2008 Broadway Revival
- “Down by the Blue Purple Yellow Red Water” by Ben Brantley, New York Times. 2/22/2008 LINK
My Summery: A well-rounded review commenting on the set,
acting and the relevance of the second act.
Nothing is said of the costumes.
Performance Quote: “…what’s especially evident in Mr. Evans’s
performance, which suggests the angry longing of an autistic child to play
nicely with others, is that he does connect to people through re-imagining them
in his painting. […] Ms. Russell gives
Dot an intuitive wisdom about life that mixes resignation with regret, genuine
pain with a leveling sense of humor.”
Design/Tech
Quote: “This approach allows the
audience to envision the world as the George of the first act sees it, with
landscapes and people, projected on scrims and small canvases, that alter as he
sketches them on the island of La Grande Jatte, the scene of his most famous
painting. (The animated dogs, in particular, are delightful.)”
- “By George, Revival’s Pretty as a Picture” by Clive Barnes, New York Post. 2/22/2008 LINK
Performance
Quote: “Evans' George nails the reserve and flame-like intensity
of the loner artist, a creator personally short on relationships. […]Evans
gives a precisely nuanced, very funny and expressively sung musical portrait.
Other splendid vignettes come from Michael Cumpsty and Alexander Gemignani.”
Design/Tech
Quote: The results, built into the
designs by David Farley and the lighting by Ken Billington, and based on pointillist
Georges Seurat's iconic painting, "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La
Grand Jatte," is one of the most visually amazing shows ever to reach
Broadway.”
2012 Chicago Shakespeare Theatre Production
- “In ‘Sunday in the Park with George’ love and work are no walk in the park” by Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune. 10/04/2012 LINK
Review Summary: A great review concentrating on the acting of the piece seems
to be the only reviewer around who enjoys the second act better than the
first. Goes into detail on director’s
past works as well as specific moments in the show that really worked.
Performance Quotes: Carmen Cusack, whose superb work dominates [...] a dazzling
performance that gets better and better, but its zenith comes during the song
"Children and Art" [... Jason Danieley] actually is more comfortable
and vulnerable as the historic George, which is a more deeply realized
characterization than the Act 2 model, which he has yet to fully figure
out."
Design/Tech Quote: “In essence, Griffin, videographer Mike Tutaj and set
designer Kevin Depinet all decided to create an Act 1 dominated by the Seurat
painting [... a] lack of any feeling of the actual La Grand Jatte locale [...]
the look of Act 2, with its wonky contemporary art, makes more visual sense to
me here than ever before.”
- “Hats Off to Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s ‘Sunday in the Park’” by Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun Times. 10/04/2012 LINK
Review Summary: A generally positive review going in depth on how the set
works as well as character motivations, though no great short to the point
quotes to pull out."
Performance Quotes: “The Sondheim
score is gloriously sung […] with Danieley and Cusack (delicate, beautiful and
fiery) bringing real ferocity to their duet, “We Do Not Belong
Together,” and Linda Stephens (as Georges’ cranky mother) joining Danieley for
a transcendent version of “Beautiful,” a song about change whose exquisite echo
in the second act comes in the form of “Move On.”
Design/Tech Quote: “Griffin and
his collaborators have brought countless subtle insights as well as innovations
both large and small to this production”
2013 Theatre du Chatelet Production
- "Pointillism dotted" by Jean-Marcel Humbert, Forum Opera. 04/15/2013 LINK
Review Summary: A review originally written in French, quotes
translated by Google. A general overview
of the original source material, commenting on its comedic effects. Also mentioned is the glory of the scenery
and costumes with little talk of acting.
Performance
Quotes: "Julian Ovenden is
excellent in both roles of Georges and George and Sophie-Louise Dann is in Dot
and Marie, quite amazing, nothing but a rabble without vulgarity. All other characters are great, the
distribution is flawless."
Design/Tech Quote: "All this takes place in extraordinary scenery William Dudley, dissociated between spinners and amazing projections, it is a feast of the eyes [...] costumes Adrian Linford are quite successful […] and the staging of Lee Blakeley without a single dead time: it is a machine to Broadway, perfectly oiled."
- "Sunday in the Park with George, Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris" by Francis Carlin, Financial Times. 04/19/2013 LINK
Review Summary: A review with a brief synopsis of the show as well as comments on the original libretto, scenic design and acting. One of few reviews of this production that you do not have to translate the page to read.
