SUNDAY at City Center performance thoughts/reviews — Page 8

I saw the original twice at Playwrights Horizons and twice on Broadway. I don't remember the order of their arrival, but "Finishing the Hat" and two songs in the second act that give the show its almost-other-worldly depth and elegance arrived as the show was opening at Playwrights and then on Broadway. (I think "Finishing the Hat" was put in the day before I saw it at Playwrights, and "Lesson #8" and "Move On" were added after that. (I may have the arrival of the songs in the wrong order.)

We knew it was a life-changing, game-changing show from the beginning (even without those songs) and no one minded that the songs were arriving after we saw the early performances because it was a living example of Sondheim's genius. We just felt lucky to be experiencing it.

And, remember, there was no Internet then. We shared the daily updates of the show's progress by telephone, talking, and gossip in town square.

Bernadette's performance was like a gift from the gods. After the show won its Pulitzer, I was fond of saying that they should have shared the Pulitzer with her, because her performance lifted the show to immeasurable heights.

Mandy's George had a Gallic arrogance that Jake lacks, so that may be what you're wondering about a "stronger sexuality." But, oddly, I always thought that arrogance, combined with Mandy's mannered was of phrasing and his "divo" attitude were too assertive for the introspective self-absorbed George. (Don't get me wrong--he was thrilling.)

So, yeah, I kinda like Jake better.

Great read, PJ. I can't begin to imagine how special it was to witness the progression of the original production.

SmoothLover, Mandy's performance is preserved on film for eternity.

Patinkin's Seurat always seemed, to me, very deliberate in the way he would distance himself from others. Gyllenhaal's Seuret seemed to just be unaware that what he was doing was alienating until after the fact.

Thanks to PJ and the other astute posters who have increased my understanding of this show, which I saw last night for the first time. I thought Gyllenhaal and Ashford were marvelous and very moving. Jake's singing was more than up to par. I tried to find something wrong with it but was unable to. Altogether a wonderful night at the theater!

Back in 1984, when SUNDAY was being introduced at Playwrights, I moved heaven and earth to get in to one of the performances. I had a tiny relationship with Steve (I was a charter member of the NYC Gay Men's Chorus, and he had not only worked with us twice, a master class in itself, but had given us leave to do all and any of his work at no charge), and wrote to him, begging for a ticket. He put me on a waiting list, but it didn't happen (and as we all now know, there was only one act at Playwrights), but PH gave its members the first preview at the Booth for free. The show was uneven ("Children and Art" had yet to be added), but when Mandy sang "Finishing the Hat," I think I died. Hearing it again this week, so masterfully sung by Jake, was yet another revelation. The whole production was amazing; I cried without stop during the final scene on the island.

I think we can agree that if Jake were willing to do the show, it could open on Broadway very quickly, and actually pay back its investors. And now that BURN THIS has been postponed (don't much like the play anyway), perhaps this could happen...

I adored Annaleigh. I was simply describing how Bernadette's performance burst onto the scene back then.

One of the (many) things I loved about Annaleigh's performance was the way she took Marie's South Carolina upbringing to heart! And the way she said she had been a Floradora girl.

I try not to rate actors as "better" or worse than other actors in roles. If I like their performances, then each performance has its own virtues. If I don't like them, it's because the negatives outweighed the virtues. I think Bernadette was nothing short of genius in the beginning and middle of her career. Lately (as I've said a million times), she cries too much and slows down tempi self-indulgently, as I felt she did in both Follies and Night Music.

But I will never stop believing that the beauty of her performance as Dot helped Sondheim and Lapine win their Pulitzer.

Yes. Mr. Joey knows of what he speaks. Bernadette Peters - - - I adored her in the beginning of her career, then she left and took Hollywood by storm - - - to then return to the Main Stem for her glorious second act of her legendary career. I believe her first show upon returning was Lloyd Webber's "Song and Dance" (but I may be wrong). She was glorious in "Sunday in the Park with George" and took her rightful place among the legendary divas of musical theater.

Updated On: 10/27/16 at 05:44 PM

Michael Cerveris finished the hat once upon a time.



https://youtu.be/2kTUKXlmfM4

Kind of unrelated but entirely unrelated at the same time. The Art Inst. thinks Georgey boy has Cubs fever too. :)

It amuses me, in this thread, that so many are amazed that Gyllenhaal can sing. Many film and TV actors can sing, it's simply part of an actor's training. Did it surprise everyone to learn that Streep could sing, or Sarandon, Amy Adams, Kristin Bell, Kate Hudson, James Cordon, Minnie Driver, Emily Blunt, Ewan McGregor, Kate Winslet, Jeremy Renner, Robert Downey Jr, Kerry Washington, Anna Kendrick, Gwenyth Paltrow, Zooey Deschanel and many, many others? It's just part of what you often (not always) learn to do when you go into a career in the performing arts.

Exactly. We knew he could sing last summer but now he proved he could handle one of Sondheim's most difficult scores. That's what is impressive.

They may be friends but now I know why I saw and sat near Ryan Reynolds at "Sunday". They started showing ads for a "big" Memorial Day movie they are both starring in. It looks like a space epic with monsters.

I doubt if Jake will sing or have a duet with "Deadpool"

Another rave from the Guardian (UK):

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/oct/27/sunday-in-the-park-with-george-review-jake-gyllenhall-sondheim

"Look, Jake Gyllenhaal has made a hat. Where there occasionally has been a hat. His is a very fine hat. He ought to make more of them."

Yes, please!