Sunday in the Park with George
Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by James Lapine
Originally directed by James Lapine
Sunday in the Park with George is inspired by the French pointillist painter Georges Seurat's painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. The show’s Act 1 revolves around George, a fictionalized version of Seurat, who immerses himself deeply in painting his masterpiece, and Act 2 focuses on his great-grandson (also named George), a conflicted and cynical contemporary artist.
History & Fun Facts
After the negative reviews and short run of Merrily We Roll Along, Stephen Sondheim announced that he intended to not continue writing for musical theater. Sunday was his return and his first collaboration with James Lapine.
Sondheim had seen Lapine’s productions of the plays Table Settings and Twelve Dreams and agreed to meet Lapine to talk about a collaboration on a different project — an adaptation of the novel A Cool Million. When Sondheim passed on the project due to its similarities to Candide (a show Sondheim had already worked on), it was Lapine who brought Sondheim a series of images to look at, including Seurat’s “...La Grande Jatte.”
James Lapine’s niece Sarna Lapine directed the 2017 revival of Sunday starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford.
Licensing
Sunday in the Park with George is available for licensing through Music Theatre International
Awards, Reviews & Features
1984 Tony Awards
Nominated for Ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Book
Winner of Best Lighting Design and Best Scenic Design
1984 Drama Desk Awards
Winner of Outstanding Musical
Winner of Outstanding Book of a Musical and Outstanding Director of a Musical
Winner of Outstanding Lyrics, Outstanding Orchestrations, Outstanding Lighting Design, Outstanding Set Design & Outstanding Special Effects
Nominated for five other Drama Desk Awards
1985 Pulitzer Prize
Winner of Pulitzer Prize for Drama
1991 Laurence Olivier Awards
Winner of Best New Musical
2008 Tony Awards
Nominated for nine awards, including for Best Revival
“Both at the show's beginning and end, the hero is embracing not a woman, but the empty white canvas that he really loves - for its 'many possibilities.' Look closely at that canvas - or at 'Sunday in the Park' itself - and you'll get lost in a sea of floating dots. Stand back and you'll see that this evening's two theater artists, Mr. Sondheim and Mr. Lapine, have woven all those imaginative possibilities into a finished picture with a startling new glow.”
“…in James Lapine’s fascinating and rigorous, no-punches-pulled investigation into the provenance and parturition of his and Stephen Sondheim’s first collaboration, ‘Sunday in the Park With George,’ he completely confirms my theory that many artists are also massive scientists.” - Alan Cumming’s New York Times Review of Putting it Together
“The 1884 painting looked like a stage set, Lapine observed, but was missing the main character. ‘Who?’ asked Sondheim. ‘The artist,’ said Lapine. He laid tracing paper over La Grande Jatte and drew a constellation of arrows, each one pointing to an anonymous figure on the riverbank. ‘Mother?’ he wrote. ‘Mistress? Butler?’ It was like an existential game of Clue, a whodunit in which the answer was Georges Seurat.”
Matt Weinstock, Playbill (2016)
Original Broadway Production
Directed by James Lapine
Booth Theatre
May 2, 1984 - October 13, 1985
Ran for 604 performances
Photos by Martha Swope
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Music by Stephen Sondheim
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by James Lapine
Directed by James Lapine
Theatre Owned / Operated by The Shubert Organization (Gerald Schoenfeld: Chairman; Bernard B. Jacobs: President)
Produced by The Shubert Organization (Gerald Schoenfeld: Chairman; Bernard B. Jacobs: President) and Emanuel Azenberg; Produced by arrangement with Playwrights Horizons
Musical Director: Paul Gemignani
Music orchestrated by Michael Starobin
Suggested by the painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte" and the life of Georges Seurat
Scenic Design by Tony Straiges
Costume Design by Patricia Zipprodt and Ann Hould-Ward
Lighting Design by Richard Nelson
Sound Design by Tom Morse
Hair and Wig Design by Charles LoPresto
Hair Design by Richard Allen
Make-Up Design by Richard Allen
Mr. Patinkin's hair designed by J. Roy Helland
Mr. Patinkin's make-up designed by J. Roy Helland
General Manager: Robert Kamlot
Company Manager: Richard Berg
Production Stage Manager: Charles Blackwell
Stage Manager: Fredric H. Orner and Loretta Robertson
Technical Supervisor: Theatrical Services, Inc.
