Sunday In The Park With George
Directors: Dean Drieberg and Sonya Suares
Musical Director: Ned Wright-Smith
Choreographer: Zoee Marsh
In Paris, 1884, George Seurat strives to transform the way we see. While he sketches in a park, preoccupied with composition, balance, light and harmony, his subjects are busy wrestling with life in a changing world - in particular, his muse and mistress, Dot, who feels both alive and invisible within his gaze. A century on, another visual artist - also named George - faces a similar dilemma as he attempts to forge a new direction amidst the pressure of high-end commissions and the merciless glare of New York critics.
Inspired by Seurat's Impressionist painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, Sunday in the Park with George is a masterpiece in its own right. Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine bring the past into the present tense, with poignant and painful truths about life, love, the creation of art and the struggle to be seen. One of the most acclaimed musicals of our time, this moving study won a Pulitzer Prize and was nominated for an astounding ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
2020 Green Room Awards Nominees
Lead Role in Music Theatre - Vidya Makan
Multimedia Design in Music Theatre - Dean Drieberg & Damian Dunne, Milked Studios
Direction in Music Theatre - Sonya Suares & Dean Drieberg
Presented Aug 21st - Aug 24th, 2019 at Lawler Theatre
Licensed exclusively by Music Theatre International (Australasia).
All performance materials supplied by Hal Leonard Australia.
This production was made possible by the support of Lyngala Foundation, Robert Salzer Foundation and our generous Friends of Watch This giving circle.
Reviews
Watch This has been presenting Sondheim shows for several years now and Sunday in the Park is their best yet [...] a gorgeous Sunday with a cracking cast, beautiful costumes and a sublime performance of the score. [...] Watch This still have a few Sondheim titles left to choose from for future seasons, and if these are as lovingly nurtured to the stage as this Sunday in the Park With George, then we are all in for a treat.
Reuben Liversidge - ArtsHub
A beautiful rendition of Sunday in the Park with George [...] Directors Dean Drieberg and Sonya Suares, along with Musical Director, Ned Wright-Smith fashioned something marvellous with this year's offering of Sondheim [...] When Watch This return next to Melbourne, be sure not to miss out.
David Collins - Arts Review
An opportunity to see Sunday in the Park with George performed is an irresistibly alluring prospect for any fan,but to see it performed in Melbourne with a cast of this calibre was nothing short of pride inducing privilege. How fortunate we are, truly, to have a company with the magnitude of commitment to produce work of this standard. [...] With this incredible production, Watch This have more than made good on their own promise of "realising outstanding work on the barest of resources" and I genuinely wish this review was helping to promote a much longer run because it feels criminal that a production of this standard was limited to a few performances
Doug Knight - Australian Stage
I can only credit directors Dean Drieberg and Sonya Suares for bringing together a crisp and captivating interpretation [...] Sunday in the Park with George addresses our desire to romanticise art into a state of perfection. It forces audiences to reconsider art and representation with a greater depth, empathy and an eye for meaning over the aesthetic.
Alice Mooney - Theatre Travels
Dean Drieberg and Sonya Suares have put together a simply astounding show ... [They] have clearly taken a word of advice from George, that "every little detail plays a part", and as a result have produced a show worthy of a much longer run and a much bigger audience
Narelle Wood - Theatre Press
Sunday In The Park with George presented by Watch This is executed to perfection and is a must see for the 2019 Melbourne musical season. [...] Dean Drieberg and Sonya Suares have done a fantastic job in bringing Sunday In The Park with George to life for a contemporary audience.
Josh Stent - Broadway World
An exquisitely touching production [...] draws its audience in effortlessly and takes them on a journey like no other.
Aridhi Anderson - Weekend Notes
Watch This don't make us stand in the middle of the gallery and look at the work of a 'genius'. This Sunday in the Park with George moves us to the corners and behind the crowds where the view isn't as clear and perfect. It's a production for us and for now.
Anne-Marie Peard - Sometimes Melbourne