Sunday in the Park with George

Only Stephen Sondheim (lyrics and music) and James Lapine (book) know why a second act exists for their 1984 musical Sunday in the Park with George, a fictional account of pointillist painter George Seurat inspired by Seurat's famous painting, "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte."

After all, the second act takes place 100 years after the first act and features completely different characters. It's an uncomfortable abrupt departure from the first act, which presents Seurat actually creating his masterpiece. During its off-Broadway showcase in 1983 the second act didn't even appear until the final few nights.

I'll step out on a limb and propose that the second act exists because of the brilliant songs Sondheim wrote that couldn't be placed in the first act; specifically the artfully clever, well-known "Putting It Together." You can hum the tune. Now google the lyrics and behold..."bit by bit.....piece by piece....dot by dot..." The song describes the difficult, collaborative, process of making art, which is also the theme of this Pulitzer Prize winning musical.

Art isn’t easy

Sensational. Thoughtful. Art is being made at OnStage in Bedford's ambitious, magnificent production of the show.

The first half of Sunday in the Park with George is a fictional account of pointillist painter George Seurat's creation of "La Grande Jatte." Pointillism is a style of painting Seurat is credited with developing in which small dots are applied to a canvas instead of brush strokes. This process -- something of a optical trick -- produces a fuller, richer spectrum of colors to the viewer's eyes. For instance, if a red dot is placed adjacent to a blue dot, from a distance the eye perceives the color violet.

In creating the painting, Seurat spends a series of Sundays between 1884 -1886 sketching primarily his muse and lover, Dot, but also a myriad of strollers on the island which he then brings to his canvas.

As he sketches, we get to meet the characters that make their way unto his painting: a boatman and his dog, servants on their day off, a pair of soldiers, a pair of young women, an old woman and her nurse, a mother and her young daughter. George is obsessed with his work to Dot's neglect. In fact George is not connected to anyone. His only true passion is the dots on his canvas. When Dot becomes pregnant by George she marries the baker Louis whom she knows will take care of her and her child (Marie). At the end of Act I, George has places all the characters from the park on stage in a tableau of his masterpiece.

Act II opens with the same tableau, and one by one the characters come forth and tell the story of George's death at the age of 31. Jump forward 100 years and George's great-grandson, George is presenting his laser-art piece at a museum with the help of his grandmother Marie (Seurat and Dot's child).

The same actors from the first act play different characters in the second: a waitress, art patrons, George's associates, etc. Marie (played by the actress who played Dot) has brought along a book that her mother used to teach herself to read and write; it also includes personal notes about The George and his approach to work: Order, Design, Tension, Balance, Harmony. The modern George and Marie are planning to go to France to the Island of La Grand Jatte where he has been invited to install one of his "sculptures;" but Marie dies before the trip and George goes alone. Lonely and uninspired when he visits the island, he is visited by Dot who urges him to "Move On." As he reads the notes at the back of Marie's book, the painting tableau reassembles and George is ready to move on with his life.

"Art isn't easy"

"Art isn't easy" is both a line from "Putting it Together" and an obvious statement when witnessing a production of this scope and depth. It is obvious OnStage in Bedford has a village of skillful artists to shape this piece of art.

"Every minor detail is a major decision"

Directing with confidence and perspective, Chris Robinson has assembled a superb cast and has placed each member on stage as meticulously as we see Seurat place each character in his painting. Young and refreshing, Kevin Friemel, as Seurat (and Seurat's great-grandson), acts adequately, sings brightly and owns the stage in the fabulous, extended ensemble piece "Putting It Together." Kristi Rowan (Dot) maneuvers through Sondheim's staccato-laden opening number with ease and her performance soars from there; funny, frustrated, heart-breaking, your eyes are drawn to her every time she steps on stage, much like your eyes are drawn to her "image" on Seurat's painting.

In Act II she plays Dot's elderly daughter, Marie, who says that Children and Art are the only two worthwhile things we leave behind. "Children And Art" (sung by Marie) and "Move On" (sung by Dot in a duet with George) are the emotional highlights of the second act and personal triumphs for Ms. Rowan. This cast is so universally strong I could laud compliments on each actor. I will tilt my hat to James Christjohn, as Jules, a rival painter, and Carleen Kirksey as his wife Yvonne. They represent the established art establishment of the time. Ms. Kirksey's short scene with Dot in the studio is especially sweet. Ben Philips and Kristin Spires also deserve mention as the hilarious scene-stealing, garish Americans.

"Have to keep things in scale"

The set (Robert Dennard) is a recreation of the island of La Grande Jatte; layers of panels, each deeper than the other, border both sides of the stage representing both the river and the trees in the style and colors of Seurat's paintings. Trees, dogs, monkeys glide unto stage at Seurat's whim. This set alternates with Seurat's studio in which we see the famous painting through a transparent screen as Seurat applies his dots. Sergio Turrubiartes painted the beautiful renditions of Seurat's 'Bathers at Asni�res" and "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte."

Lighting Designer Ken Davis meets the challenge of creating the right mood, all the more important when the subject is a painting known for it's original use of light and shade. Costume designer Carol Anderson's beautiful creations jump straight off the canvas, although I did find Dot's costume a bit dour. It is stunning to discover that Sondheim's score was performed by just three musicians hidden at stage rear: Musical director Jeff Crouse along Ellen Kaner and Randy Lindberg.

"Have to hold on to your vision"

And then there is Sondheim himself. The first two-thirds of the first act is filled with awkward staccato phrases that while powerful and theatrical are difficult to hear. Then just as the first act is closing, melody upon melody unfolds (the mournful "We Do Not Belong Together," "Beautiful" and finally as the cast assembles for the creation of the painting - "Sunday").

It's an ingenious parallel to Seurat's style of painting; up close, in the beginning all you see are dots but when you stand back (as the first act closes) you see the painting fulfilled and you hear the soaring ballads. Watch as he has Dot powdering himself to syncopated beats (and google "Young Woman Powdering Herself" to witness what is rendered onstage). Who else but Sondheim and Lapine would give Seurat a muse and name her Dot?

I thoroughly enjoyed My Sunday In The Afternoon OnStage in Bedford. Go see this production that we'll be talking about for years.

Sunday in the Park with George continues through April 11, 2010 at OnStage in Bedford, 2819 R D Hunt Parkway (off of Forest Ridge Rd) Bedford, TX 76021. For more information visit www.onstageinbedford.com