Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford, who both earned raves for their portrayals, will return to their roles, and will mark the second major Broadway revival of Sondheim and Lapine's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical.
Sondheim and Lapine's masterpiece follows painter Georges Seurat (Jake Gyllenhaal) in the months leading up to the completion of his most famous painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Consumed by his need to "finish the hat," Seurat alienates the French bourgeoisie, spurns his fellow artists, and neglects his lover Dot (Annaleigh Ashford), not realizing that his actions will reverberate over the next 100 years.
Sunday in the Park with George is produced on Broadway by Adam Speers for Ambassador Theatre Group, New York City Center, Jeanine Tesori, and Riva Marker.
If Gyllenhaal and Ashford are the name draws, don't be surprised when you fall absolutely under the spell of the entire ensemble, including Seurat's mother (played by Penny Fuller, who turns out to be a battleaxe with a far-from-hardened heart), her nurse, two soldiers, two chatty shop-girls called Celeste (Ashley Park and Jenni Barber, adept scene-stealers both, particularly Park and her adorably annoying laugh), Louis the baker with whom Dot makes a calculated match, and two hideously philistine-ish American tourists.
Gyllenhaal is a very good actor and sings surprisingly well, but neither he nor the amusing Ashford can lift the skimpy, pedestrian production to the sublime level of the two previous Broadway presentations of the show: the1985 original and the 2008 British import.
1983 | Off-Broadway |
Playwrights Horizons Workshop Off-Broadway |
1984 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
1986 | Regional (US) |
Long Beach Revival Regional (US) |
1990 | West End |
London Revival West End |
1994 | Broadway |
Reunion Concert Broadway |
1997 | Regional (US) |
Regional Revival Regional (US) |
2002 | Regional (US) |
Sondheim Festival Production Regional (US) |
2004 | Regional (US) |
Regional Concert Regional (US) |
2005 | London Fringe |
London Revival London Fringe |
2006 | West End |
West End Transfer West End |
2007 | Los Angeles |
Reprise! Concert Los Angeles |
2008 | Broadway |
Roundabout Revival Broadway |
2014 | Arlington, VA (Regional) |
Signature Theatre Production Arlington, VA (Regional) |
2016 | New York |
New York City Center Concert Gala New York |
2017 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
2020 | London |
2020 West End Revival London |
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