Cabaret Singer
Original
Broadway Cast Recording
Music
& Lyrics
Stephen Sondheim
Book<>
Basis
Georges Seurat's painting
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island
of La Grande Jatte
Productions
1986 U.S. Television
Awards
1985 Drama Desk Outstanding Musical
1985 Drama Desk Outstanding Book
1985 Drama Desk Outstanding Lyrics
1991 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical
2007
Olivier
Outstanding Musical
Village Players
Theatre
Stephanie Herman (as Dot) in “Sunday in the Park with George” at Village Players Theatre. Photo by Michael Rothman Village Players Performing Arts Center presents the Pulitzer Prize Winning Musical Sunday In the Park with George Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Book by James Lapine review by Ed Vincent Village Players Theater in Oak Park has done an incredible job with their production of "Sunday in the Park with George". I have known the painting by Georges Seurat for most of my life having lived and visited our beautiful museums since a child. Seurat's painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" is display at the Chicago Art Institute on the second floor, and has been for many years. Village Players produced their own backdrop for the performance and the effect is wonderful and perhaps one of the best that I have seen in my many productions of the play that I have had the pleasure to see. The story is wounderus tale of grand fiction bringing to life the many persons created in the painting by Seurat. The female in the role of "Dot" is the talented Stephanie Herman, and her primary opposite is "George" (two seperate versions over time) played by the equally charming and talented actor, Jeremy Cohn. The entire cast is great group of diverse characters and then there is Oak Park's favorite gal, Betty Scott Smith who seems to be able to bring any character to life and make it interesting for all. The lighting and sets are phenomenal, the costumes grand, and smooth stage transistions with the talents of Raven Uslenghi and others.... Sondheim does a nice job of finding some very unusual books and tales to bring to the stage. For having been so close to the Hammerstein family I would have liked to see some more melody in some of his works, but his lyrics and quirky eye bring some fun items to life on stage. Sondheim's musical ship set sail into the world with his work with Leonard Bernstein, where he wrote the lyrics for West Side Story. <>This piece played for sometime on venues all around the planet but shall close in Oak Park on September 20, 2009, so get your tickets soon before the characters all blend away in points of the past.
  Village Players Performing Arts Center presents the Pulitzer Prize Winning Musical Sunday In the Park with George Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Book by James Lapine Oak Park, IL— Village Players Performing Arts Center presents the Stephen Sondheim classic, Sunday in the Park with George, August 14 – September 20, 2009. From its debut in 1984 through several revivals and numerous regional productions, this landmark musical is one of the most debated shows in Broadway history. Nominated for ten Tony Awards, it won only two for design, yet it won Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Musical, Book, Lyrics, and Director. No small feat for a musical with no big dance numbers. It also won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. “Sunday in the Park with George” is a fictionalized account of the painter Georges Seraut and the creation of his masterpiece, “A Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte.” The painting, created with a method called pointillism, is comprised of thousands of tiny dots that, when viewed at just the right distance, are blended by the eye to create color, shape and movement. The same can be said of this Sondheim/Lapine creation. Using subtle, clever dialogue, inventive melodies, and creative visuals, blended in just the right way, the complex world of an artist and his relationship to his work is presented with extraordinary depth and beauty. The show begins in 1884, at the park, where Seurat is consumed with finishing his masterpiece. His model and mistress, Dot, struggles to make a connection with the emotionally unavailable, obsessed artist, and leaves him for the staunch baker, Louis. George continues to work on his masterpiece, arranging the rest of the cast (a myriad of characters including a famous painter, servants and even Seurat’s mother) as figures in his composition. In Act Two, we jump to 1984 where another George, the grandson of the daughter Dot bore to George in Act One, has been commissioned to create a piece of mechanical performance art to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his great-grandfather's painting. This present-day George, however, is at a creative impasse. After completing his seventh "chromolume," he has begun to question whether he is finished as an artist--that is, until he receives an unexpected visit from the ghost of his great-grandmother who has a special message for him. The Village Players’ cast features Jeremy Cohn as George; Stephanie Herman as Dot; Betty Scott Smith as Old Lady/Blair Daniels; Christine Ronna as the Nurse/Mrs.Harriet; Katharine Cikanek as Yvonne/Naomi Eisen; Fiore Barbini as Boatman/Charles; Brittany Townsley as Celeste #1/Waitress; Lara Mainier as Celeste #2/Elaine; Livvie Goble as Louise; Patrick Byrnes as Franz/Dennis; Andriana Pachella as Frieda/Betty; Scott Edward Mills as Soldier/Alex; and Kevin Wood as Louis/Billy Webster. Sunday in the Park with George is being directed by Kevin Long, with a production team of Music Director, Kim Widmer; Stage Manager , Rebecca Miles-Steiner; Assist. Stage Manager, Michelle Springer Costume Designer, Suzanne Mann; Lighting Designer, Andrew Glasenhardt; Props Designer, Allison Schenker; Sound Designer, John List; Technical Director, Kevin Bunch. Sunday in the Park with George performs August 14 – September 20, 2009. Fridays & Saturdays are at 8:00PM and Sundays are at 3:00PM. Tickets are $28 for General Admission, $22 for 65 or older/18 or younger. Reservations can be made by phone at Village Players Box Office Hotline 866-764-1010, in person, or online at www.village-players.org. Presented on the Main Stage of the Village Players Performing Arts Center located at 1010 Madison St., Oak Park. Plenty of parking is available on the street. The theater is handicap accessible; please call ahead to arrange for special seating. More information is available at www.village-players.org or 866-764-1010. Village Players Performing Arts Center offers an eclectic mix of entertainment that empowers and inspires while exploring the human condition. |
Village Players Theater
1010 West Madison
Oak Park, Illinois
Special Group discounts are available.
Call 866-764-1010
Village
Players Theatre is a non-equity professional
theater
located in Oak Park, IL at 1010 W. Madison St –
North
of 290 and East of Harlem Ave.