SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE Closing Weekend Details Here- Page 4

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 6/29/08 at 11:53pm

Just adding my abounding love for this production.

I'm sorry I couldn't be there today, but reading this thread makes me so happy. I have lived the final performance vicariously through all of you. Your devotion and appreciation for it--and especially for Jenna and Daniel--makes up a little for the void its closing leaves. Thank you!

[OpenDoors]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 2:03am

I second that. Beautifully said Mrs. Pennywise. I can only hope that there was a brave soul in the audience today and that show will pop up on that website that I cannot mention some day soon.

[EugLoven]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 3:03am

There are two worthwhile things to leave behind in this world...

Children and art.

This cast has certainly left behind one of the most worthy pieces of world theatre Broadway and London has seen in a very long time, and we will all be very thankful and glad to have experienced it for years to come.

Congratulations to the show. Safe trip home, Jenna and Daniel. We were truly blessed to be transported each night to an emotional level many of us never reach on our own.

... look ... look.

Posted: 6/30/08 at 3:27am

i am so happy to know that Daniel & Jenna are aware of how much they are loved.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 8:37am

I just wanted to add my two cents. This year, I've been constricted financially and haven't been able to see all the shows I've wanted to. Although it was the last performance, I knew that I had to see "Sunday...". I would have liked to see it more but yesterday's performance was briallnt. Jenna Russell and Daniel Evans were amazing and highlights for me were most certainly "Move On", "Putting it Together" "Sunday" and most of all "Children and Art" my favorite Sondheim song. Both deservingly got Tony nominations and any other year, I'm certain Jenna would have recieved it.

Unfortunately, I never got to meet Jenna but hopefully she will grace the Broadway stage again with her beauty and prescence!

Congradulations to the entire cast and crew of this beautiful show!

[dave1606]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 10:58am

So it has all already been said, but I will put in what my experience was yesterday, I made my own thread, but i think it makes more since for it to be here:

The final 2PM matinée was as every performance of this show is, simply incredible. I would say I cried through about the last twenty minutes of the show.

If there is ever a show on Broadway that has touched me this is it. I don't think it should be closing, but I certainly understand why. I know many who hated it, and understand that it isn't the most accessible show around, but it is one of the few shows on Broadway that CHALLENGED it's audience.

That said, getting to the actual show, as usual the audience was extremely enthusiastic. Loud applause and screaming followed near EVERY song, from the opening scene to the last song, in which the entire audience stood during.

Daniel Evan's always amazes me. He has such a beautiful voice, and Color and Light, and Finishing the Hat were incredible. Jenna Russell really needed a tony for her performance, Lupone or not, and We do not belong together, and Move on, both had me in tears. Yet besides the two leads there is such an incredible ensemble, from Mary Beth Peil, to Jessica Molaskey, to Alexander Gemignani.

Those projections deserved a Tony. They are still just as thrilling as they were when I first saw the show. I do always long for the orchestra to be bigger, but that is a minor complaint.

The final Sunday was a great one for fans and a not so great one for first timers. Jenna Russell started crying, and Daniel was quick to follow. The audience all stood up and applauded, straight through the end of the song. Again,an amazing moment for repeat viewers, but I am sure those who wanted her hear that gorgeous song again were a little miffed. Again, very minor, and it was still a great live moment in theater.

I started crying around Move On, and just balled through the last song. This show touched me and I am terribly sad to see it go. I will truly miss it. I feel that this show has achieved a kind of art that few do these days.

The sale on T shirts was great (2 for 15!!). Though I found the souvenir program rather lackluster. It will be a nice keepsake for me though.

I love how nice every person in the cast is! Everyone stayed around and chatted and really spent time with the crowd which I really appreciated. Jenna Russell is such a doll, and I will post the picture of us soon! Daniel Evans is just as nice, and I think every ensemble member came out. I loved how they all had the Sunday in the Park umbrellas.

I apologize for rambling on, but I just had to get these thoughts out on this wonderful show. Long Live Sunday!

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 11:19am

Beautiful review, Dave. Thanks for that.

[cmwx122]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 11:52am

I went to the closing matine yesterday and I have never experienced anything so genuine, so personal, so heartwrenching, so uplifting, and simply just so amazing! This was my second time seeing the production, and I couldn't be more in love with it!

Some highlights:
During "We Do Not Belong Together" Jenna and Daniel went ALL OUT! It was AMAZING. Jenna was crying beyond belief but it worked! It was stunning! You could tell that she was just so heartbroken over the closing, but she used her sadness and she was brilliant!

Daniel's "Finishing The Hat" was unbelievable. The audience was right there with him and on the edge of their seats.

God, everything was amazing. I can't even describe it!

