SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE. To 2 September.
London
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE
by Stephen Sondheim book by James Lapine
Wyndhams Theatre To 2 September 2006
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat Wed & Sat 2.30pm
Runs 2hr 40min One interval
TICKETS: 0870 950 0925 (24hrs)
www.delfontmackintoch.co.uk (booking fee by ‘phone or online £1.25 per ticket)
Review: Timothy Ramsden 5 June
Fine revival of a rich musical that’s humorous and humane.
This production, from the Menier Chocolate Factory, Southwark’s new and fashionable theatre, is built around a painting by late 19th French artist Georges Seurat, ‘Sunday afternoon on the island of La Grande Jatte’. Its 2nd act leaps forward a century to the premiere of a 1980s art installation. Director Sam Buntrock’s added a third genre, with sweeping video projections creating Seurat’s and Sondheim’s scenes.
Seurat was an artistic innovator, colour his aesthetic theme, creating intensity through dabs of primary colours mingled so the eye believes it sees a range of secondary hues. Sondheim’s music’s full of staccato jabs itself, especially Seurat’s working song ‘Finishing the Hat’ and the 2nd act’s ‘Putting It Together’, about the need for schmoozing and networking in the modern art-world.
Aptly, the first of these is accompanied by Seurat’s mistress-model Dot powdering her body. Art and life (as in the 2nd act’s ‘Children and Art’) are contrary pressures. Only in the glorious 1st act conclusion do they mingle, with the legato musical line accompanying Seurat’s eventual formulation of life into art. It’s a magical moment in any decent production.
Buntrock’s is more than that. Though the video projections become over-fussy (or a partially-successful substitute for a larger cast) in the 1st act, they make a real contribution afterwards, as the picture unravels with its figures’ lifelike discontents then moves into a new perspective as a gallery classic. Transience is another theme (‘Changing, thing keep changing’ runs one song with its slow, melancholy melody), and George’s baby-daughter, seen in the picture, is recalled by her near-centenarian daughter. When events return to Paris, it’s to an industrialised Grande Jatte. As tower-blocks and cranes fade back to Seurat’s parkland, a magical-realist harmony crosses the century between the modern George and his ancestor Dot.
Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell sing well enough and are dramatically riveting, showing George’s furious dedication and Dot’s blowsy vivacity. Russell also finds a mix of confusion and certainty in Marie, underscored by a fitting lyricism. But, as ever, this sophisticated, accessible, technically brilliant and deeply moving musical is ultimately the star of its own show.
George: Daniel Evans
Dot/Marie: Jenna Russell
Old Lady/Blair Daniels: Gay Soper
Nurse/Mrs/Harriet Pawling: Joanne Redman
Jules/Bob Greenberg: Simon Green
Yvonne/Naomi Eisen: Liza Sadovy
Boatman/Dennis: Alasdair Harvey
Soldier/Alex: Christopher Colley
Celeste 1/Elaine: Sarah French Ellis
Celeste 2/Silent Artist: Kaisa Hammarlund
Mr/Charles Redmond: Mark McKerracher
Louis/Billy Webster: Ian McLarnon
Franz/Lee Randolph: Steven Kynman
Freida/Betty: Anna Lowe
Louise: Lauren Calpin/Georgina Hendry/Natalie Paris
Swings: Alex Gaumond/Rachel Grimshaw
Director: Sam Buntrock
Designer/costume: David Farley
Lighting: Natasha Chivers/Mike Robertson
Sound: Sebastian Frost for Orbital
Musical Director: Caroline Humphris
Musical Staging: Christopher Gattelli
Associate Director/Choreographer: Tara Wilkinson
Projection: Timothy Bird for Knifedge Creative Network
Associate musical director: Mark Dorrell
2006-06-06 12:32:02