American Playhouse: Sunday in the Park with George (1986)

Top comments

1. 

   Siskoid

   Steven Sondheim's 1986 performance of Sunday in the Park with George, starring Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters (and oh my, Brent Spiner?!) is an amazing play with impressive set design and staging... I'm still stunned anyone could write a musical about pointillism... Pointillism OF THE SOUL. The two act structure tells the story of obsessive artist Georges Seurat's sacrifice of everything to finish his best-known work, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte; the second taking us 100 years later to the present day where his descendant his working through his own problems as an artist. Sondheim cleverly comments on art, while also matching Seurat's style to what few details we know of his short life, the "dot" he puts on the canvas a metaphor for his single-mindedness and inability to see the forest for the trees, while also playing with the theme of transformation, whether that's the need for personal change, the transposition of reality into art, or the mutability of perception. Not a line is wasted. As for the often dissonant music, it might bother some audiences, but it too plays a role in understanding the play's themes, as Georges tries in vain to connect with the mainstream. A rich work that evidently gets richer each time you experience it. 6 years 11 months ago
2. 

   Timec

   On a further note, I consider Sondheim's run from "Company" to "Merrily We Roll Along" one of the greatest, most fertile and artistically rewarding periods for any artist. At that point his imagination, creativity, and wit seemed inexhaustible, and combined to create six works of great power and intelligence. His scores for "A Little Night Music," "Follies," "Pacific Overtures," and "Sweeney Todd" are among the dozen or so greatest in musical theater. 12 years 9 months ago
3. 

   Timec

   To each his own, but "tiresome" is something I'd never use to describe Sondheim's music. I've listened to the OBCs of most of his major shows dozens if not hundreds of times, and they still don't grow old and I still find something new to enjoy each time - that, to me, is the mark of great songwriting. I find his music incredibly lush and memorable, and he's quite possibly the greatest lyricist in all of musical theater, living or dead. It also helps that his music resonates with me on a very personal level.
   
   With that said, this is probably my least favorite of his "middle period" shows, though I still like it quite a lot (his post-"Assassins" stuff, on the other hand, is rather hard for me to take.) 12 years 9 months ago

See all comments

Friends

Login to see which of your friends have seen this movie!