Additional Resources

• Hall, Sharon K. "Sunday in the Park with George by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim."Contemporary Literary Criticism 39 (1986): 172-75. Literature Criticism Online. Web.

This is a collection of short essays written about the musical Sunday in the Park with George.  None of these people particularly liked the musical.  It is important to understand why this show is not liked to fully appreciate this piece as a whole.  PDF

 

• Young, Toby. "Change of heart." Spectator 10 Dec. 2005: 62+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 14 June 2013.

An interesting criticism of the libretto of Sunday in the Park with George.  The reviewer believes me in thinking that the script is flawed and that the second act comes completly out of left field when relatd to the rest of the work.  Although he goes on to say that the second act serves it's purpose in teh overall theme the authors original intention was, which was to solve this question; "whether a work of art that concerns itself with ideas and is created in a cold, mechanical way, such as Seurat's masterpiece that forms the centrepiece of the first half, can evoke an emotional response."  Toby Young's answer, yes.

• Leithauser, Brad. "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Broadway." New York Review of Books (10 Feb. 2000): 35-49. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 147. Detroit: Gale Group, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 14 June 2013.

"In the following essay, Leithauser examines Sondheim's strong professional recognition despite the lack of finality in his productions, his dark motifs, his use of rhyme, and his complex characterizations."  Interesting read.  A critique of Sondhiem's entire body of work and how his subject matter is uncommon for the modern Broadway musical, the author does go into some detail on into Sunday in the Park wirh George.  He comments that the show "enchant[s] rather than ... resolve[s]."  A wonderful analysis of some songs lyrics.  I am constantly amazed.

• Van Leer, David. "Putting It Together: Sondheim and the Broadway Musical." Raritan 7.2 (Fall 1987): 113-128. Rpt. in Drama Criticism. Ed. Timothy J. Sisler. Vol. 22. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Literature Resource Center. Web. 14 June 2013.

"In the following essay, Van Leer elucidates the reasons for the mixed critical and popular reaction to Sondheim's musicals."  A criticism of Sondhiem's work, although I might say I do not agree with them.  He geneally praises the musical but relates to the completity of the two leads, George and Dot "at about the same level of complexity as Curley and Laurie in Oklahoma!"  I just can not jump on that band wagon.  The critique below gos into more detail on this subject.

• Rich, Frank. "Sunday in the Park with George: New Musical." The New York Times (3 May 1984): C21. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jean C. Stine and Daniel G. Marowski. Vol. 30. Detroit: Gale Research, 1984. Literature Resource Center. Web. 14 June 2013.

A critical analysis of the show Sunday in the Park with George itself.  I found this sentance most interesting, "As is often the case in Sondheim musicals, we don't care about the characters—and here, more than ever, it's clear we're not meant to care."  Since you see the characters through the eyes of a emotionally detached artist, the characters are not important, the creation of the work is.  The author brings up a lot of interesting things to think about, however brief the article is.