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Act 2 fast-forwards 100 years. Patinkin now plays Seurat's great-grandson, George, himself a frustrated artist. In the score's best-known song, "Putting It Together," George (and Sondheim himself) explains the hazards of trying to create art while also confronting the reality of having to pay for it. In a search for inspiration, George travels with his grandmother--Seurat and Dot's daughter (played by Peters)--to the original island where Seurat created the painting. As with Sondheim and cocreator James Lapine's next collaboration, Into the Woods, Sunday is often criticized for redirecting its focus in the second act instead of letting the first act stand by itself as a complete work. The second act, however, is the emotional core of the show, as George confronts all the feelings his great-grandfather had repressed so many years ago.
Stephen Sondheim's brilliant score is remarkable for its combination of vivid colors (listen to his dots of sound that represent Seurat's pointillistic style of painting), character pieces, and sheer beauty. The cast is terrific, and the show, aced out of most of the 1984 Tony Awards by La Cage aux Folles, won the Pulitzer Prize for drama.
Recorded before a live audience, Sunday is especially entertaining on video, as the staging elements bring out the full humor and inventiveness of the show, and it is astonishing to see the disparate characters form themselves into the elements of the familiar painting. So many great musicals are banished to the memories of those who attended live or--even worse--immortalized as inferior movies. Sunday in the Park with George is an absolute must-see for anyone interested in musical theatre, and a must-own for anyone with a passion for it. The DVD includes an audio track with commentary by Sondheim, Lapine, Patinkin, and Peters. --David Horiuchi
| ACTORS: | Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters |
| CATEGORY: | DVD |
| DIRECTOR: | Terry Hughes |
| THEATRICAL RELEASE DATE: | 01 January, 1986 |
| MANUFACTURER: | Image Entertainment |
| MPAA RATING: | NR (Not Rated) |
| FEATURES: | Color |
| TYPE: | Musical |
| MEDIA: | DVD |
| # OF MEDIA: | 1 |
| UPC: | 014381458626 |
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Customer Reviews of Sunday in the Park with George
A superb mixture of sound, light, color and drama! Stephen Sondheim may have been in a slump in 1982, but he had to have been pulled out of it by the Pulitzer Prize this show received, and rightly so. This show, concerning the life of Georges Seurat, chromoluminarist/painter of "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte," as well as a modern day artist who has lost his way in the world of art, is a brilliant blend of life and art, actually staged to recreate "La Grande Jatte" with sparkling results. The in-depth text and top-notch performances brought forth by Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters are underscored by Sondheim's perfect music, which sets the musical on edge and transports you to a world of "color and light." A must for musical fans around the world!
A solid record of a brilliant show.
Though perhaps the later Passion was a greater Sondheim-Lapine collaboration, their first work - Sunday in the Park with George - remains a sensitive and delicate piece that merits contemplation. It was preserved on video, and the preservation is generally solid. The film work generally manages to capture where the audience attention would best be, and in such a visual show it does as well as film may to transcribe the essence.
Sunday... is one of Sondheim's most pleasant scores for listening; it has a grace and majesty that mark it above much of his other work. It is fortunately combined with a witty book and excellent direction on Lapine's part. The central character of the first act, Georges Seurat, is portrayed with a certain distance and coldness by Mandy Patinkin that many consider off-putting; I think that this is more directorial bias than actor's intent, and Patinkin's work was indeed among his best here. His romantic counterpart Dot is played with elegance and style by Bernadette Peters, at the prime of her career and in fine acting style. The second act's George is a much more relatable character, and I think that Patinkin's portrayal here is much more likeable and enjoyable. His work in "Putting it Together" alone is a masterpiece; Patinkin truly took the task of making two roles work. Peters is understated, but well acted, until the finale where she is marvellous. And the actual finale will raise more questions than it answers...for the show is really all about whether we choose to create children or art...in other words, romantic love or artistic devotion? This is the question George must face, as Seurat faced it, and learn where his answer lies.
The ensemble parts are amazing. Fans can look for virtuoso performances by the likes of Brent Spiner and Charles Kimbrough. Everyone takes on the challenge of two different roles, two different worlds, and does so as gracefully and well as the leads. The result is a marvellous show that is sadly not produced all that much; the presence of the DVD record, though, makes up for it generously. It cannot be missed by any fan of serious musicals.
Sondheim at his best
This is a must see for any one who has the CD, loves Sondheim, or just loves the musical theater. On the CD there are some lyrics that just dont make sense. Even some songs seem out of place. But buying this DVD will clear them all up. I agree with some of the reviewers that Mandy Patinkin overacts. His hand movements are a bit too drastic sometimes. In the Audio Commentary he basically dominates the conversation. But his vocals and his deliverance are great. Bernadette Peters is most likely the greatest actress alive. In the second act, when she becomes marie, she plays the role to perfection. The supporting cast is great as well. The funniest line (and a catchphrase of mine), is when the boatman is supposed to be giving directions to the Americans who think He cannot understand english. "Why dont you just walk into the water until your lungs fill up and you die". LOL. He should have won a Tony for that. This whole show should have won a Tony, Not "La Cage Aux Follies". Get this and enjoy it as much as I did. You will not be dissapointed.