Sunday in the Park...George - ACT II- Page 2

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 8/31/12 at 11:31pm

While I truly prefer the first act and think it could be a really strong stand-alone piece (like how, if they were disconnected, the first act of INTO THE WOODS works as it's own show), I love "Move On" and "Putting It Together."

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/31/12 at 11:56pm

uncageg, I think that was at Playwrights.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/1/12 at 12:09am

Seeing the show twice at Playwrights and then again on Broadway and watching those magnificent songs being added to the second act--"Children and Art," Move On" and the Sunday reprise--was like watching two geniuses put together a masterpiece. They were putting it together, inch by inch, ounce by ounce, bit by bit.

Seeing it did not seem like going to the theater. It seemed like a privilege. It seemed like witnessing the birth of something extraordinary.

It seemed like witnessing a birth.

I read these whiny, kvetchy posts about it not being this or that and I just laugh. Actually, I feel sorry for those posters.

Go ahead. Dislike it. It's your loss.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 9/1/12 at 12:18am

Random, but I always laugh at the big piece of advice Michael Bennett had when he attended the workshop. That when Dot came on stage to tell Georges she was leaving, she needed to come on carrying luggage.

[After Eight]

Posted: 9/1/12 at 8:13am

"Go ahead. Dislike it. It's your loss."

My loss was the time I spent watching this pretentious bore.

[NoHSMisNotAMusical]

Posted: 9/1/12 at 11:21am

Oh goody, it's After Eight! They always bring a smile to my face!

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 9/1/12 at 3:49pm

If AfterEight ever went missing, the surefire way to lure him back in is to create a Sondheim post, particularly one full of praise. It's like a crow and shiny objects.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/1/12 at 4:26pm

I'm not sure I understand the people posting who think George (of Act II) is Georges (of Act I) "reincarnated." And then write it off as some sort confusing but accepted hocus-pocus.

I don't think Sondheim and Lapine were thinking of Shirley MacLaine when they conceived an Act II set in "modern" 1984.

George isn't Georges.

For me, Act I is about the creation of art. Act II is about the connection to art.

George in Act II is completely disconnected and disillusioned with his own art and with his past. He doesn't know who he is or what he is doing anymore. Act II (my favorite of the two, by the way) is his attempt to find a connection again by reaching out to an artistic relative he never knew and the work that he created a hundred years ago. It's through the Georges of Act I that the George of Act II begins to understand and connect again.

Updated On: 9/1/12 at 04:26 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 9/1/12 at 4:30pm

I really don't think the first act DOES work as a stand-alone piece. While I do think, to a degree, it's the better-formed half (probably because, simply, while the second act was being created the first half was only being refined), it needs the second act to be successful. While the Act I finale is a great and moving moment, it's missing the catharsis that's supplied by Act II.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/1/12 at 4:39pm

To me, if you cut Act II, then Act I seems interesting, but almost in vain if that makes sense. It's the story of how an original "masterpiece" painting comes together and what it took to get there.

What I love so much about Act II is that it shows the human connection to that painting, to the artist who painted it a century ago, and to the legacy he has left behind, both as a person and as an artist (children and art).

Act II is the payoff of Act I.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 9/1/12 at 9:04pm

Without Act II, Act I is a slightly too long, charming novelty show, IMHO. (I don't find it too long with Act II, mind you, as it sets up--at least thematically much of that, but without Act II, big chunks would have no emotional payoff).

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/1/12 at 11:08pm

I read these whiny, kvetchy posts about it not being this or that and I just laugh. Actually, I feel sorry for those posters.

Go ahead. Dislike it. It's your loss.

Is that really necessary, Joey? Do we all have to like the same shows or merit your contempt?

My own objection is that the show itself is whiny and kvetchy, not those of us brave enough to say so.

I think I've shown enough enthusiasm for Sondheim's other works that I'm entitled to dislike one, now and then.

Updated On: 9/1/12 at 11:08 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/2/12 at 1:22am

That was not contempt. That was pity.

[After Eight]

Posted: 9/2/12 at 8:35am

^

For pity's sake, spare us your kind of pity!

Contempt would actually be less contemptible.

"the surefire way to lure him back in is to create a Sondheim post, particularly one full of praise."

