Cast of Sunday in the Park with George at The Pasadena Playhouse. [Photo by Jeff Lorch]
Nearly a hundred years later, the painting would inspire a discouraged Stephen Sondheim, ready to throw in the towel on his own musical theater career until he visited the painting at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1981. He reportedly saw the painting as “already a play,” and his groundbreaking work, Sunday in the Park with George, opened on Broadway in 1984.
It was pleasantly regarded, but mostly received lukewarm reviews. Only long after its debut and his passing in 2021, was it then appreciated for the major work that it is, and the influence it would have on American theater.
The Pasadena Playhouse’s staging of the musical is a faithful and loving production of the work, and is the first production in a season-long celebration of Sondheim, beginning with George, through March 19, and A Little Night Music (April 25-May 21). The season will also include Sondheimia, a concert by Larry Owens on February 17 and March 6, and indie folk singer Eleri Ward’s Acoustic Sondheim, slated for April 14-15.
The Playhouse production features first-rate singing from Graham Phillips as George, maneuvering through Sondheim’s multi-layered, often busy score and book. Krystina Alabado is equally sparkling in her role as Dot, Serat’s lover, model and muse.
Kystina Alabado and Graham Phillips in Sunday in the Park with George // [Photo by Jeff Lorch]
The cast is led by a crack orchestra conducted by Andy Einhorn, who tracks Sondheim’s score with a deft yet robust hand, from a tap to a punch.
Ostensibly , the story is built upon the creation of the famous painting as its characters emerge and re-emerge, from the nursemaid (Jennie Greenberry) to the gallery owner (Michael Manuel), to the baker (Robert Knight), all of whom deliver razor-sharp performances.
To be honest, I’ve never been a fan of musicals, finding them vaguely fatuous and insignificant. What makes Sondheim’s musical work so compelling, however, is the story’s quest for the oft-sought answer to what constitutes art. Phillips is dark and convincing as the obsessive Serat, willing to lose love and family in his quest for a new art.
You may not walk out the Playhouse humming some inane ditty from the chorus, but what you will likely take home with you is something richer and more profound—an appreciation for a story deftly told and sung, and presented with pinpoint style and a superbly talented cast.
Sunday in the Park with George runs at the Pasadena Playhouse through March 19. For dates and to buy tickets, click here.
