED IT...



E30

Sunday in the Park with George
Musical Revival
Studio 54
2/16 2 pm matinee
2 hours and 40 minutes (with 1 intermission)
Tix Price : $ 22.50 + $5.00 processing fee =$27.25

INTRO:


white...a blank page or canvas..the challenge...bring order to the whole.....




Thing(s) I LIKE about the musical

************WARNING : CONTAINS SPOILIERS!**************

1. Scenic Design: This is probably the first thing I noticed about the revival. The stage is just marvelous. It's basically a white room with hard wood floor.. Its clean design... there's a movable hard wood floor (like a conveyor belt that moves side to side)


2. The Projections- design by Timothy Bird & The Knifedge Creative Network-just brilliant. It was a treat for me to see this marvelous revival using the latest technology to bring SITPWG again on Broadway.

- the beginning when George came out of the stage- he said... a white..a blank canvas... and there's a sketch of pencil being drawn to the white walls.. its just fantastic..


-the projection of the dog was brilliant. George put a blank canvas on the floor and an image of a dog was drawn on it...the dog run of..he later captured it again by placing it on it the dog's track.


- Act 2 : the "modern" 1984 ..Isle of the Seine with buildings and park lights.. as the day progressed from day to dusk.. the street lights was turned on..and if you look closer the windows in the tall buildings was lit too.

- My favorite part is the end of ACT 1- when the stage transformed into an Art Gallery- the wall expanded backwards giving the illusion that the painting was at the end of an art gallery.. and that's not only that... there was a spectators looking at the painting as times moves on.. their costumes changed into Modern Times. I was literally sitting at the edge of my sit... I was soo amazed of what I just saw!

-another one was George's multiple projections in the song "Putting It Together" while was talking to the patrons ..one George will appear and take his place. then He will go to another guest and talk to them..another George will appear and take his place...his multiple projections are almost "real people". The part where he pours a wine to himself (his projection) holding a glass was brilliant and everyone in the audience was just laughing and of course amazed.

(same thing with the 2nd soilder in ACT 1)

Note: I can fill up the whole thread on how much I love the projections... I was soo happy that finally someone used their imagination & creativity. I just saw a musical in Boston (not mentioning it) and the scenic design was not so imaginative meaning sets came from up and side of the stage... to form a room. Norn who happened to see this show at 8 pm pm'ed me that he told me that.."the first thing I said was how much I appreciated a show that treated me as an adult." I knew EXACTLY what he meant...I felt like some shows are LITERALLY SPOON FEEDING me the design..."Oh.. its a study room! Oh.. It's a bar! This musical's scenic design and its use of projections really CHALLENGE MY IMAGINATION! I mean..not the same old thing..Give me something new..something innovative..something I never saw before... INSPIRE ME by what I see onstage!

3. Lighting Design by Ken Billington:

- The "Finishing the Hat Song" George was standing on the back of the painting while he is finishing the hat.. the light was shining on him, so you can see him at the back of the painting, though you can still see what he is drawing.


-somehow the lighting was in perfect synch when the actors froze or stay still..

4. The Costumes : I dont have the picture but in ACT 1 .. the park scene where the whole wall is almost green....lush green.. The characters are all wearing costumes in peach, beige, purple, brown (for men) with red flowers on their bottonier, even that little girl in white dress with a ribbon. It blended perfectedly with the surrounding.

- Dot's brown costume when she was pregnant was a contrast to all what they are wearing...soo beatiful onstage and it really shows Dot's emotions specially in "We Do Not Belong Together"

5. The Music & Lyrics of Stephen Sondheim- Sunday is probably my least favorite bec. It was kinda monotonous, but also I have never seen a production onstage...I just listened to the OBCR... until I saw the finish product.. the music blend perfectly with everything.

6. The Book by James Lapine.

7. The Orcherstra- I was suprised to see that there were only 5 ( I think so?) members of the orcherstra located on only 1 box seat at Studio 54. The other one on Stage Left was empty. Though it did not bother me a bit, even though others will think its not a full-orchestra. I was soo impressed on how "in-synch" they are too the actions onstage, lighting projections....it was amazing!

8. Daniel Evans- aside from being cute... I really like his potrayal of George..sorry to say...I saw the VHS tape of SITPWG with Bernadette & Mandy and I cannot stand Mandy's falsetto voice.. I really like Daniel Evans.... I thought his George was charming even though George in Act 1 is selfish... I think that's why I love this revival is probably bec. of him.

9. Jenna Russell- she is really the standout in this revival.. I was very sympathetic with her Dot in Act specially in the "We Dont Not Belong Together" number. Her old Marie in ACT 2 is very funny. She has a beautiful, sweet voice yet strong. How she holds the last note on Geeeeeeooooooorgeeeeee! was just heaven to hear.

10. Direction of Sam Buntrock- I thought I was seeing a masterpiece being performed in a stage when I saw this... everything just falls perfectly together... the lighting... the scenery... the music... the book...the two lead actors... the orchestra... and the ensemble...all in perfect harmony....I thought I was just not seeing a musical but something great....its like a painting...you more you look at the gallery..the more you think about it...and that's all bec. of the direction, who put all these things together in that canvas known as Studio 54's stage.

NOTE : This musical got a perfect score for me.

Thing(s) I DID NOT LIKE about the Musical

N O N E.

I love (not like) everything about this revival. I was soo fortunate to see a truly remarkable artwork in my lifetime.


In Summary

Some people may wonder as to why I travel 8 hours or may think that I am over eager just to see a Broadway show...My answer is I do it bec. I LOVE Broadway shows. The 1980's George in Act 2 said.....Balance....Light and he asked..."Dot, I cannot read this word? " she replied to him.."Harmony" and he continued.....So much love in his words... forever with his colors... how George looks... he can look forever... what does he see? ...his eyes so dark and shiny... so careful... so exact...

My Broadway experience starts by the time I boarded that bus... its like...



and never ends when I arrived home...now...I can say...it probbably ends after I write about it, post it and the joy of sharing it...and then its finally complete.




White. A blank page of canvas. His favorite. So many possibilities...


Score : 10/0- I LIKE IT! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED





Studio 54









The Playbill










Stage Door Photos


with Jessica Molaskey


David Turner

Updated On: 2/18/08 at 05:39 PM

thank you for sharing, j*!

I thought the orchestra sounded splendid. The only uncomfortable seats at 54 are in the rear mezz.

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Goerge has always been unlikeable. To me at least. I haven't seen the revival yet, but I listen to the cast recording all the time, and I think Evan's George was a lot less pretentious sounding than Mandy's was. I think it can be easy to go overboard with the character and overact the shiz out of it, but I felt like he really stripped down the character(s) to their essentials, so I can imagine that he does the same acting wise, and I appreciate it.

Anyway, don't know if this has already been posted because I'm too lazy to go through the pages, but on the roundabout website, Sunday is listed as having performances through to June 1, 2008. Yay.