Ha ha ha! As if there were ever any other kind of Sondheim thread around here.

Actually these threads are hilarious. The non-cultist theatregoers who suffered and/or slept through this thing would no doubt burst out laughing reading these pompous effusions, particularly those from our Pal Joey, and wonder what planet the people here descended from.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/2/12 at 9:15am

I'm not a cultist Sondheim "fanatic." I have problems with several of his shows, most recently (and very vocally) "Follies," which aside from its brilliant score, I think is a disaster of an idea, maudlin, clueless (nobody thinks or behaves like this at any reunion), self-pitying, and even badly written. I feel only repelled by the characters. Nothing to root for or relate to. They're spoiled, narcissistic, petty, and truly boring. But the songs as individual numbers are minor masterpieces. Some of his best work. The parts definitely are better than the (dreadful) whole, in this case.

But "Sunday in the Park with George" is one of my favorite musicals ever written, and time has only made my feelings for it grow.

Yes, it's possible for a "non-cultish" non-Sondhead theatergoer to absolutely love this show and praise it highly. I don't love it "for the sake of Sondheim" or anybody else. I love it because of what it has to say about the creation of art and other people's connection to it, and how beautifully and brilliantly it conveys those ideas and feelings.

But I do agree with you about one thing: I don't need anybody "pitying the fools" who don't feel the way I do about something.

And if PJ can't see how snobbish and irritating these remarks are when people don't "get it" the way he does about some show or subject ... I, well, pity him.

Updated On: 9/2/12 at 09:15 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/2/12 at 9:32am

Oh, best12bars--you are the one I pity the most. But I am here today to warn you that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping your fate. A chance and hope of my procuring, best12bars. (I am being a good friend to you. You will thank me someday.)

You will be haunted by Three Spirits. This is the chance and hope I mentioned. Without their visits, you cannot hope to shun the path that After Eight treads. Expect the first tomorrow, when the bell tolls One. This will be the Spirit of Sondheims Past.

Expect the second on the next night at the same hour. This will be the Spirit of Sondheims Present.

The third upon the next night when the last stroke of Twelve has ceased to vibrate. This will be the Spirit of Sondheims Yet to Come. Fear this spectre more than any spectre you will see. But know that its purpose is to do you good, and if you hope to live to be another man from what you are, prepare to bear it company, and do it with a thankful heart.

Look to see me post in this thread no more; and look that, for your own sake, you remember what has passed between us!

HONOR SONDHEIM IN YOUR HEART AND TRY TO KEEP IT ALL THE YEAR.

MERRY SONDHEIM TO ALL AND TO ALL A HAPPY LABOR DAY!

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/2/12 at 9:43am

^ That was actually pretty funny, Jacob!

May you someday lose this heavy chain you wear around your neck, forged in life, post by post ...


EDIT: Although, I am slightly disappointed you didn't work "The Last Midnight" into it somehow before you disappeared through the floor.

Updated On: 9/2/12 at 09:43 AM

[After Eight]

Posted: 9/2/12 at 10:15am

"EDIT: Although, I am slightly disappointed you didn't work "The Last Midnight" into it somehow before you disappeared through the floor."

Just be grateful he disappeared.

[ljay889]

Posted: 9/2/12 at 12:18pm

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/2/12 at 12:23pm

What's with all the GIFs lately?

They were old after the first few, now they're just common and dull, no matter what they are.

I guess some people can't think for themselves and actually post thoughts. It's just copy/paste. That deserves a big yawn, definitely.

[ljay889]

Posted: 9/2/12 at 12:25pm

if you find them

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/2/12 at 12:26pm

To quote your usual bitchy small response.

'k.

[ljay889]

Posted: 9/2/12 at 12:30pm

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 9/2/12 at 4:50pm

My only issue with ljay's GIFs, which I admit I kinda enjoy, is now I imagine him (her?) looking like all the main woman he usually posts. (Who I know is a "real" housewife, but I have no clue who).

(For the longest time I thought his avatar was Audra hitting a high note, actually...)

[ljay889]

Posted: 9/2/12 at 5:10pm

LOL! That's funny.
I really mean them to be harmless. Although I do admit that the yawn was directed at AfterEights bs.