Music published by Tommy Valando
Special Effects by Bran Ferren
Movement directed by Randolyn Zinn
Casting: John S. Lyons
General Press Representative: Fred Nathan & Associates
Speech Consultant: Kristin Linklater
Advertising: Serino, Coyne & Nappi
Artwork by Frank Verlizzo
Set and costume design adapted from the Seurat painting from the Art Institute of Chicago
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Mandy Patinkin: George (Act I), an artist and George (Act II), an artist
Bernadette Peters: Dot, George’s mistress and Marie, George’s grandmother
Barbara Bryne: Old Lady and Blair Daniels, an art critic
Mary D’Arcy: Celeste #2 and Elaine
Danielle Ferland: Boy bathing in the River and Louise, the daughter of Jules and Yvonne
Sue Anne Gershenson: Woman with baby carriage and Photographer
Cris Groenendaal: Man lying on the bank; Louis, a baker, and Billy Webster, Harriet’s friend
Dana Ivey: Yvonne, Jules’ wife and Naomi Eisen, a composer
John Jellison: Man with bicycle and Museum Assistant
Charles Kimbrough: Jules, another artist and Bob Greenberg, the museum director
Kurt Knudson: Mr. Lee Randolph, the museum’s publicist
Judith Moore: Nurse, nurse to Old Lady and Mrs. Harriet Pawling, a patron of the arts
Nancy Opel: Young Man sitting on the bank; Frieda, a cook and Betty, an artist
William Parry: Boatman and Charles Redmond, a visiting curator
Michele Rigan: Little Girl
Brent Spiner: Franz, a servant and Dennis, a technician
Melanie Vaughan: Celeste #1 and Waitress
Robert Westenberg: Soldier and Alex, an artist
Understudies: Sue Anne Gershenson (Betty, Celeste #1, Celeste #2, Elaine, Frieda, Nurse, Young Man sitting on the bank), Ray Gill (Alex, Billy Webster, Dennis, Franz, Lee Randolph, Louis, Man lying on the bank, Man with bicycle, Mr., Soldier), Joanna Glushak (Celeste #1, Celeste #2, Dot, Elaine, Marie, Nurse), Cris Groenendaal (Alex, Dennis, Franz, Soldier), John Jellison (Billy Webster, Boatman, Bob Greenberg, Charles Redmond, Jules, Louis, Man lying on the bank, Man with bicycle), Michele Rigan (Boy bathing in the River, Louise), Robert Westenberg (George (Act I), George (Act II)), Sara Woods (Blair Daniels, Harriet Pawling, Mrs., Naomi Eisen, Nurse, Old Lady, Yvonne).
2008 Broadway Revival
Directed by Sam Buntrock
Studio 54
February 21, 2008 - June 29, 2008
Photos by Joan Marcus and Sara Krulwich
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Directed by Sam Buntrock
Theatre Owned / Operated by Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes: Artistic Director; Harold Wolpert: Managing Director; Julia C. Levy: Executive Director; Gene Feist: Founding Director)
Produced by Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes: Artistic Director; Harold Wolpert: Managing Director; Julia C. Levy: Executive Director; Gene Feist: Founding Director); Produced in association with Bob Boyett, Debra Black, Jam Theatricals, Stephanie McClelland, Stewart F. Lane, Bonnie Comley, Barbara Manocherian, Jennifer Manocherian, Ostar Productions, Caro Newling, Neal Street Productions and Mark Rubinstein; Originally Produced by The Menier Chocolate Factory (David Babani, Artistic Director)
Original Broadway Production Produced in 1983 by: Playwrights Horizons; Originally Directed on Broadway by: James Lapine
Musical Director: Caroline Humphris
Music orchestrated by Jason Carr
Musical Staging by Christopher Gattelli
Assistant Director: Dave Solomon
Associate Director, UK: Tara Wilkinson
Scenic Design by David Farley
Costume Design by David Farley
Lighting Design by Ken Billington
Sound Design by Sebastian Frost
Projection Design by Timothy Bird and The Knifedge Creative Network
Hair and Wig Design by Tom Watson
Associate Costume Design: Matthew Pachtman
Associate Lighting Design: Paul Toben
Associate Sound Design: Nick Borisjuk
Moving Light Programmer: David Arch
Make-Up Design by Angelina Avallone
Executive Producer: Sydney Beers
Company Manager: Denise Cooper
Company Manager Assistant Brent McCreary
Roundabout Technical Supervisor: Steve Beers
Production Stage Manager: Peter Hanson
Stage Manager: Jon Krause
Assistant Stage Mgr: Rachel Zack
Musical Supervisor: Caroline Humphris
Conducted by Caroline Humphris
Associate Conductor: Thomas Murray
Musical Coordinator: John Miller
Roundabout Director of Artistic Development/Casting: Jim Carnahan
Press Representative: Boneau / Bryan-Brown
Roundabout Director of Marketing & Sales Promotion: David B. Steffen
Roundabout Director of Development: Jeffory Lawson
Roundabout Associate Artistic Director: Scott Ellis
Advertising: SPOTCo, Inc.