Performance Quote: "The cast is simply terrific, led by Julian Ovenden’s stunning Georges/George, a fresh and tuneful light baritone who turns on a faultless US accent for the second act [...] Sophie-Louise Dann does a nice common touch as Dot, the artist’s mistress, and Rebecca de Pont Davies, as his mother, gives her song the grand Handelian contralto treatment."
Design/Tech Quote: “The cast move confidently through William Dudley’s revolving set amid state-of-the-art video backdrops. In these de luxe conditions, the house amplification system is only a minor irritation.”
2006 Reprise Theatre Production
- “Sunday in the Park with George” by Terri Roberts, Theater Mania. LINK
Review Summary: Fascinating review of a seemingly misguided production, Produced
on a limited budget, they avoided the use of a breakaway dress in Act 1 and
showing the Chromolume in Act 2,
exactly how is talked about in this review.
Performance Quotes: “…rising Broadway
stars Manoel Felciano and Kelli O'Hara, who headline the show, both fare much
better in their Act II personas than they do as the disconnected, frustrated
lovers in the colorless Act I, where they tend to come across as too young and
immature to be fully believable.”
Design/Tech Quote: “The Act I white
concept has also been applied to Bethany Jane Bohatila's and Heather Carleton's
costumes, which have been completely rendered in shades of white, cream and
beige, as well as scenic designer Bradley Kaye's moveable, three-sided panels,
featuring the urbanized "La Grande Jatte" of Act II on one side, and
the inviting, demanding white canvas of Act I -- as well as the preliminary
sketches for the painting on the remaining two sides.”
- "Sunday in the park with George" by Sharon Perlmutter, Talking Broadway LINK
Review Summary: Good review detailing this production exactly and what does
not work with it. Why Act 1 was played
to a grey set and costumes, I’ll never know.
Performance Quotes: “Manoel Felciano's take on George is that of a
fairly decent soul. He is definitely obsessed by his work, but there's an
element of self-awareness to it. He knows that he is frequently overlooking
Dot's needs […] Kelli O'Hara's Dot is a bit flighty, but she certainly
isn't someone easily ignored. She's a very strong character who will not allow
herself to be bullied by George […]Musically, Felciano and O'Hara are
solid, although O'Hara sometimes misses a beat or hits a wrong note in the
complex Sondheim score […]Everyone else is, more or less, scenery.
Design/Tech Quote: “For a show that depends so strongly on the visual elements,
the production falls flat on this count […] the actors are all dressed
in shades of white, tan, and light grey. The picture they've created is
colorless […]Lighting is also misused in the piece.
2004 Ravinia festival Concert Version
- “Layers of meaning reveal themselves in vivid 'George'” by Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun Times. 09/06/2004 LINK
Review Summary: Review focusing mainly on acting and the actors
involved. This was a concert version so the
set is mentioned and how they went about doing it.
Performance Quotes: “Cerveris was a model of concentration and
earnestness both as Seurat and the artist's great-grandson […]McDonald,
with her golden voice and precise diction, is full of surprises. And Price has
used the fact that she is African American to fine effect […] Patti LuPone added
some lovely touches as the wife of Seurat's competitor
Design/Tech Quote: “With James Noone's clever two-level ramped stage [where
the orchestra sits] and with superb lighting by Kevin Adams and projection
design by John Boesche, the actors could be moved into forced perspective […]Cross-cutting
videotape of the actors in rehearsal, and of theatergoers strolling the grounds
of Ravinia, [Lonny Price] brought us into the picture. Images of Sondheim and
Lapine provided the ultimate homage.
- “For the most part Ravinia's Sunday is on Point” by Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune. 09/08/2004 LINK
Review Summary: Review
focusing mainly on Audra McDonald, loving her singing voice but questioning whether
Dot was the right role to play. Other
actors as well as some of the director’s choices were mentioned.
Performance Quotes: “Cerveris'
Seurat was technically formidable, though in terms of character detail, only
about two-thirds of the way there. Some of the comedy in Price's ensemble
arrived on the obvious side [… Audra McDonald] is a force of nature with
a dazzling dramatic and musical range, and the rarest ability among divas: the
ability to know when to say when.
Design/Tech Quote: “[Lonnie Price] filled the stage with six fantasy Seurats,
sketching in their pads […] alongside a couple of fantasy Dots […] these were
fussy additions. Likewise, the video montage on the blank-canvas screen during
the finale, depicting the cast in rehearsal, came off like artists patting
themselves on the back.
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