Have you ever heard of the Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park with George? It's a very impressionistic musical (pardon the pun, haha) about the significance of art - namely, Georges Seurat's "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" - in 1884 and 1984. Two Georges - the aforementioned artist (Act I) and his great-grandson George (Act II) - feature in this show, and each act touches on their relationship with Dot, Seurat's mistress. But however impressionistic Sunday in the Park with George is, I was only impressed by two songs: "Sunday" and "Sunday (reprise)."Source: en.wikipedia.org via Ariel on Pinterest
Although I have little to say about the musical as a whole, I love "Sunday" for several reasons.
Reasons To Enjoy "Sunday"
- Look at this Youtube video of the show's final number, "Sunday (reprise)" (preferably after reading the synopsis). Then tell me: is it not beautifully choreographed?
2. I think that Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters are their best in "Sunday" and "Sunday (reprise)," respectively. (...OK, they're good in "Color and Light" too. But I don't really like that song.)
3. Did you know that "Sunday" is parodied in the musical Tick, Tick...Boom!, by Rent creator Jonathan Larson? Apparently, Larson was a huge fan of Sondheim. So, he decided to pay tribute to his idol by writing his own version of "Sunday" in his first hit show. According to the Jonathan Larson wikipedia article, he turned it from "a manifesto about art into a [humorous] waiter's lament." If you want to hear Jonathan Larson himself singing "Sunday" (it's pretty funny), click on this link. If you want to hear the Tick, Tick...Boom! cast recording, I've attached a Youtube video at the bottom of this post.
Music videos to both "Sundays" are below. Enjoy!!
'Till next time,
Ariel
No comments:
Post a Comment