Dialect Coach: Kate Wilson
Dance Captain: Hayley Podschun
Photographer: Joan Marcus
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Daniel Evans: George
Jenna Russell: Dot / Marie
Mary Beth Peil: An Old Lady / Blair Daniels
Anne L. Nathan: Her Nurse / Mrs. / Harriet Pawling
Lee Turner: Franz / Lee Randolph
Michael Cumpsty: Jules / Bob Greenberg
Jessica Molaskey: Yvonne / Naomi Eisen
Alexander Gemignani: Boatman / Dennis
Brynn O’Malley: Celeste #1 / Elaine
Jessica Grové: Celeste #2 / Silent Artist
Kelsey Fowler: Louise
Alison Horowitz: Louise
Stacie Morgain Lewis: Freda / Berry
Drew McVety: Louis / Billy Webster
Santino Fontana: Soldier / Alex
Ed Dixon: Mr. / Charles Redmond
2017 Broadway Revival
Directed by Sarna Lapine
Hudson Theater
February 23, 2017 - April 23, 2017
Photos by Matthew Murphy
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Book by James Lapine
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Sarna Lapine
Musical Staging by Ann Yee
Music Orchestrated by Michael Starobin
Musical Director: Chris Fenwick
Assistant Director: Nikhil Mehta
Scenic Design by Beowulf Boritt
Costume Design by Clint Ramos
Lighting Design by Ken Billington
Sound Design by Kai Harada
Projection Design by Tal Yarden and Christopher Ash
Hair and Wig Design by Cookie Jordan
Makeup Design by Joe Dulude II
Associate Scenic Design: Alexis Distler
Associate Costume Design: Evan Prizant
Associate Lighting Design: Ed McCarthy
Associate Sound Design: Josh Millican
Assistant Lighting Design: Mike Megliola
Moving Light Programmer: Victor Seastone
Automated Light Bulb Winch Programmer: Chelsea Zalikowski
Video/Projection Programmer: Dan Mueller
Executive Producer for Ambassador Theatre Group: Adam Speers
General Manager: 101 Productions, Ltd.
Company Manager: Jolie Gabler and Holly Sutton
Associate Gen. Mgr: Ron Gubin
Production Supervisor: Peter Lawrence
Theatrical Supervisor: Hudson Theatrical Associates
Stage Manager: Stephen Milosevich
Assistant Stage Mgr: Kate Croasdale
Musical Coordinator: Seymour Red Press
Conducted by Chris Fenwick
Associate Conductor: Mark Mitchell
Woodwinds: Jeremy Clayton, James Ercole and Todd Groves
French Horn: R.J. Kelley
Violin: Sylvia D'Avanzo and Lisa Matricardi
Viola: David Blinn
Cello: Alisa Horn
Bass: William Ellison
Keyboards: Mark Mitchell and Marco Paguia
Harp: Susan Jolles
Percussion: Kory Grossman
Synthesizer Programmer: Randy Cohen and Taylor Williams
Music Copying: Emily Grishman
Music Preparation: Katharine Edmonds / Emily Grishman
Associate Musical Supervisor: Mark Mitchell
Assistant Synth Programmer: Jeremy King
Casting: Carrie Gardner, C.S.A. and Stephen Kopel C.S.A.
Press Representative: DKC/O&M; Marketing/ATG: Damien Hewitt
Advertising/Marketing: AKA
Dance Captain: Laura Irion
Photographer: Matthew Murphy
Theatre Owned / Operated by Ambassador Theatre Group
Produced by Ambassador Theatre Group, Carole Shorenstein Hays, Caiola Productions, Jeffrey Finn, Jere Harris and Darren DeVerna, J/K/R/S, Claire-Bridget Kenwright, LD Entertainment, Benjamin Lowy & Adrian Salpeter, Tulchin Bartner Productions, Jeanine Tesori, Riva Marker and New York City Center; Associate Producer: Glass Half Full Productions and The Silver Foxes
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Annaleigh Ashford: Dot/Marie
Jake Gyllenhaal: George
Brooks Ashmanskas: Mr./Charles
Jenni Barber: Celeste #2/Elaine
Phillip Boykin: Boatman/Lee
Max Chernin: Ensemble
Mattea Conforti: Louise/Rayne
Erin Davie: Yvonne/Naomi
Claybourne Elder: Soldier/Alex
Penny Fuller: Old Lady/Blair
Jordan Gelber: Louis/Billy
MaryAnn Hu: Ensemble
Robert Sean Leonard: Jules/Bob
Liz McCartney: Mrs./Harriet
Michael McElroy: Ensemble
Ruthie Ann Miles: Frieda/Betty
Ashley Park: Celeste #1/Theresa
Jaime Rosenstein: Ensemble
Jennifer Sánchez: Nurse/Samantha
David Turner: Franz/Dennis
Swings: Julie Foldesi and Andrew Kober
Understudies: Jenni Barber (Dot/Marie), Max Chernin (George, Soldier/Alex, Louis/Billy, Franz/Dennis), Claybourne Elder (George), Julie Foldesi (Celeste #2/Elaine, Nurse/Samantha, Yvonne/Naomi), MaryAnn Hu (Mrs./Harriet, Frieda/Betty, Old Lady/Blair), Laura Irion (Louise/Rayne, Mrs./Harriet, Frieda/Betty, Celeste #1/Theresa, Nurse/Samantha, Celeste #2/Elaine), Andrew Kober (Mr./Charles, Boatman/Lee, Jules/Bob, Soldier/Alex, Franz/Dennis), Liz McCartney (Old Lady/Blair), Michael McElroy (Mr./Charles, Boatman/Lee, Jules/Bob, Louis/Billy), Ashley Park (Dot/Marie), Jaime Rosenstein (Celeste #2/Elaine, Celeste #1/Theresa, Louise/Rayne) and Jennifer Sánchez (Yvonne/Naomi)