Sunday in the Park with George (1984 Original Broadway Cast)
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Free Music Notes for Sunday in the Park with George (1984 Original Broadway Cast)
Free Music Review: Sondheim is a genius
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a heckuva long review, so please bear with me:After viewing Into the Woods for the first time I instantly became a Steven Sondhime fanatic. A friend of mine (Andrew Fox, who has written many reviews here) insisted that I absolutely had to see Sunday in the Park with George and lent me his tape of it. Knowing that it had won the pulitzer prize and that Bernadette Peters, who I loved in Into the Woods, starred, I went in expecting something incredible. While the show was obviously well written, the music great and Mandy Patinkin remarkable I couldn't help being a little disappointed. Peters, having vocal troubles during the recording, was NOT sounding very good, and the chorous as well didn't sound great. There's also the book, which is well written by James Lapine but doesn't quite measure up to the score like his fantastic book for Into the Woods almost would. The fact that the tape was battered from (obvious) repeated viewings didn't help either.
Still, I went out to buy the soundtrack so i could really listen to the music and I was blown out of my mind. Bernadette Peters voice is as loud and beautiful as usual and the backround chorous was sensational. This recording also allowed me to truly appreciate the brilliant lyrics and dot-painting inspired music. Like all Sondheim shows, similar themes are repeated throughout and the lyrics range from absolutely hilariious to heart wrenching. I'm planning on buying the DVD soon and I reccomend everyone get both this CD and that as this is the ultimate way to appreciate the score but you have to know the story to get the full emotional impact. Every song (yes, EVERY ONE) is fantastic in its own right, but here are some of the highlights:
1. Color and Light: one of the most incredible pieces of music I've ever heard. Sondheim's incredible music captures Seurat's style of painting perfectly and Mandy Patintkin is brilliant in both his intense delivery of the main theme "color and light" and his trancelike repetitions of colors. The way it intertwines with Peter's thoughts is uncanny and it goes in several diffrent directions with many emotions. It is worth buying the CD for this song alone, I guarentee it.
2. Putting it Together: the score's most well known song is in competetion with Color and Light as the best song on the disc. Mandy Patinkin show's his true skills in his pin-point, dramatic and lightning fast delivery of Sondheim's lyrics that vividly describe both the struggle of having to pay for art and the conquest of working the room at a party in search of a commision. The rhyme scheme is incredible and the lyrics are truly revelant today. The chrous is great in this as well, full of character.
3. Sunday: Both rendetions of this song (at the end of the first and second act) are musically excellent but it is the one at the end of the second act that conveys the most emotion. The timing between Patintkin and the chorous is perfection and the song itself has some of the most beautiful music and lyrics ever written. I'll tell you, if you've seen the play (or even listened to the whole CD) the sheer emotional impact of this makes it the greatest musical finale I have ever heard. Period.
Those may be my three favorites, but there are so many more. The opening "Sunday in the Park with George" is quite hilarious, "No Life" as well is brilliantly performed and written. "Everybody Loves Louis" is perfectly sung by Peters, "It's Hot up Here" is a truly ingenious second act opener, "Gossip" is wonderfully fast and exciting with very funny lyrics and the final two songs before the finale, "Lesson Number 8" performed by Patintkin and "Move On" Performed by Peters have some of the most profound lyrics of all time. Both are sung perfectly, of course, as Patintkin and Peters are in top form in this show. Buy this CD and either the video or DVD to fully appreciate this masterpiece. And a masterpiece score this is...on par with George Seurat's "Sunday in the Island of La Grande Jatte"
Free Music Review: The most moving piece of music I own
Hit: 5 Stars
I remember the first time I saw/heard "Sunday in the Park with George". I was in college at the time and was watching an A&E broadcast of the musical on a Sunday morning. I had always heard about the musical and of course heard about the genius of Sondheim but had never been exposed to it. From the opening notes I was captivated. I felt liberated when Dot exited from her dress and sang. I thought secretly to myself, I can't believe I've never been to see a play or musical in NYC. Sondheim, along with Woody Allen, will always represent NYC to me. Even though "Sunday" takes place in Paris it seems very New York to me. The experience of seeing this musical, even if only on tv, has colored my life ever since. Not a week has gone by without my humming a melody from its almost perfect score. The book, I will admit, has some problems. I was not as enraptured with the second act as I was with the first. Although, even with the jumpiness of the second act, it is supremely and sublimely redeemed with, in my opinion, the most beautiful song ever written for the musical theater, "Children and Art". Every person I feel dear to I have introduced to this breathtaking piece of art. All have been moved by its depth of feeling. If you only own one Broadway musical, make sure it is this one.Free Music Review: Genius
Hit: 5 Stars
Sunday in the Park with George assuredly evidences Stephen Sondheim's genius. This musical works on so many levels, from simple to intellecutal, from coarse to sublime, as it insightfully explores the human condition against a backdrop of art and creativity. American theater at its best.Free Music Review: The most intriguing and beautiful musical ever written? Yes.
Hit: 5 Stars
Sondheim has created a masterpiece with "Sunday in the Park with George". The music is gorgeous, breathtaking, heartwrenching. His lyrics are clever and witty, and serve to define each character as it explores the work of Georges Seurat. Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters make a dynamic couple, both with amazing vocal and acting talent. The rest of the cast is also marvelous. I hate to pick out songs from such a great show, but some highlights are "Color and Light", "Everybody Loves Louis", "Finishing The Hat", "We Do Not Belong Together", "It's Hot Up Here" and "Children And Art". In short, get this CD, even if you've never heard a Sondheim song in your life.Free Music Review: Putting it Together
Hit: 4 Stars
"Sunday in the Park with George" is an awesome show. One of Sondheim's best. A true masterpiece. The only reason I gave it 4 stars was for the actual recording, which is extreamly muffled. You have to turn the volume way up to here the richness of the score. Other then that, it is perfect. As always, with "George", Sondheim tried to create a new sound. He made "Forum" silly, "Company" romantic and cosmopolitain, "Sweeney" operetic, and for "George" he made the sound very picturesque, if you get my drift. The entire score is made of the sticatto sounds of George Saurat's painting style: dabbing with dots, that blend the colors together. That is how the score sounds, which I find absolutely astonishing. The story follows the trials and tribulations of an artist (George) as he paints his most famous work, "Sunday in the Park on the Island of Le Grande Jatte" (I'm pretty sure that's what it's called). Technically, physically, and musically, the show is a wonder, capturing every essence of the artist. Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters are astonishing, as Sondheim writes music, specifically with these actors in mind. I have seen and listened to to this macabre show, and even with the quiet recording, the show is one of my personal favorites. You should not pass this up on adding to your collection.