Chicago Sun-Times: It was last March that the Chicago Shakespeare Theater first announced its plans for a production of the 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning “Sunday in the Park with George.” It would be the latest installment in the company’s decades-long exploration of the musicals of Stephen Sondheim, the man widely considered the Shakespeare of Broadway.
3 comments:
I am very glad that Chicago Shakes is doing Sunday in the Park- they have always done pieces that depart a bit from the "just Shakespeare", which I admire. This show in particular will be interesting, I think, because it is so well suited to the unique, beautiful space that they have on Navy Pier. It is one of the few, true 3/4 thrust stages still in use at a major theater company, which allows for all sorts of interesting staging and design ideas. While this article does not touch on them, I imagine that any design with this show is beautiful and artistic and that theater in particular offers a great environment to work with.
I like that in the synopsis, they call Sondheim the "Shakespeare of Broadway." I know that the reference was entirely intended, but I think it is just SO fitting. Although I have never been, I have heard a lot about the Chicago Shakes, and I wish I had gotten to see something of theirs. 10 years of Sondheim musicals is a long time, but Sondheim's scores are so intriguing, you can't help but watch and listen to them. Anyone who has done tech for a Sondheim musical should know, because after the fourteenth time today, the Sondheim songs still are as fun as they were the first time today (even if it comes from the mental issues related to tech week!). Anyways, what a way to end a decade of Sondheim!
I have never seen "Sunday in the Park" before, but I've always wanted to ever since I learned about Seurat's painting in Art History. I find the production very interesting in that the barrier between a 2D painting and reality is broken. The audience starts to understand what happens behind a painting; how the artists gains inspiration; the story behind a finished masterpiece. I believe that the average person looks at a picture for 20 seconds without a single thought and moves on to look at another. This play is intriguing in that it goes inside an artist's mind, which can be a very fascinating place. I was also intrigued by Griffin's question to Sondheim regarding the relationship between mother and son. I wonder if Sondheim consciously connected the similarity between his relationship with his mother, and Seurat's relationship with his mother.
Post a Comment