March 12, 2008
On an Ordinary Wednesday
Last Wednesday I went to see the wonderful revival of Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George. Here are some random thoughts that I previously sent to the Sondheim list.
This production of Sunday is every bit as good as the original, not better, just different, using state of the art technology to wonderful effect. The two leads are truly wonderful, and the rest of the cast hold their own.
At intermission I heard some people singing/humming "Sunday". I also overheard this bit of conversation:
"This music is unbelievably difficult. There's not a single tune, not one half of a tune, that you can hold onto."
Is it just me or does Ed Dixon in the second act (playing the Texas curator) bear a distinct resemblance to Sondheim? And doesn't Daniel Evans in the second act (sans beard and toupee) look a lot like Rob Corddry (at least from the middle Mezzanine)?
I was dismayed to find a group of several dozen teenagers in the audience, presumably this was some sort of high school outing. But they turned out to be quite attentive to the play, and I actually enjoyed hearing their gasps at the technical wizardry. (But I didn't appreciate the supposedly mature woman to my left rear who was loudly whispering through "Beautiful". )
What a thrill it was to hear Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell give a full-throated rendition of "Move On".
One minor complaint: Daniel Evans burying his head in his hands and sobbing on the line "Sorry Marie" in "Lesson #8". It seemed too over-the-top.
Did I hear him correctly? In the second act did George say that the Chromolume was commissioned in 1983 and not completed until *three* years later? I hope I misheard the line, because it makes nonsense of the timeline. If Marie is 98 in 1986, then she wouldn't have been born until 1888, when we all know that she was born in 1886 just before Dot and Louie sailed for America. It also raises questions about George's age; if it takes him three years to invent a new Chromolume and this is his seventh, how long has be been making them?
This was the day that I saw Chris Noth.
My pedometer logged a total of 93 minutes of aerobic walking while in the city...
Later I learned that Stephen Sondheim and Bernadette Peters attended the evening performance that Wednesday. Huh.
Posted by jt at March 12, 2008 01:43 PM