But the last 20 minutes of the show were perhaps the best. Everyone was crying from "Move On" obviously. But when the whole cast came out for the final "Sunday" they all had tears in their eyes. Somehow, while crying they all sang through it more beautifully than ever. But when Jenna's quick solo came, she tried, but she just couldn't make a sound. That's when the WHOLE audience got up on it's feet, cheering for them and crying all the while. Then Daniel and Jenna embraced while still singing.

Then as the cast left the stage except for Daniel and Jenna. Daniel asked the audience to quiet down with a gesture of his hand while wiping away his tears so that he could deliver the last line of the play. There was dead silence except for people sniffling while Jenna watched and Daniel said strongly "White. A blank page or canvas. His favorite. So many ... Possibilities." And as the lights faded out the audience ERUPTED!!

They cast came out to take their bows twice. It was amazing.

As the audience filed out of the theater, it was pouring outside. But that didn't stop us from waiting at the stage door for an hour and a half! Ha, it was all the die hard SITPWG fans. As the cast came out (all looking so good because they were going out together afterwards) they thanked us for waiting in the rain, getting drenched. They all had matching "Sunday" umbrellas. They were all soo nice and so gracious and made sure that everyone got an autograph and a picture and even had conversations with people and shared their umbrellas. Jenna didn't have one so at first she would grab someones playbill or poster, run back to the stage door and sign it then run out and get someone elses. This didn't last for long. Daniel Evans shaved his head! I'm guessing right after the show.

In talking to the cast, they were all saying how "intense" singing sunday was and how amazing their day has been. It was all "rain and tears,"but somehow that sunday was still the most amazing day ever!

I have pictures from the stage door so if anyone wants them, they arent that great, but you can just email me and I'll send them to you

[violet72]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 12:47pm

Thanks for all of the wonderful recaps of the last show...wish I could have been there...I got chills reading some of your recaps

[cmwx122]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 1:12pm

Ah! Also forgot, that at the stage door the cast was telling everyone what they were doing next. When someone asked Jenna if she would be coming back to broadway she said "Sadly, no. I think this is my first and my last!"

As for Dan, he's doing a lot of things in London, but he said it won't be long until he's back.

[heathurrr]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 1:57pm

This thread is seriously choking me up...
It's amazing to see all this LOVE for my fave show, the one that means the most to me of all the musicals I've encoutered.
So thanks to every that posted love for Sunday!
<3

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 1:57pm

Oh, man. Jenna's never coming back? That is so sad.

[heathurrr]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 1:59pm

"When someone asked Jenna if she would be coming back to broadway she said "Sadly, no. I think this is my first and my last!" "

...
My heart just broke a little.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 2:54pm

How would she know if this was her last time on the broadway stage? Did she not enjoy it or will she not be accepting any other offers? That's a shame though.

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 3:12pm

Thanks for all the reviews of the last performance!

SUNDAY was my favorite show of the 2007/2008 season and I'm so lucky to have seen it 3 times. Daniel Evans is so adorable and such a sweet guy, with a fabulous voice. I see that he shaved his head, so I am wondering is he actually balding in real life or was that style something he had to keep up with everyday just for the character?

I love that umbrella! I must get one of those!

[TonyVincent]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 4:19pm

That is a shame. Almost sounds like she doesn't want to come back. I wonder why.

Cape Twirl, considering shots like these: I'm pretty sure he is balding in real life. Don't know why they would make that up for his character. Curious why he shaved it post performance, though.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 4:21pm

Maybe he's heard "The Bald Song". :) Hee!

I didn't hear Jenna say that...but I'm not doubting it. I'd think it would be kind of hard especially if you've got family that can't relocate. Being away like that. But who knows.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 4:43pm

She told me that she absolutely adores New York but is terribly, terribly homesick.

I've been listening to the CD all day in honor of the show.

[matty159]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 4:48pm

When I chatted with Jenna at the stagedoor, she said she couldn't wait to get back to her garden. I melted a little bit. Love her much!

[OpenDoors]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 5:58pm

JOJ shaved his beard right after he closed the Les Mis Revival back in January. I think it's a ritual with some actors. Does anyone know if he did the same when SITPWG closed on the west end?

[cmwx122]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 7:30pm

Stephen Sondheim was there last night!! He didn't come out of the stage door because he would have been mobbed but I saw pictures of him with the cast!!! AH

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 7:59pm

I am crushed, heart broken that I did not get to see the show.
Thanks for the fabulous reviews, I would have given anything to be there.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 8:18pm

I can definitely understand Jenna being homesick. That has to be one of the toughest things...doing what you love but having it take you away from people and places you love too.

[dave1606]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 10:04pm

Thought i would post my stage door pic that despite the rain and everthing turned out well!
Updated On: 6/30/08 at 10:04 PM

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 6/30/08 at 10:11pm

Great photo, Dave!

Jenna is GORGEOUS!